KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Corey ‘Flash’ Gordon lived up to his longstanding nickname on Wednesday night during the late model portion of the World of Outlaws iRacing Invitational on FS1.
Gordon rocketed from third to the lead on the initial start of the 40-lap World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature at the virtual Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, then held the position all the way to the finish.
Opening up a lead of as much as two seconds on more than one occasion, Gordon was the clear favorite as he piloted the Drydene Performance Lubricants No. 0m to a wire-to-wire victory, despite a late caution that set up a green-white-checkered finish.
The 25-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., stayed cool under pressure – despite a few nerves – and cruised to victory over Nick Stroupe and Kaeden Cornell. He collected $1,000 for the breakthrough score.
“My heart’s racing, I’m sweating, I’m worn out,” said Gordon, who was subbing for World of Outlaws late model regular Chris Madden. “This iRacing stuff’s no joke.
“I hated to see all those cautions there at the end, but it was a great race,” he added. “I got out front, set my own pace, and showed that I like these slick race tracks.”
Cornell’s podium finish came despite contact with the slower car of Cruz Pedregon that nearly cost him his race while running second and ultimately brought out the final yellow with five laps left.
Ashton Winger and Logan Seavey completed the top five, followed by Chase Briscoe, Ricky Thornton Jr., polesitter Bobby Pierce, Wednesday sprint car winner Kevin Swindell and Kyle Larson.
An earlier caution right at the halfway point added to the cumulative total, with the pace being slowed twice for eight laps all told. The feature was extended one lap to 41 by the overtime finish.
The results:
1. 0m-Corey Gordon [3]($1,000), 2. 45-Nick Stroupe [10], 3. 50-Kaeden Cornell [4], 4. 12-Ashton Winger [7], 5. 1-Logan Seavey [6], 6. 5-Chase Briscoe [8], 7. 20rt-Ricky Thornton Jr. [11], 8. 32-Bobby Pierce [1], 9. 39-Kevin Swindell [12], 10. 57-Kyle Larson [2], 11. 99-Matty Watkins [17], 12. 88-Trent Ivey [9], 13. 3-Austin Dillon [16], 14. 66-Matt Cosner [19], 15. 9-Devin Moran [14], 16. 76-Bubba Wallace [20], 17. 0-Scott Bloomquist [18], 18. 71-Cruz Pedregon [21], 19. 96-Mike McKinney [5], 20. 2m-Carson Macedo [13], 21. 2h-Nick Hoffman [15].
Lead Changes: One between two drivers
Lap Leaders: Bobby Pierce Grid, Corey Gordon 1-41.
Laps Led: Corey Gordon 40.
Hard Charger: 45-Nick Stroupe (+8)
Caution Flags: Two for eight laps
Time of Race: 16 minutes, 19.173 seconds
Average Speed: 75.370 mph