Ryan Gibson was on the outside looking in entering the Maritime Bus 175 on Tuesday night at the Pocono Raceway. Despite having an average finish of 7.50, he sat in 24^th in the driver standings having only started four of the first seven regular season races.

Any questions if he would be participating in the chase for the series championship this fall were put to rest on Tuesday when he drove to victory lane, securing his spot in the playoffs.

Starting sixth, Gibson (#23 Chevrolet, West Virginia, USA) would race near the front of the field for the 80 lap-race around the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway, ultimately making his move in the final 32-lap green flag run to claim the victory.

“It feels great, I really needed that win considering my place in the points,” shared Gibson.  “The finishes I've had have been good but I needed to punch my ticket.  I knew I had a fast car so I tried to stay calm and take my time getting the positions back that I had lost.”

Rounding out the top-five was Jose Mercado in second (#41 Ford, Florida, USA), Corbin MacAulay in third (#17 Logitech G Ford for Hurricanes eMotorsports, PEI, Canada), Darcy Ford in fourth (#64 Suck it Up Septic Ford for Atlantic Motorsports, PEI, Canada) and Chad Hyder in fifth (#21 Youtube.com/DHammIAm Ford for Buckeye Performance Emotorsports, Ohio, USA).

With the victory, Gibson becomes the seventh different driver to win in the first eight races this season.  He joins Jacob Nelson, Waylon Brown, Shane Cannon, Darcy Ford, Scott Bailey and Jose Mercado who have already clinched their spots in the playoffs.

“Clinching the playoff spot will just make the upcoming races less stressful knowing I'm in the chase.”

This was the fifth victory this season for Chevrolet, while Ford has claimed wins in the other three races; Toyota continues to be winless.

The second half of the regular season begins on Tuesday, July 21 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Fix Auto 200 at the Brickyard.

Maritime Bus 175 race recap

Pole-sitter, Jose Mercado would build a sizeable lead in the opening laps, pulling away from the field early in the race, while eventual race-winner, Ryan Gibson, would drop back to 25^th after suffering minor damage to his Chevrolet.

Fresh tires proved to be favored over track-position throughout the race as teams elected to pit during the first green flag run, then again during the scheduled caution on lap-24.

On the restart, Gibson would jump ahead of Jose Mercado with Darcy Ford not far behind as the field would begin to spread out prior to green flag pit stops; the field would reshuffle leading up to the second scheduled caution on lap-48 with Scott Bailey and Shane Cannon leading the field.

Bailey, Mercado, Nelson, Cannon, Gibson and Ford battled for the lead as we returned to green flag racing with 32-laps to go, with Nelson eventually building up a large lead over the rest of the field.

Once the field concluded their final green flag pit stops, Gibson was the front runner in the closing laps en route to his first victory of the season.

There were two scheduled cautions in the 80-lap race.

Here are the official results from the Maritime Bus 175 at Pocono Raceway.

Watch the archived broadcast of the Maritime Bus 175 at www.hollandcollege.com/esports.

For more information on the Canadian eMotorsports Series, visit www.hollandcollege.com/esports, www.facebook.com/emotorsportsCAN, www.twitter.com/emotorsportsCAN and www.instagram.com/emotorsportsCAN.

-30-