Austin Farr, Liberty University score eNASCAR College iRacing Series win at Charlotte

The second race of the 2023-24 eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague season took 40 of the top collegiate racers to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday night for 90 laps around the famed 1.5-mile oval in Concord, NC. Liberty University’s Austin Farr bested some of the top eNASCAR talents, many of whom have raced for $100,000 in previous eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series seasons, to win his first career College Series race. With 16 laps to go, Farr passed UNC at Charlotte’s Garrett Lowe to take control for the final restart, and he held off Cal State Fullerton’s Logan Clampitt, the defending 2023 Spring Semester champion, in the closing laps.

Clampitt took the top spot in qualifying, leading the field to the green alongside Ohio State Newark’s Matthew Morton. Farr quickly moved up into the second position as Morton slid back outside the top five by the end of the first lap. Lowe, who started in fifth, was able to capitalize up to the podium with Palm Beach State’s Tyler Garey following through to fourth. Those would end up being the four main players through the evening, with all but Garey sharing the lead through the event.

Lowe led the most laps, taking control at Lap 15 and leading 60 total. Clampitt entered a bit of a slide after losing the lead, falling back as far as fourth. Garey attempted to move around Farr for the runner-up spot, but Farr utilized momentum from the top lane to keep him behind.

The first caution of the evening flew on Lap 44 for a spin involving Dallas Baptist’s Christian Charbonneau, just before halfway and just before pit road was set to be a busy place. Lowe maintained the lead through the cycle, taking the restart on Lap 47. It would only stay green for nearly 20 laps as the second caution involving Liberty University’s RP Allen and Clemson University’s Jake Hall slowed the field once more. That led to another round of pit stops, but with the falloff as high as it was in just that short run, a four-tire strategy was clear-cut.

Lowe led the field back to green, but a slew of cautions plagued the next handful of laps. Eastern Washington’s James Scioly went around while battling inside the top five. Then, it was Lawrence Tech’s Chris Treppa in the wall and backwards out of Turn 4 on the next restart. In the process, Farr had managed to take control before the caution flew, which gave him the edge on the final restart to clear Lowe and drive away. Clampitt was also able to get around Lowe and mounted one last charge for the victory. Into Turn 3 on the final lap, Clampitt looked low, but Farr closed the door and drove to the checkers for his first ever win.

The victory vaults Farr, who finished seventh at Daytona last month, into the points lead through two races, with Clampitt and Lowe filling out the second and third spots. Daytona winner Daniel Faulkingham (University of Maine at Machias) and runner-up Anthony Burroughs (St. Charles CC) were both racing the eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series event which ran simultaneously. There will be drop weeks to factor in, however, as the 2023-24 season still has seven remaining races on the calendar.

eNASCAR College iRacing Series results from Charlotte Motor Speedway were as follows:

2023-24 eNASCAR College iRacing Series points following Round 2 are as follows:

1. Austin Farr, Liberty University, 70
2. Logan Clampitt,  Cal State Fullerton, 68
3. Garrett Lowe, UNC at Charlotte, 58
4. Alexander Heider, St Johns River, 56
5. John Forbes, Saddleback College, 56
6. Garrett Viton, Arizona State, 54
7. Matthew L Morton, Ohio State Newark, 48
8. Nate S Stewart, Hopkinsville CC, 45
9. Jose Solis Jr, Manchester CC, 43
10. Layne Graves, Wichita State, 43

The next event on the 2023-24 eNASCAR College iRacing Series schedule is at the Monster Mile in Delaware, Dover Motor Speedway, where drivers will return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series cars. Qualifying will run from October 21 through October 31, and the main event is scheduled for Tuesday, November 7. As always, the stream will go live at 8 p.m. ET on eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.

The eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague is supported by Coca-Cola, Logitech G, and DBOX. For more information on the series and how to compete, visit https://playfly.com/enascar-college-iracing-series/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

About the Series: The eNASCAR College iRacing Series gives college students from the United States and Canada the opportunity to compete for their share of $60,000 in scholarships. Using machines from the NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 40 drivers qualify for the event by registering here and posting their fastest lap times in a two-week Time Attack through the iRacing UI. With hundreds of colleges and universities represented in each Time Attack and only one representative per school, drivers are competing not only against the greater iRacing community, but also their own classmates, for a spot on the prestigious grid.

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