KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Nick Ottinger converted his Kansas Speedway pole position into an eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory in the most improbable of fashions on Tuesday night.
Utilizing fresher tires during a double-overtime finish at the virtual 1.5-mile Sunflower State oval, Ottinger rocketed from fifth to the race lead at the white flag and then survived as most of the field crashed behind him en route a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4 for William Byron eSports.
Though he started from the best seat in the house, Ottinger had to play from behind most of the night as Keegan Leahy dominated the race, leading 85 of the first 129 laps in his Denny Hamlin Racing Toyota.
If that wasn’t enough, Ottinger had to slow his pace inside of 10 to go because he was short on fuel. At that point, it appeared any hope the Claremont, N.C., had of going to victory lane was dashed.
But a yellow flag with seven laps left for the spinning Ford of Brandon Kettelle sent all the leaders to pit road for fresh tires and threw the final outcome into complete disarray.
As Leahy, Ottinger, Michael Conti and the other frontrunners pitted, Michael Guariglia, Phil Diaz and Jarl Teien stayed out on nearly 20-lap older tires in a desperate attempt to steal a miraculous victory.
Their strategy nearly worked, too.
Racing resumed for the first time with two laps left in regulation and went back yellow almost instantly, as a stack-up in the back of the field ended the night for Bob Bryant and set up the first of two overtimes.
Guariglia, Diaz and Teien maintained their top-three running positions at the caution flag and lined up in that order for eNASCAR Overtime, with Leahy lined up on the outside of the second row in fourth.
By the time they got back to turn three on the first lap of the overtime restart, the bubble had burst for the race’s dominant driver.
Stacked up on the outside lane, Leahy was tipped into a spin during a scramble with Chris Shearburn and Ottinger entering the corner, coming back up into the outside wall and sustaining damage that ended his shot at the win.
Leahy finished a heartbreaking 32nd, while Ottinger lined up on the inside file – behind Guariglia and Teien – for the race-defining restart.
When the green flag waved, Ottinger wasted no time, jumping to Teien’s inside and coming out onto the backstretch in the runner-up spot. From there, he slid up the track and to the outside of Guariglia’s No. 15, making the race-winning move as the field came underneath the white flag.
After that, a five-wide scrap for second gone wrong led to contact between Michael Guest and Diaz in the outside lane, leading to a field-clearing crash in turn one that wiped out most of the frontrunners.
Ottinger was well clear of the chaos, however, taking the checkered flag in front of runner-up Logan Clampitt by .436 seconds. It marked his 16th career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory.
“That was just about grip in the tires,” Ottinger said of his move for the win. “I knew they were on old tires ahead of us, and once they got past 20 laps on their tires, they’d be difficult for them if they did anything remotely in turns one and two. We just put the car where we needed it to and it all worked out.”
Ottinger will race for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series title for the first time since the advent of the winner-take-all Championship 4 format in 2017. His previous best finish in the playoffs was fifth in 2018, though he does have three top-four points finishes (2012, ’13, ’14) from his early years in the series.
“This is a testament to a lot of hard work from our team, and I’m so excited to have a shot at it here with William Byron eSports,” Ottinger noted. “I’m so excited, man. We’re going to Homestead!
“The growth of this series has been extraordinary; there’s so many people and partners now invested in this esports realm and it’s great to see,” he added. “I think it’s going to keep going and growing … but at the end of the day, our job isn’t finished yet. We have to go to Homestead and do our job now. If we can do that, then we should have a chance at that championship before it’s all over with.”
Escaping the chaos behind Ottinger, Clampitt beat out Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL winner Bobby Zalenski for second, with Ryan Luza bolstering his playoff hopes by crossing the line in fourth.
Michael Guariglia was best among the drivers who stayed out late in the race, finishing fifth.
Jimmy Mullis, Ray Alfalla, Garrett Lowe, Nathan Lyon and Malik Ray filled out the top 10.
With Zalenski and Ottinger taking two Championship 4 berths via wins, Mullis and Luza currently hold the final two spots on points, with only next Tuesday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway left in the round of eight of the playoffs.
Lowe is eight points back of the cut line, while Leahy dropped to 18 points adrift after his late crash.
Alfalla and Michael Conti, who restarted fourth for the final overtime but finished 12th, are in virtual must-win situations going into Texas if they hope to race for a series championship at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway on Nov. 2.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.