Geschrieben von Class is back in session for the eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague. The 2023-24 campaign kicked off with a trip to Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday night, where 40 of the top collegiate iRacers were set to battle for scholarship funds as well as points towards the championship in this first full academic calendar year.
It took four extra laps in eNASCAR Overtime, but when the dust cleared, University of Maine at Machias’ Daniel Faulkingham stood atop the podium as the winner of the opening round by only 0.015 seconds over St. Charles Community College student Anthony Burroughs. They were the only two to fully escape the chaos of the final lap, making the fight to the finish a matter of who was able to side draft who at the right time coming to the line.
Arizona State’s Garrett Viton escaped the wreckage to finish third, nearly five seconds behind the battle for the lead. Spring 2023 champion Logan Clampitt, now representing California State University Fullerton, recovered to finish fourth while St. Johns River State College Freshman Alexander Heider came home fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Brandon Shulenberger (Wingate), Austin Farr (Liberty), Mario Merenda (Oklahoma), Caden Mobley-Kelly (Florida Memorial University) and Matthew L Morton (Ohio State Newark). The top 10 finishers in the A-Main event all receive scholarship winnings, with Faulkingham collecting a cool $1,000, trickling down from there to Morton taking home $100 in 10th.
Mississippi State University’s JT Poole led the field to the green flag with Clampitt alongside. For the first stage of the event, the drivers kept things gridlocked at two-wide, with the high line prevailing at times and new faces finding their way up front. About a quarter of the way through the 60-lap scheduled distance, a third lane formed with Austin Green, a Meteorology student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach, taking control of the race. Pensacola State’s Benjamin White, Oklahoma’s Mario Merenda, and San Jacinto College student Abraham Vela also found their way to the top of the charts through managing the lines.
On Lap 21, it all came unraveled at the front of the pack and the first caution flew. Liberty University Business major RP Allen was three-wide in the middle of the second row when he lost control of his car following contact with Merenda in the top lane. The incident included a few hopefuls, including Vela, Chris Treppa from Lawrence Technological University, and Jack Coyne, representing Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
When the field went back green, it was Chattahoochee Technical College freshman Drew Jewah on point, but it didn’t take long for two familiar names to find their way into the conversation. Burroughs managed to push to the front of the field with help from Liam Sheen, once again racing for University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Sheen, the defending winner of the race from the spring semester, was in prime position to take another one at the World Center of Racing. But the pair would need to get through White and also stave off University of North Carolina – Charlotte senior Garrett Lowe, who will be racing for $100,000 next week at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC as an eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship 4 competitor.
The final stint of the race started to see some desperation, and in turn, some wild incidents. Lowe wound up on the wrong end of things after contact with Drexel’s Jason Walat on Lap 42, which brought out the second caution of the night. Morton ended up backwards in the middle of the pack a few laps later for the third caution of the night, and Liberty University’s Austin Farr got caught up in chaos with St Johns River State’s Alexander Heider on the ensuing restart. The field was thinning out, but there were still plenty of drivers who could take glory by the end of the night.
A final caution between Walat and Bergen Community College student Bryan Liranzo set up what would be the first of three possible attempts at eNASCAR Overtime. The field had White up front, but University at Maine at Machias Business senior Daniel Faulkingham, a rookie eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series competitor this season for Joe Gibbs Racing, was also in the conversation on the front row of what would be the final restart. After the field successfully made it to the white flag, it all came undone in Turn 1. White was turned in front of the field, and nearly every car in the pack was collected. Faulkingham and Burroughs were the two survivors, leaning on one another for the entirety of the final lap. Faulkingham timed the run perfectly and claimed the victory, his first in the series. White fell from being in contention to finishing 20th when it was all said and over with.
eNASCAR College iRacing Series 2023-24 Season Race 1 results from Daytona were as follows:
Fin.
St.
No.
