eNASCAR College iRacing Series Race Preview: Watkins Glen
November 28th, 2023 by Justin Melillo
The eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague travels to upstate New York for the fourth race on the 2023-24 academic calendar, with the fall semester coming to a close on Tuesday night at Watkins Glen International. 31 laps are scheduled for 40 of the top collegiate iRacers in their first road course race of the season.
The race will stream live on Tuesday at 8PM ET on eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels. At the same time, the 100-lap eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series finale at Texas Motor Speedway will be taking off to determine who becomes eligible to potentially race at the top level of eNASCAR competition in 2024. The broadcast will check in on that event as well throughout the evening.
About the Series: The eNASCAR College iRacing Series gives college students from the United States and Canada the opportunity to compete for their share of $60,000 in scholarships. Using machines from the NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 40 drivers qualify for the event by registering here and posting their fastest lap times in a two-week Time Attack through the iRacing UI. With hundreds of colleges and universities represented in each Time Attack and only one representative per school, drivers are competing not only against the greater iRacing community, but also their own classmates, for a spot on the prestigious grid.
Last Race: Everything’s coming up Steven Wilson in the past few months of eNASCAR competition. Fresh off of the $100,000-to-win eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series title at the end of September, he took another victory just over a month later when the College Series took on the Monster Mile at Dover Motor Speedway. University of Iowa’s Wilson took control from Hopkinsville CC’s Nate Stewart and never looked back, holding off the likes of Cal State Fullerton’s Logan Clampitt, Manchester CC’s Jose Solis Jr., and UNC at Charlotte’s Garrett Lowe.
Last Season: The last time the College Series took on Watkins Glen was in the Spring Semester of the 2022 season. That time, the collegiate sim racers took it on in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks, and it was won by Rutgers’ Daniel Buttafuoco. As Buttafuoco straps in for eNASCAR Contender action tonight, we’ll have a new king of Watkins Glen by night’s end.
Track Info: Located in upstate New York, Watkins Glen International opened in 1956. The current iterations of the track, both long and short, have been in play since 1992, with both layouts including the “Inner Loop”, or bus-stop chicane. The short course is the one used on the NASCAR calendar, while the long course features “The Boot” and adds on another mile and four corners to navigate. The eNASCAR College students will contest the standard NASCAR layout.
Entry List: The following 40 drivers have qualified for tonight’s eNASCAR College iRacing Series race at Watkins Glen International:
No. |
Name |
Hometown |
School |
1 | Reece Baham | Auburn University | Richmond, VA |
03 | Joe Burgy | CC Allegheny County |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
|
4 | Nate S Stewart | Hopkinsville CC |
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
|
5 | Dyllan Clark | Big Bend CC |
West Richland, Washington
|
7 | James Scioly | Eastern Washington |
Spokane, Washington
|
07 | Clint Halterman | UNC at Charlotte |
Greensboro , NC
|
10 | Steven Wilson | University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA |
11 | John Forbes3 | Saddleback College |
Rancho Santa Margarita, California
|
12 | Ar Muhammad Aleef | Ball State |
Singapore, Singapore
|
14 | Isaac Beekman | Auburn University |
Round Hill, Virginia
|
16 | Daniel Hunter4 | St. Clair College | Cottam, Ontario |
17 | Sean Peleg | Michigan |
Hartland, Michigan
|
21 | Layne Graves | Wichita State |
McPherson, Kansas
|
23 | Oumar Diallo | Milwaukee Area TC |
Brooklyn , NEW YORK
|
24 | Christian Charbonneau | Dallas Baptist | Chesterfield, VA |
25 | Cody Reed | Miami University |
Middletown, Ohio
|
26 | Tyler Garey | Palm Beach State |
Royal Palm Beach, Florida
|
27 | Elliot White | Maryland |
Santa Barbara, California
|
28 | Kaleb Bryan | Missouri S&T | Rolla, Missouri |
30 | Daniel Nanney | Macomb CC |
Clinton Township, Michigan
|
31 | Matthew L Morton | Ohio State Newark |
Pickerington, Ohio
|
34 | Andy Trupiano | Detroit Mercy |
Flat Rock, Michigan
|
36 | Noel Fougere | St. Francis Xavier |
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
|
37 | Charles Wimbley | Guilford College |
Brooklyn, New York
|
42 | Garrett Viton | Arizona State | Medina, OH |
44 | Logan Clampitt | Cal State Fullerton |
Trabuco Canyon, California
|
45 | Jacob Fifield | Onondaga CC |
Horseheads, New York
|
48 | Alexander Heider | St Johns River |
St. Augustine, Florida
|
49 | Garrett Lowe | UNC at Charlotte |
Gastonia, North Carolina
|
50 | Chris Treppa | Lawrence Tech |
Warren, Michigan
|
52 | Jack Coyne | Rensselaer Poly. | Warren, NJ |
54 | Arron Brown | Eastern Shore CC |
Nelsonia, Virginia
|
59 | Austin G Johnson | Cal State Fresno |
Fresno, California
|
61 | Athena Leclerc | St. Clair College |
Windsor, Ontario
|
69 | Drew Jewah | Chattahoochee TC |
Woodstock, Georgia
|
70 | Coleson Phelps | Iowa State | Vinton, Iowa |
72 | Jeremy O. Burns | Longwood |
Clarke County, Virginia
|
75 | Jose Solis Jr | Manchester CC |
East Hatford, CT
|
86 | Zach Sprouse | George Mason | Stafford, VA |
99 | Mario Merenda | Oklahoma |
Tulsa, Oklahoma
|
The eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague is supported by Coca-Cola, Logitech G, and DBOX. For more information on the series and how to compete, visit https://playfly.com/enascar-college-iracing-series/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.