Graham Bowlin seals eNASCAR playoff bid with win at Pocono

Graham Bowlin secured his third career playoff berth with a victory at a virtual Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., on Tuesday night as part of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.

Racing in the No. 48 Toyota, Bowlin was able to hold off Tucker Minter, who took inside position down the stretch but was unable get the checkered flag. Minter finished 0.057 seconds behind Bowlin in his No. 97 Chevrolet.

Bowlin took a more aggressive approach to pick up the victory.

“Got bullied last race a couple times. Is what it is. I’m in the playoffs now cause of it,” said Bowlin, who resides in Houston. “Just how you have to race I guess. You gotta nudge people a little bit.”

It was a different story for Minter.

“Just wanted to finish the race as clean as I could,” said Minter, of Warrenton, Va. “I don’t want to — I don’t like to wreck people or anything like that. And I already made a mistake earlier. … I feel like I did almost everything I could on that final restart exchange.”

Femi Olatunbosun, the driver of the No. 22 Chevrolet, came in third, while Jimmy Mullis (No. 29 Chevrolet) and Steven Wilson (No. 10 Ford) came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

The playoffs are up next, and they will begin on Aug. 13 at a virtual Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

–Field Level Media