Name
School
Laps
Interval
Led
Best
1
23
39
Daniel Faulkingham
Maine at Machias
64
1
47.069
2
15
62
Anthony Burroughs
St. Charles CC
64
-0.015
6
46.757
3
14
42
Garrett Viton
Arizona State
64
-4.761
0
46.925
4
2
44
Logan Clampitt
Cali State Fullerton
64
-7.27
5
47.080
5
34
24
Alexander Heider
St. Johns River State
64
-8.235
0
46.777
6
19
20
Brandon Shulenberger
Wingate
64
-8.554
0
47.116
7
13
79
Austin Farr
Liberty
64
-11.642
0
47.173
8
11
99
Mario Merenda
Oklahoma
64
-11.73
2
46.920
9
39
23
Caden Mobley-Kelly
Florida Memorial
64
-11.853
0
46.768
10
3
31
Matthew L Morton
Ohio State Newark
64
-12.272
0
47.247
11
9
76
Jason Walat
Drexel
64
-12.974
0
46.428
12
37
37
Charles Wimbley
Guiford
64
-14.395
0
46.720
13
22
49
Garrett Lowe
UNC at Charlotte
64
-14.905
0
47.110
14
26
11
John Forbes
Saddleback
64
-15.748
0
47.039
15
28
28
Kaleb Bryan
Missouri S&T
64
-16.039
0
46.988
16
7
2
Reece Baham
Auburn
64
-16.073
0
47.217
17
12
7
Layne Graves
Wichita State
64
-20.861
0
46.939
18
21
13
C.L. Smith
Auburn
64
-26.403
0
47.019
19
20
9
Colton Salek
ERAU Daytona Beach
64
-26.691
0
46.646
20
5
1
Benjamin A. White
Pensacola State
64
-29.266
21
47.204
21
10
87
Austin Green
ERAU Daytona Beach
64
-30.538
5
47.218
22
35
75
Jose Solis Jr
Manchester CC
64
-32.267
0
46.831
23
8
4
Nate S Stewart
Hopkinsville CC
64
-32.584
0
47.023
24
1
26
JT Poole
Mississippi State
64
-1:01.624
1
47.055
25
40
92
Liam Sheen
Wisconsin – SP
63
-1 L
17
46.788
26
32
18
Matthew Zwack
Michigan
63
-1 L
0
46.953
27
6
69
Drew Jewah
Chattahoochee TC
63
-1 L
4
47.202
28
29
33
Steele Lankford
ERAU Worldwide
63
-1 L
0
46.844
29
33
14
Aaron Mulrooney Jr
Kent State
63
-1 L
0
46.896
30
36
72
Kealoha Hankins
UNC at Charlotte
63
-1 L
0
46.958
31
25
10
Arron Brown
Eastern Shore CC
63
-1 L
0
47.328
32
27
98
Jake Hall
Clemson
63
-1 L
0
47.071
33
17
48
RP Allen
Liberty
62
-2 L
0
47.303
34
18
77
Bryan Liranzo
Bergen CC
59
-5 L
0
46.427
35
4
5
Abraham E Vela
San Jacinto
54
-10 L
2
47.384
36
16
27
James Scioly
Eastern Washington
51
-13 L
0
47.223
37
31
52
Jack Coyne
Rensselaer Poly.
49
-15 L
0
47.167
38
24
50
Chris Treppa
Lawrence Tech
49
-15 L
0
47.228
39
30
2
Hunter O Johnson
Bunker Hill CC
47
-17 L
0
46.772
40
38
12
Trey Coleman
Virginia CWU
43
-21 L
0
46.879
Next up for the eNASCAR College iRacing Series is a date with Charlotte Motor Speedway. Qualifying begins later this month, on September 27, and lasts through October 10. The race itself is scheduled for Tuesday, October 17 and it once again will stream live on Tuesday at 8PM ET on eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.
The eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague is supported by Coca-Cola, Logitech G, and DBOX. For more information on the series and how to compete, visit https://playfly.com/enascar-college-iracing-series/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
About the Series: The eNASCAR College iRacing Series gives college students from the United States and Canada the opportunity to compete for their share of $60,000 in scholarships. Using machines from the NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 40 drivers qualify for the event by registering here and posting their fastest lap times in a two-week Time Attack through the iRacing UI. With hundreds of colleges and universities represented in each Time Attack and only one representative per school, drivers are competing not only against the greater iRacing community, but also their own classmates, for a spot on the prestigious grid.