Going into the eighth race of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, Matt Bussa — driver of the #75 Ford for Kyle Long & Mode Motorsports — had had a good season, sitting fourth in the points standings with four top 10s in seven races.
However, there was one thing missing from his 2022 resume: a race win.
That’s no longer the case, as Bussa utilized fuel strategy to capture the checkered flag in the Coca-Cola 150 at virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday night (May 24). It is the third victory of Bussa’s Coca-Cola iRacing Series career, and it secures his spot in the playoffs as the sixth different winner of the season in eight races.
“It feels amazing,” Bussa said. “Last year, I probably had five races in the bag based on fuel mileage if the caution did not come out. With this one, I had it at the back of my head it would be all yellows, but thankfully, it went green and here we are in victory lane.”
For the first half of the race, it seemed as if it was Michael Conti’s race to lose. Starting from the pole, Conti dominated early on in his JR Motorsports No. 8 Chevrolet, one of several cars decked out in a patriotic paint scheme for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. In total, Conti led 69 of 100 laps, but ultimately settled for a 23rd-place finish after being on the wrong end of the late-race pit strategy call.
It was a mostly clean race, with only two cautions for accidents out on the racetrack. The first yellow flag came on lap 25 when Collin Bowden in the No. 69 got loose in turns 3 and 4, leading to a stack-up that collected three or four cars, with the No. 97 of Logan Clampitt getting the worst of the damage. Garrett Manes’ No. 31 and Brian Mercurio’s No. 36 also sustained minor damage in the accident. The other caution came on the ensuing restart on lap 30, when Dylan Ault was hit from behind by Corey Vincent after an accordion effect back in the pack.
The first caution led to a round of pit stops, which set the stage…
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