SARVER, Pa. – Mike McKinney put himself in the right place at the right time to win Monday night’s World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model iRacing Invitational at Lernerville Speedway.
McKinney, running inside the top five on a lap-32 restart, was able to avoid the chaos ahead of him when Logan Seavey tried to anticipate then-leader Corey Gordon’s jump in the fourth corner.
The field stacked up following contact between Seavey and Gordon that got Gordon out of shape, with several cars eventually plowing in with nowhere to go and Gordon’s No. 0m ending up on its lid.
McKinney got clear of that melee on the outside, however, and ultimately led the remainder of the distance. He took the checkers ahead of Ashton Winger by 2.55 seconds in the NOS Energy Drink No. 96.
It was McKinney’s second win in three Monday night World of Outlaws iRacing Invitationals this year.
“We had a really good car there I feel, with the drama or not,” McKinney said. “That restart there, I’m not really sure what happened, just some people playing some mind games there, I guess, with the starts.
“At the end of the day, though, we’re here for fun and have a good show,” he added. “But we’re all racecar drivers and it doesn’t matter if we’re playing ping-pong, we’re super competitive and going to try and get every edge we can get on each other.”
Whether there was drama or whether there wasn’t in the second half Monday night, McKinney felt he may have had something for Gordon straight up as they battled down the stretch.
“Right before that yellow, we weren’t running bad,” McKinney said. “I was able to enter in a little bit higher than [Gordon] and get a better run, I felt. So, it would have been interesting to see how it would have played out. I feel bad for him and everybody involved, it’s just a part of iRacing sometimes.”
While McKinney was the victor Monday, Winger was the show in his familiar No. 12.
Winger transferred into the feature out of the Last Chance Showdown and then charged from 21st to ninth in 30 laps before the restart chaos jumped him all the way up onto the podium in third.
He then battled with Anthony Perrego on the final restart with 10 to go before Perrego eventually spun, handing Winger a runner-up position that he held to the finish.
“Realistically, I only got to like ninth, and then everybody stacked up on that restart and then somehow I ended up in third,” Winger said. “I was pretty fast all night, but I really shouldn’t have ever been back there, other than the fact I drove off the race track like a dummy.
“I wish we were racing for real. This stuff is fun and it’s a cool deal for everybody watching at home, but I’m looking forward to going back to real racing.”
Kentucky’s Ethan Toedter completed the podium at the finish, followed by Trent Ivey, Nick Hoffman and Kevin Swindell.
Chase Briscoe, Logan Seavey, Robbie Kendall and Tyler Clem completed the top 10.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.