eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Race Preview: Texas Motor Speedway

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs return on Tuesday night with the 16th race of the 2024 season at Texas Motor Speedway. For the first time since the championship race in the 2021 season, the 40 top-ranked eNASCAR drivers will take on the 1.5-mile, D-shaped oval in Fort Worth, Texas, for 100 laps of action.

For the 10 playoff drivers remaining, a win also means a ticket to the main stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, with a chance to win a championship and $100,000 in October. Nobody got the job done at Michigan two weeks ago, so at least two spots will go to drivers highest in points.

Race coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels. Tune in 30 minutes earlier to catch the Countdown to Green at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Last Race: A first time winner emerged at Michigan, but it wasn’t any of the 10 playoff drivers, specifically the winless Parker White. JR Motorsports’ Briar LaPradd stole the show in a photo finish, by 0.003 seconds over the aforementioned White. LaPradd led the field back to green on the final restart, but by the white flag, White was in prime position to steal it himself. Behind LaPradd, it was four-wide entering Turn 1 with White, Casey Kirwan, Jimmy Mullis, and Kaden Honeycutt arguing over the momentum. White won out, and out of Turn 4, got right alongside for the lead. LaPradd held on by inches and bettered his chances at staying inside the series for another season, moving up to 20th in the points.

Last Year: The last time Texas was on the schedule was back in 2021. It was the season finale, and a championship was decided with Keegan Leahy taking the spoils. Last season, Dover played as the middle round of the playoffs, and was utilized as Nick Ottinger’s ticket to the Championship 4. While it’s been more than a decade, Ottinger still has the advantage that he’s the only driver to win at Texas out of the current playoff field.

Track Facts: The 1.5-mile oval of Texas Motor Speedway is located on the north side of Fort Worth. The construction of the speedway began in spring of 1995 and required the movement of more than four million cubic yards of earth before it was completed the following year. The oval originally featured unique dual-angle banking, but was reconfigured in the early 2000s, eliminating the eight-degree section of the dual-angle banking. It was repaved again in 2017, this time where Turns 1 and 2 were completely reprofiled, going from 24 degrees of banking and 60 feet of track width to 20 degrees of banking and 80 feet of racing surface. Texas hosts NASCAR events, and used to host INDYCAR racing up until 2023.

Next Race: After Texas, the last chance to earn a ticket to the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship 4 takes place at Phoenix Raceway on Tuesday, September 10th at 8:00 p.m. ET. Last season, Tucker Minter held on in Triple eNASCAR Overtime for the victory, which allowed him to advance to the title race.

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

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