Sep 26, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; General view of main grandstand as NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) leads driver Ryan Blaney (12) driver B.J. McLeod (78) driver Kyle Busch (18) and driver Kyle Larson (5) during the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Kollin Keister survived a furious final push by Michael Cosey Jr. to take the checkered flag at virtual Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Tuesday night and pick up his second career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series win.
Restarting sixth when the green flag dropped for the final time with 10 laps to go, Keister had 23 fewer laps on the tires of his No. 15 Ford than the five cars in front of him. Keister quickly charged to the front and grabbed the lead for good on Lap 96 of the 100-lap race, passing defending series champion Parker White and his No. 95 Chevrolet.
He then held off Cosey despite a bump on the final set of turns, crossing the finish line 0.172 second ahead of Cosey’s No. 34 Chevy.
“I didn’t know how that was going to play out in the end,” Keister, who finished third at this race last season, said of the frantic finish. “Just glad to be here in Victory Lane after that race … I was three and four wide the whole time, and luckily we made it through without getting wrecked.”
Cosey, looking for his first career win, nearly got it when, heading into Turn 3 on the final lap, he tapped Keister’s back bumper with his No. 34 Chevy, getting the leader a little squirrelly. But Keister held on and remained clear of Cosey coming out of Turn 4.
“I can’t even describe it, man,” Cosey, who like Keister had some of the freshest tires in the field at the end of the race, said of his final charge through the field. “With 25 laps to go, I was 30th, taking fresh tires. … We had a bad race in Vegas, then all of a sudden I finished second, man.”
About the last-lap contact with Keister, the Hagerstown, Md., native said, “I didn’t want to wreck him, you know, that was the last thing I wanted to do. But I had such a good run, I had to give just a little feel. You never know what might happen down there off of 3 and 4.”
Donovan Strauss and his No. 51 Chevy came in fourth, while Seth Demerchant in the No. 14 Toyota finished fifth.
Keister’s other win came in 2020, but because there were more race winners than playoff spots that season, not all winners made the playoffs that season. Keister, from Frostburg, Md., was among those missing out on the playoffs that season.
The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series returns to action on March 4 for its international race, this time at virtual Interlagos (Sao Paulo, Brazil).
–Field Level Media
