Briar LaPradd plays eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoff spoiler with maiden win at Michigan

August 14th, 2024 by

Just because there are 10 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers left racing for the championship, doesn’t mean that the other 30 drivers without the red numbers on their roofs have to back down.

In the logiPLAY DAYS 140 at Michigan International Speedway on Tuesday night, Parker White (Williams Esports) had a ticket to the NASCAR Hall of Fame to race for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Cup on the line. JR Motorsports driver Briar LaPradd, however, had a chance at a first career victory, a position he’s seldom been in throughout his Coke Series career.

It came down to the final restart, a natural green-white-checkered on Lap 69, but LaPradd managed to hold off White for his first career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory by only 0.003 seconds. LaPradd scored the victory in his 33rd-career start, and became the 68th different driver in series history to earn a victory over the past 15 seasons.

LaPradd got the jump on Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Jimmy Mullis, but that allowed for White to take advantage and move into second by the backstretch. On the white flag, the battle behind LaPradd went four-wide with White, Mullis, Casey Kirwan (Spire Motorsports) and LaPradd’s JR Motorsports teammate, Kaden Honeycutt. By the backstretch, Kirwan and White were able to scoot ahead, but LaPradd maintained control. In the final corners, White got alongside, the two leaning on one another out of Turn 4. They separated just before the line, and it was just enough for LaPradd to take the win.

“I’ve worked really hard, since 2016, to just try and work my way through the ranks and have fun doing what I love, and that’s racing,” LaPradd said. “It’s been a long journey, from LockDown Racing, everybody over there helped me out for a long time…. to everyone at Team Conti helping me out, I know we’ve had struggles this year, but they’re a good group of guys, and they push you to be SO good, you know? They push you hard. I can’t believe I’m a Coke Series winner, honestly, it’s just… unreal.”

The emotional sophomore driver continued on and thanked everyone he could think of in his post-race interview, choking back tears at moments when speaking of his longtime sponsors, such as Cameron Ledford at Ledford Billiard Supply, and even more so when thanking his family, including his father who has been battling health issues as of late. “He’s been down, and I hope this picks him up.”

From the 16th starting spot, LaPradd worked his way up to second place by Lap 18. He took control for the first time on Lap 37, and led 19 laps in total, including the last 12 after opting to pit with 25 laps to go. Perhaps the only driver as strong as him throughout the night finished a fraction of a nose behind, as White led the most laps out of anyone at 21.

Being the first race of the three-race playoff schedule, a win would have meant an automatic berth into the Championship 4 for any of the 10 contending drivers. Playoff drivers such as Dylan Duval (Nitro Circus Sim Racing) and Bobby Zalenski (Joe Gibbs Racing) also led laps during the event, but wound up falling down the order late in the going for one reason or another. Regular Season champion Steven Wilson (M80) also led a lap on Lap 39 while battling with LaPradd, Kirwan, and White.

However, nobody truly exerted dominance like White or LaPradd, and when they both pitted for the final time on the Lap 45, it wound up playing perfectly into both of their hands.

There were eight cautions to contend with, despite the race finishing at its scheduled distance at 70. Unknowing of how and when the cautions would fall through the night, many strategies formed after the halfway point. While track position was ideal to get around the hornet’s nest of the midfield, drivers were also able to slice their way back to the front on a new pair of virtual tires.

Both LaPradd and White were involved in a big accident on Lap 49, which saw other hopefuls such as Nick Ottinger (William Byron eSports) get taken out of contention. White opted to pit for damage repair while LaPradd and his bent Camaro nose stayed on track. The damage wasn’t enough to deter either of them, as both sat inside the top three with under 10 laps to go.

