eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series: 2023 Playoff Preview

After another madcap dash to the playoffs throughout the summer, the 10-driver field that will be competing for the 2023 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series title is officially set. With less than half of that group able to advance past the first playoff round and into the Championship 4 finale, but only three races to get there, both wins and points will be at a premium for the remainder of the season. Here’s everything you need to know about the road ahead:

2023 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Playoff Schedule

All races begin at 9 p.m. ET, with broadcast coverage kicking off at 8:30 p.m. ET with Wendy’s Countdown to Green at eNASCAR.com/live.

August 15: Michigan International Speedway
August 29: Dover Motor Speedway
September 12: Phoenix Raceway
September 26: Homestead-Miami Speedway

While there are four ovals on this year’s playoff calendar — as opposed to past years that included a road course — this set is about as varied as it gets. Michigan kicks it off as the longest and fastest of the four, while Homestead returns to its place as the season finale after producing so many thrilling eNASCAR conclusions over the years. Between them, Dover and Phoenix may each be a mile long, but they couldn’t be more different; Dover’s high concrete banks and narrow backstretch with no runoff stand in stark contrast to Phoenix’s flatter corners and open dogleg that sees cars fan out.

Seed 1: #18 Bobby Zalenski, Joe Gibbs Racing

With three wins, Zalenski’s got the edge on every other driver in eNASCAR this year. Once known as a playoff lock primarily for his road course victories, Zalenski swept both this year at Monza and Chicago, but he took a dominant victory at Richmond by leading 95 of 130 laps before either of them. Now, after yet another Championship 4 appearance last season without a title, Zalenski looks to finally bring it home in what may be his best shot yet.

Seed 2: #8 Michael Conti, JR Motorsports

With retirement looming after the season, Conti’s #ItsBeenGr8 tour included an early win at Milwaukee and an insurance victory at Las Vegas. After being the first driver to miss out on last year’s Championship 4, the 2014 series champion will look to round out his fifth and final season representing Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a walk-off title. Win or lose, he rides into the sunset having only missed the top 10 in points once over 12 full seasons at sim racing’s highest level.

Seed 3: #33 Tucker Minter, Team Dillon eSports

The biggest stage in sim racing hasn’t fazed Minter as a rookie. He came out of the gate by doing something that just two other drivers (including Dale Earnhardt Jr.) have done, winning his eNASCAR debut at Daytona, and he backed it up with a second victory in another crown jewel race in Charlotte. It’ll be a tough task for a rookie to win the title against such a stacked field of drivers who have been here before, but if those two races don’t throw a rookie off, then what can?

Seed 4: #95 Casey Kirwan, XSET

The defending eNASCAR champion made good on last year’s near-miss at Talladega this spring, making up for falling just short of a 2022 playoff win by locking himself into the 2023 edition. It was one of the closest finishes of the year as he eked ahead of Malik Ray by just 0.036 seconds at the line. He’d then add a second victory at Darlington for good measure. With five top-five finishes, Kirwan is tied with Minter and Nick Ottinger for most among playoff drivers.

Seed 5: #3 Jordy Lopez, Team Dillon eSports

Completing the lineup of Team Dillon eSports rookies in the 2023 playoffs alongside teammate Minter, Lopez only led one lap in his victory at World Wide Technology Raceway: the last one. It wasn’t the prettiest win as contact with leader Garrett Manes on the final lap sent Manes spinning before Lopez and Conti leaned on each other to the line, but it showed the lengths drivers were willing to go for the win. Still, had Conti won the photo finish, Lopez had been one of the most consistent drivers all year and may have made the playoffs on points anyway.

Seed 6: #10 Steven Wilson, Stewart-Haas eSports

One of last year’s Championship 4 drivers, Wilson successfully defended his 2022 race win from Atlanta this spring, taking the checkered flag in both the final eNASCAR race on its old configuration and the first on the new one. Although he was less dominant this time around than last year’s top-seed performance, Wilson remains a formidable opponent anywhere that the series goes, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him make the Championship 4 again.

Seed 7: #15 Garrett Lowe, Jim Beaver eSports

After objecting to how Jimmy Mullis raced him for the win on older tires at Nashville, Lowe and his Jim Beaver eSports team called their shot two weeks later in New Hampshire by running a protest paint scheme inspired by Felix Sabates and Kyle Petty in the mid-1990s and dominating the late stages of the race to punch a playoff ticket. The win was made that much sweeter by ending Mullis’ three-race win streak at “The Magic Mile.” Lowe is no stranger to the playoffs, but with momentum now behind him, he’ll hope to carry it to his best-ever points finish.

Seed 8: #45 Michael Guest, 23XI

It took Guest more than 100 races to finally find the winner’s circle, but after strong points seasons the past couple of years weren’t enough, he finally guaranteed himself a playoff spot in his last opportunity in Pocono after fighting off 2020 series champion Ottinger and close friend Malik Ray on a tense final lap. While Guest normally doesn’t qualify well (his average starting spot is in the 30s), few drivers are better at cutting their way through the field.

Seed 9: #46 Jimmy Mullis, Rise eSports

As if his win at Nashville wasn’t dramatic enough, Mullis kept flirting with the playoffs through the regular season finale at Pocono after bouncing in and out of the top 20 in points lap by lap. Surviving a series of last-lap wrecks helped him clear the threshold, and the reset puts him on par with the rest of the field. But after racing elbows out just to get in over the past few weeks, the question is how much leeway the field is willing to give him.

Seed 10: #25 Nick Ottinger, William Byron eSports

On the opposite end of the qualifying discussion from Guest, Ottinger has been the best qualifier in eNASCAR this year with a single-digit average start and four poles, even though he hasn’t taken a win. While a nudge from teammate Matt Bussa in the final corner at Pocono may have cost him a win and three points in playoff seeding, he was going to make it in no matter what. Ottinger’s five top fives and eight top 10s had him second in points coming into Pocono, and well clear of the next winless driver.

Non-Playoff Top 20 Drivers

Guest’s win at Pocono was the difference between him and Malik Ray making the playoffs after the Jim Beaver eSports driver got past Charlotte Phoenix’s Graham Bowlin for the second-highest points total among winless drivers. Barring catastrophe, they should both be locks to retain their series licenses for 2024, although both left Pocono disappointed about the playoffs; Ray leads the series with six top-five finishes, while Bowlin was in the Championship 4 last year.

As far as a guaranteed spot on the 2024 grid goes, there’s a tight battle around the 20th place cutoff, as four drivers are separated for six points between 19th and 22nd, with Pittsburgh Knights driver Corey Vincent currently holding the last spot by two points over Williams Esports’ Donovan Strauss and Letarte eSports’ Dylan Ault. Multiple others (including past series champions like Keegan Leahy and Zack Novak) could be in play on both sides of the elimination line as well in the coming weeks.

2023 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Playoff Schedule