eNASCAR College iRacing Series | Maine at Machias, Daniel Faulkingham return to winner's circle in Great Lakes Gauntlet at Michigan

A new Tournament winner emerged on Wednesday night in the Great Lakes Gauntlet Finale at Michigan International Speedway. After two-straight Tournament wins by the University of Calgary's Connor Yeroschak, this Tournament would belong to the University of Maine at Machias as Daniel Faulkingham held on for the victory over Horry Georgetown's Timothy Holmes and the University of Michigan's Matthew Zwack.

39 drivers were qualified for the second week of the Great Lakes Gauntlet through the First and Second Rounds in Week 1. Faulkingham was not among the Group winners, having finished third, behind both Yeroschak and Holmes in Group 2's Second Round. Those finishes only mattered for advancing to Week 2, however, as the Semifinals would include a fresh round of qualifying.

Faulkingham qualified in through the second Semifinal Heat race, finishing third in that after initially re-qualifying in 20th, placing him outside the transfer spot to start the race. In the main event, Faulkingham got the jump on pit road to get around Zwack, and was able to hold on from there.

Daniel Faulkingham is back in eNASCAR College iRacing Series victory lane at Michigan, the winner of the Great Lakes Gauntlet! @ENASCARGG | @playvs_college

pic.twitter.c om/owr2FvgYbV — iRacing (@iRacing) February 19, 2026

"There's a lot of draft, so anybody can win," Faulkingham said post-race. "You race it like a Superspeedway, in a way, trying to control the lanes, trying to control the draft on the restarts at the end of the race, which I kind of feel like Superspeedway racing is my specialty these days... I just felt really good, and I just feel really comfortable here. Something about this place, it's our second win here. This was my last College win, two years ago, and probably should have won here last year as well... Feels good to win in this series again, because it's been a while, and I don't have too much time left over here."

Faulkingham, registered in the series as a Graduate Student studying Business on the Machias campus at the University of Maine, may be making his final starts in the series, indeed. This win marks his third in the series over the last two-and-a-half years, and as he mentioned, his second at Michigan International Speedway.

Yeroschak fought back from drama earlier in the night to finish in seventh, which allows him to maintain the overall points lead by 15 points over California State University, Fullerton's Logan Clampitt, the defending series champion. Two Tournaments remain, starting with the Old Dominion Classic at Martinsville Speedway next month.

SEMIFINALS

Qualifying would set the three Heat lineups for the Semifinal round. Taking the provisional pole was the University of Maine at Augusta's Parker White, with Kettering University's Maverick Davis and Eastern Shore Community College's Arron Brown rounding out the top-three spots, each of those drivers leading their respective Heat races to the green.

In the first Heat, White was able to hold off both Matthew Morton (The Ohio State University) and Holmes for the win, with Belmont Abbey's Jake Innes and Houston's Abraham Vela rounding out the Top 5. Notably failing to make it through was Triton's Adam Garza and Western Connecticut's Jonathan Evans, both involved in incidents during the 15-lap Heat race.

Heat 2 went in the way of Yeroschak, holding off Zwack, Faulkingham, Pasco-Hernando's Dylan Basen, and UNC Charlotte's Connor Trifari. Missing out on the transfer here included UCONN's Jose Solis Jr and Sac State's Dylan Ault, both instead heading to the LCQ. In Heat 3, Arizona State's Bradley Erickson charged to the front for the win, bringing with Carson Bowers (Purdue), Clampitt, Nick Miller (Kutztown), and Nathan Scott (UNLV). Notably as well in both Heats 2 and 3, the pole winners—Davis and Brown—did not advance.

Heading to the Last Chance Qualifier from the Semifinal Round, 23 drivers would fight for 10 remaining spots. The driver that's run more laps than anyone else this season, Solis Jr, wound up fighting to the front of the LCQ, holding off Ball State's Daniel Nanney for the win. Garza and Evans were also able to make it through, as were Purdue in Indy's Jacob Bradley, Longwood's Jeremy Burns, Wichita State's Layne Graves, UNC Charlotte's Blake Wynn, Babson's Ethan Shapiro, and Illinois State's Connor Birky.

With the cautions turned off until the Final Round, Ault, Brown, and Davis found themselves on the outside looking in after a large crash on the backstretch. The 13 drivers outside the top-10 would not go further, but would instead collect their points here.

FINAL ROUND

38 laps were on the board for the Final Round of the Great Lakes Gauntlet. White led the field to the green, but almost immediately, the field went into fuel conservation mode. This allowed for the Michigan truck, driven by Zwack, to take the lead and parade the field until halfway. The first caution flew for Birky just before the field reached halfway, but his truck was not terribly damaged. The entire pack rushed down pit road for service, and that's where the race got flipped in Faulkingham's favor.

While Bradley opted for two tires, Faulkingham managed to nip Zwack for second at the line, both of which took four tires, along with the rest of the field. On the restart, it was evident that the two-tire call was not the right one, as Bradley fell into the clutches of the field. Faulkingham was in control, and the rest of the field started to wreck it up as desperation set in. Basen found himself wrecked in the next caution, then the one after that would collect White and Yeroschak. On the next restart, five-wide didn't pan out for Evans, Morton, or Nanney.

A single truck spin by Vela after contact with Shapiro sent the field into eNASCAR Overtime. Another first-lapper with Garza going around after contact from Erickson after Holmes charged the corner put the race into a second eNASCAR Overtime. Thankfully, the field waited until the white flag was in the air for the next wreck, which made the race official. Faulkingham played it right and held on for the win.

GREAT LAKES GAUNTLET - TOURNAMENT #4 RESULTS

POINTS STANDINGS AFTER TOURNAMENT #4 - GREAT LAKES GAUNTLET

1. Connor Yeroschak | University of Calgary, 145 points
2. Logan Clampitt | Cal State University Fullerton, -15
3. Daniel Faulkingham | University of Maine at Machias, -20
4. Daniel Nanney | Ball State University, -30
5. Bradley Erickson | Arizona State University, -32
6. Matthew Morton | The Ohio State University, -33
7. Matthew Zwack | University of Michigan, -41
8. Adam Garza | Triton College, -46
9. Jose Solis Jr | University of Connecticut, -48
10. Dylan Ault | Sacramento State, -56
11. Timothy Holmes | Horry Georgetown Technical College, -63
12. Dylan Basen | Pasco Hernando State College, -64
13. Carson Bowers | Purdue University, -73
14. John Forbes Jr | Saddleback College, -81
15. Abraham Vela | University of Houston, -87
16. Isaac Shelley | University of Northwestern Ohio, -87

eNASCAR College iRacing Series | Great Lakes Gauntlet | Week 2 | Michigan International Speedway

Over the first two tournaments, 74 drivers have made it to the second week, with 15 drivers advancing all three times. Yeroschak is among those who have made it to the Final Round every time, and with his two Tournament wins, leads the way in the overall standings with two Tournaments to go. The next one is the Old Dominion Classic at Martinsville Speedway. Time Attacks open on February 24th and run until March 5th. The first Week of that competition will be on Wednesday, March 11th.

With there still being two Tournaments to go, and students can still register and compete! We've got wheel and pedal sets to give away thanks to Logitech G, plus all registered drivers who attempt at least one time attack this year will get a t-shirt as well. More details are available at the links below.

For more information on the eNASCAR College iRacing Series, visit https://pcl.gg/pages/enascar.
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.