Another photo finish later, LaPradd managed to hang on for victory while White had to settle for being the best-finishing playoff driver on the night.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Round 15 at Michigan were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts
1 16 88 Briar LaPradd JR Motorsports 70 0.000 19 38.774 40
2 2 53 Parker White Williams Esports 70 -0.018 21 38.577 35
3 10 77 Casey Kirwan Spire Motorsports 70 -0.067 0 38.698 34
4 22 29 Jimmy Mullis Kevin Harvick Inc. 70 -0.088 0 38.760 33
5 30 62 Matt Bussa Kevin Harvick Inc. 70 -0.106 0 38.644 32
6 13 48 Graham A. Bowlin QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming 70 -0.199 0 38.666 31
7 6 8 Kaden Honeycutt JR Motorsports 70 -0.211 0 38.744 30
8 18 89 Garrett Lowe BS+COMPETITION 70 -0.234 0 38.440 29
9 39 17 Collin Bowden RFK Racing 70 -0.273 0 38.642 28
10 34 45 Michael Guest 23XI 70 -0.298 0 38.751 27
11 14 51 Donovan Strauss Williams Esports 70 -0.414 0 38.609 26
12 5 10 Steven Wilson M80 70 -0.455 1 38.619 25
13 40 7 Malik Ray Spire Motorsports 70 -0.543 0 38.859 24
14 21 6 Timothy Holmes RFK Racing 70 -0.588 0 38.676 23
15 32 12 Garrett Manes fgrAccel eRacing 70 -0.578 0 38.750 22
16 29 33 Taylor Hurst Team Dillon Esports 70 -0.759 0 38.731 21
17 17 99 Matthew Zwack Nitro Circus Sim Racing 70 -0.785 0 38.676 20
18 3 54 Daniel Faulkingham Joe Gibbs Racing 70 -0.850 0 38.518 19
19 8 18 Bobby Zalenski Joe Gibbs Racing 70 -0.921 14 38.717 18
20 28 80 Ryan Luza M80 70 -1.093 0 38.613 17
21 12 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 70 -1.320 0 38.770 16
22 38 42 Tyler Garey eRacr 70 -1.352 0 38.556 15
23 25 38 Michael Cosey Jr Front Row Motorsports 70 -1.384 0 38.778 14
24 9 14 Seth DeMerchant fgrAccel eRacing 70 -1.424 0 38.808 13
25 4 23 Keegan Leahy 23XI 70 -1.571 0 38.610 12
26 11 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 70 -1.907 0 38.751 11
27 1 20 Wyatt Tinsley QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming 70 -2.340 0 38.840 10
28 7 41 Dylan Duval Nitro Circus Sim Racing 70 -2.347 11 38.684 9
29 19 40 Dylan Ault Letarte eSports 70 -2.350 4 38.614 8
30 27 22 Femi Olatunbosun OXYGEN Esports 70 -3.737 0 38.755 7
31 31 25 Nick Ottinger William Byron eSports 70 -3.773 0 38.837 6
32 15 5 Zack Novak OXYGEN Esports 70 -9.583 0 38.855 5
33 35 66 Kollin Keister Kanaan Esports 70 -11.525 0 38.826 4
34 24 3 Jonathon Dulaney Team Dillon Esports 70 -14.782 0 38.857 3
35 26 36 Quami Scott Letarte eSports 69 -1L 0 38.820 2
36 36 90 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 64 -6L 0 38.702 1
37 20 55 Ryan Doucette Pittsburgh Knights 61 -9L 0 38.934 1
38 23 69 Ray Alfalla eRacr 49 -21L 0 38.946 1
39 37 34 Darik Bourdeau Front Row Motorsports 48 -22L 0 38.829 1
40 33 27 Cody Byus Pittsburgh Knights 42 -28L 0 38.849 1

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Playoff Standings through Round 15 are as follows:

  1. Steven Wilson, 2045
  2. Graham A. Bowlin, 2036
  3. Parker White, 2035
  4. Garrett Lowe, 2034
  5. Bobby Zalenski, 2028
  6. Vicente Salas, 2026
  7. Daniel Faulkingham, 2024
  8. Tucker Minter, 2016
  9. Dylan Duval, 2014
  10. Nick Ottinger, 2006

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 15 are as follows:

  1. William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 726
  2. M80 (#10/#80), 725
  3. Joe Gibbs Racing (#18/#54), 706
  4. Williams Esports (#51/#53), 696
  5. Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 662

Top playoff seed Wilson brought it home in 12th, a 10 point swing in White’s direction. White moves from ninth up to third, now 10 points behind Wilson with two races to go. One point ahead of White is Graham Bowlin (QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming), who brought it home in sixth. Rounding out the top four currently holding on to tickets to the playoffs is BS+COMPETITION’s Garrett Lowe, who sits six points ahead of Bobby Zalenski in fifth.

With a non-playoff competitor taking the victory, it now means that at least two drivers will advance to the Championship 4 on points this season. It could ultimately end up being all four on points depending on the results at Texas and Phoenix. While Wilson is still fairly safe for now, a bad day at Texas or a winner from lower in the points could evaporate the 17-point advantage he currently holds.

Outside of the playoffs, there’s also a relegation line to keep an eye on. With his win, LaPradd moves up to 20th, five points ahead of Malik Ray (Spire Motorsports). That battle will continue over the final three races, and those outside the playoffs but ahead of 21st will maintain their license in the series for 2025. Those behind 20th will be relegated into the Contender Series, and will have to battle back in against approximately 20 of the up-and-coming drivers from the eNASCAR Qualifying iRacing Series.

The current 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers head back to Texas Motor Speedway for the first time since 2021 in two weeks. 100 laps are scheduled for the second round of the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs. Tune in on Tuesday, August 27th, at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Countdown to Green. Race coverage for the event begins at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.

For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit www.enascar.com or www.iracing.com/enascar. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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