Hat Trick! Salas scores third straight eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series win at Darlington

A date with the Lady in Black marked the midpoint of the 2023 eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series season on Tuesday night with a 120-lap contest at Darlington Raceway. 39 hopefuls geared up to either continue their quest to stay within the top 20 or turn their season around before it becomes too late. Once again, Vicente Salas scored the victory, his third straight in four races following a runner-up effort in Las Vegas to start the season.

Salas had to come from the fourth starting position, behind a trio of Norse Force Racing drivers in Derek Justis, Daniel Buttafuoco and Wyatt Tinsley. The race saw five cautions for 19 laps, including one on the first lap that ruined races for many hopefuls before the first corner, as well as one that set up eNASCAR Overtime in being displayed with three laps to go.

Altus Esports drivers Seth DeMerchant and Ryan Doucette rounded out the podium positions, finishing in second and third respectively after starting outside the top 30. They both implemented an alternate strategy that paid off with desired results, but neither had anything for Salas. Buttafuoco and Darik Bourdeau, two drivers in need of a decent finish, capped off the final two spots in the top five. Ryan Luza continued his rebound from his statistically worst eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season and finished sixth. On the flip side, both Kaden Honeycutt and Zack Novak scored their worst finishes of the Contender season so far, both getting caught up in incidents through the night.

eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series results from Darlington Raceway were as follows:

2023 eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series points following Round 4 (not factoring in the drop) are as follows:

1. Vicente Salas,155
2. Ryan Luza, 135
3. Taylor Hurst, 121
4. Kaden Honeycutt, 108
5. Timmy Holmes, 98
6. Daniel Faulkingham, 97
7. Zack Novak, 94
8. Seth DeMerchant, 93
9. Jonathon Dulaney, 93
10. Kollin Keister, 91
11. Darik Bourdeau, 89
12. Briar LaPradd, 89
13. Collin Bowden, 83
14. Quami Scott, 80
15. Femi Olatunbosun, 78
16. Cody Byus, 72
17. Matthew Zwack, 71
18. Wyatt Tinsley, 68
19. Dylan Ault, 68
20. Kevin King, 68
    —————————-
21. Anthony Burroughs, 63
22. Christopher M. Hill, 61
23. Brian Mercurio, 61
24. Ryan Doucette, 60
25. Agnel Philip, 57

There will be one drop week to account for, and while Salas continues to dominate the top of the board, the battle around the cut line continues to spice up. Right now, Matthew Zwack and Kevin King hold enough points to sit in the top 20, but when factoring in the drop week, Brian Mercurio and Christopher M. Hill move into those positions, with Ryan Doucette also moving ahead into 21st. Wyatt Tinsley led at one point, but a late race penalty for passing entering the pits mired him in the back of the field, ultimately finishing 32nd and placing him right on the top 20 bubble.

Other drivers near the battle for the cut line through four races include Justis, who took the pole but went off strategy, rebounding for his best finish of the season in 12^th; Brandon McKissic, who was in the top 10 for most of the race before getting caught up in a restart wreck in overtime and finishing 29^th; and Ray Alfalla, who is outside the top 25 again after getting involved in the crash on the opening lap.

The next track on the 2023 eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series schedule is Richmond Raceway, a track last seen on the Contender Series calendar back in 2020. Garrett Manes was the winner on that day, at the time teamed up with none other than Salas, who finished fourth that day. In the following eNCiS race at Richmond in 2021, Salas led every lap. Four straight wins is most definitely on the table.

This race will be contested alongside the eNASCAR College iRacing Series event at Dover Motor Speedway on November 7. Tune in for the double eNASCAR action, which starts live at 8 p.m. ET on eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.

The eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series is the final step on the Road to Pro ladder before becoming eligible to race in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. For more information on this series, visit www.iracing.com/enascar/rtp/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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