Corey Gordon Simply Dominates WoO Late Model iRacing Invitational Wednesday On FS1
Story By: JORDAN DELUCIA / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – VIRTUAL KNOXVILLE, IA – In the second half of the World of Outlaws iRacing Invitational doubleheader Wednesday night at the virtual Knoxville Raceway, Corey Gordon smoothly powered to victory in the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models event, holding off the field on a green-white-checkered finish.
Gordon certainly did his best to drive away. The last time the white-and-black Drydene Performance Products car was in Victory Lane earlier this year, Chris Madden was the driver talking in the post-race interview at Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico.
But after Wednesday night’s Invitational, Gordon was the winning Team Drydene eSports driver, talking to FOX Sports 1’s Adam Alexander after holding on during a two-lap shootout in the virtual version of Madden’s real-life car.
“My heart’s racing, I’m sweating, I’m worn out,” Gordon said. “This iRacing stuff’s no joke.”
Believe him when he said it, because Gordon was forced to fend off a star-studded field of hungry drivers behind him for 40 laps around the virtual half-mile Knoxville.
At the drop of the green, Gordon raced down the backstretch from his third-place starting spot and threw it hard into Turn 3 underneath polesitter Bobby Pierce — who had unreal struggles when weather cut the power to his house shortly before the event started, turning back on just in time to race — in a big slide job to take the lead out of Turn 4. Pierce tried to come back at him on the inside as the field swept back around Turns 1-2, but he was unsuccessful.
Gordon hustled down the backstretch and immediately put some distance between he and the rest of the field. Hugging the low line around the inside berm for much of the 40-lap contest, Gordon opened up a 1.5-second advantage on Pierce by Lap 12 and was beginning to run away with it a bit.
A caution at the halfway mark erased Gordon’s lead and stacked the field back up. Kaeden Cornell and Logan Seavey got terrific jumps on the ensuing restart and zoomed by Pierce on the low side. Pierce drifted back even further as the race wore on, winding up with a solid eighth-place run after the freak start to his night.
As the race crossed into the final five circuits, Cornell was in the midst of chasing down leader Gordon and came up on the slower car of Cruz Pedregon out of Turn 2. They ended up making contact, but Cornell saved it and only lost one spot to Nick Stroupe. For the restart, a green-white-checkered situation awaited the field.
But when the green waved for the final time, the pressure from behind was no match for Gordon’s ice-cool composure as he powered out front of Stroupe, Cornell and the rest of the field back around to the checkered flag for his first Morton Buildings Late Model iRacing Invitational win.
“I hated to see all those cautions there at the end, but it was a great race,” Gordon said in the post-race interview. “I got out front, set my own pace, and I like them slick racetracks.”
NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace wrapped up a 16th-place finish, and while noting his inexperience in iRacing’s Dirt Late Model, also seemed to really enjoy the overall experience.
“That was a good time,” Wallace said in the post-race interview. “I’ve always liked dirt racing. Ever since iRacing came out with it, that’s like the most races I would run. I haven’t been on it in a really long time and it showed tonight.”
Last week’s Late Model winner on FS1, Trent Ivey, did not have the same strength on Wednesday night as he did in the win at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, but seemed to have made a good iRacing buddy in Wallace by the end of week two.
“Shout-out to Trent Ivey for his setup and actually some help yesterday,” Wallace said. “I ran some laps with him and his guys to get me dialed-in. I didn’t make any laps in a Dirt Late Model until 30 minutes before action tonight and that definitely showed. I had a lot of fun in the Sprint Car, but once I started figuring out the Late Model, it was a good time.”
World of Outlaws iRacing Invitational Results; April 8, 2020; Virtual Knoxville Raceway
Morton Buildings Feature (40 laps) — 1. 0-Corey Gordon [3][$1,000]; 2. 45-Nick Stroupe [10]; 3. 50-Kaeden Cornell [4]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger3 [7]; 5. 1-Logan Seavey [6]; 6. 5-Chase Briscoe [8]; 7. 20-Ricky Thornton [11]; 8. 32-Bobby Pierce [1]; 9. 39-Kevin Swindell [12]; 10. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 11. 99-Matty Watkins [17]; 12. 88-Trent Ivey [9]; 13. 3-Austin Dillon [16]; 14. 66-Matt Cosner [19]; 15. 9-Tristin Moran [14]; 16. 76-Bubba Wallace [20]; 17. 0-Scott Bloomquist [18]; 18. 71-Cruz Pedregon [21]; 19. 96-Mike McKinney [5]; 20. 02-Carson Macedo [13]; 21. 2-Nick Hoffman [15]. Lap Leaders: Corey Gordon, 1-41. Penske Racing Shocks Hard Charger: Nick Stroupe +8.
