eNASCAR Race Preview: Michigan

Halfway through the 2020 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, there’s a three-way battle at the top of the points standings that could go in any direction at any time. For Wood Brothers Racing driver Garrett Lowe, though, there’s reason to believe it might go in his direction tonight.

Although he’s been locked out of the winner’s circle thus far in 2020, Lowe’s relentless consistency (six top-five finishes in 10 starts) has put him right in the thick of things, just eight points behind championship leader Keegan Leahy and four points behind 2017 series champion Ryan Luza. But Lowe enters tonight’s round at Michigan International Speedway as the defending winner, having scored his first career eNASCAR checkered flag here last season, and he’s got three runner-up finishes on tri-ovals of a mile and a half or longer to go with it.

It’s hard to imagine a more drastic shift between ovals than the one that the series has gone through over the past month, from the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the beefed-up short track feel of New Hampshire Motor Speedway to tonight’s action at Michigan. At two miles and with plenty of banking in the corners, Michigan is one of the fastest tracks on the schedule, and served as the blueprint for Auto Club Speedway, which hosted the second round of the season earlier this year.

Beyond that, Michigan has been a staple of the eNASCAR calendar over the years in both its current and legacy builds. Multiple former eNASCAR champions, including Luza (2018), Zack Novak (2017), and Ray Alfalla (2013 and 2016) have won here. So has Steve Sheehan, who became the first driver in this year’s championship to win at Michigan when he took the checkered flag here in 2011.

The past few weeks have seen plenty of goings-on in the eNASCAR world, including a pair of schedule changes. After Michigan, the series will now head to the Daytona International Speedway road course before returning to the Daytona oval, while the championship finale will return to Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of last year’s side-by-side battle to the checkered flag between Leahy and Novak. In addition, Burton Kligerman Esports will welcome Bob Bryant to the wheel of its #77 car for the first time at Michigan, allowing it to continue with two cars while retaining its previously scored points in the team championship.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series action from Michigan gets started tonight at 9PM ET/6PM PT on eNASCAR.com/live and iRacing.com/live. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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