Graham Bowlin firmly established himself as a playoff contender with a statement win in the first ever eNASCAR race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Tuesday, May 31.
Through eight races of the 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, Graham Bowlin had found himself just eight points outside of the playoff cutline. But that no longer matters now he has found victory lane.
Bowlin led 97 of 120 laps in the No. 48 Charlotte Phoenix Toyota on the way to his second career win in the Coca-Cola iRacing Series. His first victory came in last year’s event at Watkins Glen International. This also marked the first series win for the Charlotte Phoenix race team, which just joined the series this season.
GOT THE DUB FOR THE DA BOIS @CLTPhoenixGG!#FromtheAshes🔥 pic.twitter.com/xLKXFDKdG5
— Graham A. Bowlin (@BowlinGraham) June 1, 2022
In the race’s early stages, it looked as if Casey Kirwan in the No. 95 might be the dominant car of the day, as he took the lead on lap three from polesitter Cody Byus in the No. 24. Kirwan would then lead the next 19 laps before Bowlin took control on lap 22 and would go on to lead all but two laps the rest of the race on his way to victory.
“It feels amazing,” Bowlin said. “A lot of weight lifted off my shoulders, especially before the break. We keep getting better every week, so hopefully the momentum keeps rolling our way.”
Despite being a brand new racetrack on the Coca-Cola iRacing Series schedule, the drivers seemed take the 1.25-mile flat-banked oval near St. Louis very quickly. It was a mostly clean race, with only the occasional contact between cars and just one caution on lap 60 involving a crash in turn 1 between Garrett Manes in the No. 31 Elliott Sadler eRacing Chevrolet and Jimmy Mullis in the No.46 Rise eSports Chevrolet.
However, the caution came at a critical juncture, as the field was in the middle of green flag pit stops. Some drivers were able to advance their track position with…
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