Timothy Holmes puts Horry-Georgetown Technical College in eNASCAR College iRacing Series victory lane in Queen City Crown Finale

The 2026-27 eNASCAR College iRacing Series presented by Logitech G is only two Tournaments old following the conclusion to the Queen City Crown at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday night, but there have already been two Final Round photo finishes, and this one was the second-closest finish in series history.

Horry-Georgetown Technical College’s Timothy Holmes, one of the former competitors in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series, was on a mission in the 100 lap finale. From the second spot on the grid, Holmes immediately got past the University of Calgary’s Connor Yeroschak—already back in Canada following his runner-up performance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte the night prior—and the fight was on from there.

Through attrition and a few bumps and scrapes along the way, Holmes took the white flag ahead of Triton College’s Adam Garza and California State University, Sacramento’s Dylan Ault. Into Turn 3, Garza gave Holmes the business, and the two slowed slightly coming off of Turn 4. Ault had a monster run, and at the line, it was almost too close to call. Just by a nose, it was Holmes who would celebrate his first College win.

WE’VE GOT A PHOTO FINISH IN THE QUEEN CITY CROWN!!!

Timothy Holmes (Horry-Georgetown TC) holds off Dylan Ault (Sacramento State) and Adam Garza (Triton) by 0.002 seconds at the line for his first eNASCAR College iRacing Series win!

@ENASCARGG | @LogitechG | @playvs_college https://t.co/WG6EhusRZ7

— iRacing (@iRacing) October 15, 2026

“I was just going to run the bottom until the end,” Holmes said post-race. “I moved up there with two to go, and I knew with the draft, (Garza) could get there right at the end of the straightaway, and I knew he was going to try to do something right there in the last corner. Decided I was going to run the bottom, and he drove it in there too. We both missed the whole corner, and I thought I gave it away, but glad I could hold on to it.”

The victory vaults Holmes up to second in the standings, now just six points back of the first Tournament winner of the season, Tarrant County College District’s Jacob Wilkerson, who followed up his performances with another top-five, finishing fourth. The defending series champion, Yeroschak, found misfortune for the second-straight Final round, and falls to 22nd in the standings as the series gears up for its first Ford Mustang GT4 battle later this month at Watkins Glen, in conjunction with IMSA.

FROM LEADING LAP 1 TO LEADING LAP 100

Connor Yeroschak took the pole position, his second pole in two nights after earning the pole for his first eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series Finale appearance one night ago. Yeroschak hopped on a plane and flew back home to compete in the College Series final round, and for the most part, seemed to have not lost a single tenth with how exhausted he must have been.

Regardless, the start went just like it did the night before, with the outside getting the jump on him, as Yeroschak fell behind Timothy Holmes, who would lead the opening laps. Yeroschak fought back, and Dylan Ault also joined the fray. For the majority of the night, it would be those three exchanging the lead like a superspeedway race was going on.

Cautions were prevalent, mostly towards the middle to end, but the first one flew with a big crash into Turn 1 on Lap 20, ending the chances for St. Johns River’s AJ Heider early on. Some suspect strategy set up a restart with two trucks that did not pit up front on Lap 24, and both trucks would immediately plummet through the order, the leader of the two, Belmont Abbey’s Jake Innes, going around off of the nose of UNC Charlotte’s Caleb Johnson.

It set up for the first of many single-file restarts on the night, the rule being that the restarts go that way after restarts that result in cautions almost immediately to attempt to spread out the pack quicker. It paid off somewhat, as the third caution of the day flew not from the double stack, but from some potential blocking in the back a few laps into the run.

Finally back to the action, and it was Ault versus Yeroschak up front. The two swapped the lead on multiple occasions, finally with Ault assuming the lead, but the pack was snarling behind. Saint Leo’s Jacob Malone had fought his way to fourth and was battling hard against Holmes for the spot. Yeroschak took the lead and ran a middle line while Ault went rim-riding to get the run to pass back by. It was some intense racing, for sure.

It couldn’t last, however, as a couple of the UNC Charlotte trucks collided and brought out a fourth yellow. It devolved from there. A few quick cautions later, and then it was finally back to green. Suddenly, there were just 20 laps to go in the Final Round, and it looked as though it would be either Ault or Yeroschak taking the victory.

Another caution set up for one last pit stop, and some strategy once again entered the chat. Three trucks—UNC Charlotte’s John Babineau, George Mason’s Zach Sprouse, and Richard Bland’s Davin Tobin—all opted for two tires and forced Yeroschak to start on the top in fourth.

It was a mess, and there was almost four-wide immediately for the top spot. Somehow, they kept it going straight for nearly a whole lap, but then, there it was, the biggest hit of the night, and it involved Yeroschak, taking him out of the picture.

Yeroschak was up high, while below him, it was Babineau to his immediate left, and below him, Holmes was trying to clear the gap in-between Babineau and Tobin. It all came together, and it ended the Dino’s night, among others collected in the fray.

With seven laps to go, the field took the green for the final time. Ault was in control, but he was in the wrong gear, and that allowed Holmes to pass him to the right before Turn 1 with help from Adam Garza behind. The two cleared and sent Ault back to third, and that’s when the waiting games began for the win.

As seen earlier, the racing had plate tendencies, so making the move too early could prove to backfire if not done perfectly. Garza began timing out his runs, as did Ault and the field behind.

On the final lap, Garza was ready to pounce. Off of Turn 2, he got the run and made his way to the back bumper of Holmes. Contact. The two started sliding off the corner. More contact. Here came Ault with a run to the outside. More contact again at the line, a wreck, but it was Holmes to the line first by just 0.002 seconds over Ault, the second closest finish in series history. The only finish closer than that came back in 2025 at Talladega between Saddleback’s John Forbes Jr and Maine at Machias’s Daniel Faulkingham

TOURNAMENT 2 | QUEEN CITY CROWN AT CHARLOTTE | RESULTS

STUDENT STANDINGS FOLLOWING TOURNAMENT 2 | QUEEN CITY CROWN

SCHOOL PLACEMENTS IN TOURNAMENT 2 | QUEEN CITY CROWN

SCHOOL STANDINGS FOLLOWING TOURNAMENT 2 | QUEEN CITY CROWN

* = Did not start / Was not eligible to score points in Tournament 2

LEAVING CHARLOTTE

Tarrant County’s Jacob Wilkerson came into the Tournament leading the Student Standings, and leaves the same, although that gap has shrunk to six points over Holmes. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte came into the Tournament leading the School Standings, and also leaves the same, their gap now seven points over both Ball State University and Belmont Abbey College.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: BIG APPLE BATTLE

Next up on the calendar is the Big Apple Battle at Watkins Glen International. The Time Attack opens on October 20th and closes October 25th. Week 1 of the third Tournament starts on Wednesday, October 28th, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Week 2 will take place one week later, on Wednesday, November 4th. This will be the first of two races in conjunction with IMSA, featuring the Ford Mustang GT4.

For more information on the eNASCAR College iRacing Series presented by Logitech G, visit  pcl.gg/pages/enascar.

For more information about eNASCAR, visit  eNASCAR.com.

For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit  iRacing.com.

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