It may not have been for a spot in the Championship 4, but for Briar LaPradd, it was a special moment all the same as he captured his first career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series win in the Logi Play Days 140 at the virtual Michigan International Speedway on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
"It means a lot," LaPradd, driver of the JR Motorsports No. 88, said about his first win on the Sunoco Post Race Report. "Like I said, I worked really hard since 2016 just trying to make my way through the ranks. I can't believe I'm a Coke Series winner, honestly. It's unreal."
LaPradd held off a furious challenge from playoff driver Parker White, winning by just three one-thousandths of a second. White settled for second, but he was the only playoff driver to finish in the top five.
"Yeah, I felt really confident in my car," White said looking back on the finish. "Just to be in position, that is all I could ask for. I really couldn't have done anything different there."
Wyatt Tinsley took the pole at Michigan but did not stay up front long, surrendering the lead to White on the backstretch of the opening lap. Four laps later, White was the one getting passed by fellow playoff driver Dylan Duval for the top spot.
The field logged laps under green until the first caution came out on lap 15 for the No. 8 of Kaden Honeycutt spinning out in turn three, the end of a chain reaction that included playoff drivers Bobby Zalenski and Tucker Minter. While most of the drivers came down pit road for tires and fuel, six of them stayed out, led by Dylan Ault in the No. 40.
Off the lap 18 restart, White sliced and diced his way through the pack from seventh back to the lead. Then, on lap 20, Vicente Salas became the first driver to run into trouble when he wrecked and went around on the frontstretch due to contact with Garrett Manes, who got bumped by Steven Wilson.
Salas' rough night continued on lap 31 when he spun out again on the backstretch but avoided any further damage, bringing out the race's third caution. All the while, White continued to show the way as the race passed the halfway point.
Then, in quick succession, LaPradd took the lead with 34 laps to go, but surrender it two laps later to defending series champion Wilson. During that battle, playoff driver Graham Bowlin drove through the frontstretch grass, but the race remained under green, costing Bowlin a great deal of track position.
At 27 laps remaining, Honeycutt got caught up in a crash again to bring out the fourth caution of the night. The ensuing yellow flag pit stops caused a split in strategy, with about half the field staying out and the other half pitting, including the leader LaPradd.
It was Zalenski who brought the field back to green flag with 23 laps, but it only took a lap for mayhem to break out. Nick Ottinger got hit in the back by Collin Bowden and spun the frontstretch, triggering a big wreck that swallowed up multiple other playoff drivers.
Following a couple more quick cautions, LaPradd found his way back to the front, holding off a challenge from White on the restart with six laps remaining. Later that lap, Salas swerved but saved the car, losing track position and bringing out yet another yellow flag.
On the final restart, LaPradd got clear for the lead going to the white flag. Entering turn three on the final lap, White got to the outside of LaPradd. The two were side-by-side coming off of four to the line, with LaPradd sticking his front bumper just in front of White's to secure the checkered flag.
PLAYOFF GRID (TWO RACES LEFT IN THE ROUND OF 10)
It was a tough race for the playoff drivers, with only three of them finishing inside the top 10. Good finishes allowed Bowlin, White, and Lowe to vault above the cutline for the championship race.
NEXT UP
The middle race of the Round of 10 will take place in two weeks on Tuesday, August 27, at the virtual Texas Motor Speedway. Race coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. with Countdown to Green, followed by the green flag in the Lone Star State shortly after 8 p.m. on enascar.com/live, youtube.com/iracingofficial, and twitch.tv/iracing.