Matthew Zwack earns eNASCAR College iRacing Series win for University of Michigan at Darlington

After a trip to eNASCAR Overtime, University of Michigan’s Matthew Zwack scored the victory in the eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by NACE Starleague on Tuesday, holding off University of Maine at Machias’ Daniel Faulkingham at the line at Darlington Raceway. Zwack bested 39 of the top collegiate iRacers in a 100-lap battle at “The Lady In Black” for his first career win in the series. 

Zwack qualified 11th and ran around 10th for the majority of the show, but opted to utilize an alternate strategy to ultimately put him in the position to win. A number of cautions towards the end set up for a bunch of short runs, ultimately equalizing the tires and allowing for Zwack to hold on.

St Charles Community College student Anthony Burroughs took the pole position ahead of Eastern Washington’s James Scioly and Cal State Fullerton’s Logan Clampitt. The first caution flag flew on the 18th lap with the field opting for different pit strategies right away. There was a second immediate caution on Lap 23, but when the race got rolling again, Clampitt was in charge.

University of Iowa’s Steven Wilson closed to Clampitt’s back bumper, but the racing stayed green long enough for the final pit cycle to commence around Lap 60. This shuffled the deck, as tire management became the key to track position. Wilson was one of the last to pit, but Zwack continued on track as long as he could. Finally, the Michigan driver came in for service, and at that exact moment, the caution flew for an incident on the backstretch.

Wilson and Zwack both stayed out as the rest of the field had to pit for a chance to win. On the ensuing restart, Wilson couldn’t hang, even with decently new tires. As he free-fell through the field, Zwack was in control as the cautions began to fall once again. Wilson had to pit for damage repairs, but wound up caught in a future restart wreck, his day over early.

In eNASCAR Overtime, Zwack got the start he needed to get around Faulkingham. Into Turn 3 on the final lap, Faulkingham looked low, but couldn’t get his nose to stick, allowing for Zwack to take the checkers.

eNASCAR College iRacing Series results from Darlington Raceway were as follows:

Through six races and a number of drops already calculated, UNC at Charlotte’s Garrett Lowe assumes the lead by just a single point over Clampitt, last year’s series champion. Manchester Community College student Jose Solis Jr sits third, while Liberty University’s Austin Farr and Hopkinsville’s Nate Stewart currently round out the top five.

eNASCAR College iRacing Series standings through Round 6 are as follows:

1. Garrett Lowe, 137
2. Logan Clampitt, 136
3. Jose Solis Jr, 122
4. Austin Farr, 121
5. Nate S Stewart, 119
6. Steven Wilson, 115
7. Daniel Faulkingham, 115
8. Matthew L Morton, 111
9. John Forbes Jr, 109
10. Mario Merenda, 100

eNASCAR College iRacing Series racing will return next month, back in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks, with the seventh round of the season from Talladega Superspeedway. Qualifying will run from February 21st to March 3rd, and the main event is scheduled for Tuesday, March 19th, 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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