Indianapolis Motor Speedway returns to eNASCAR schedule in 2024

It’s been just over four years since both the NASCAR Cup Series and the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series ran laps in official competition around the 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While NASCAR continued racing at the facility on the infield road course in the years following Kevin Harvick’s 2020 win, eNASCAR said farewell after Keegan Leahy finally captured victory at the Brickyard the same year.

In 2024, the oval is back on the menu for both series. The real-world Brickyard 400 takes place this weekend, with 160 laps of competition (iRacing is also hosting a full-length NASCAR iRacing Series Brickyard 400 this week to celebrate its return as well, in case you didn’t know).

For eNASCAR, 60 laps are scheduled at Indy during a crucial point in the race for the eNASCAR Playoffs. With up to half of the playoff field still undecided and only two races left in the regular season, with points still important and prior winners flirting with the top-20 cut line, Indianapolis could be a giant wild card event in its return to the top level of eNASCAR action on Tuesday night.

VIRTUAL INDIANAPOLIS HISTORY

From the inaugural 2010 season through 2020, Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a staple venue of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. While names like Leahy, Ray Alfalla, Nick Ottinger, and Zack Novak appear on the list of winners over the first 11 seasons, there are a couple of names that have won at Indy that are perhaps a little more unexpected.

Brad Davies, who was a staple in the series from its inception through 2021, won the first two races in series history, in 2010 and 2011. Alfalla scored his first of two victories in 2012, his second coming in 2014. In between that, Jon Adams scored his second and final career victory during a part-time effort in 2013. 2015 belonged to Ottinger, but the year after that, Dylan Duval was able to break into victory lane for the first time in his career.

Zack Novak took the checkers in his rookie season in 2017. Logan Clampitt, two years removed from his first career win, was able to break into victory lane in 2018 at the rectangular track. 2019 belonged to Corey Vincent after Blake Reynolds ran out of fuel exiting Turn 4 and took Casey Kirwan out with him in the process. Leahy, who finished third after dominating in 2019, came back with a vengeance in 2020 and strategized his way around Alfalla for the final victory at the track in the series to date.

WILD CARD ROUND?

The fact that Indianapolis hasn’t been seen on the schedule for the last three seasons, combined with the knowledge that this seventh generation NASCAR machine hasn’t gotten a proper race on the oval either, leaves the field with a lot of uncertainty entering Tuesday’s race.

In weeks prior, many of the top finishing drivers have been wary of both Indianapolis and Pocono closing out the regular season. Pocono is more of a known commodity, but it does tend to set up unexpected finishes in recent seasons. Indianapolis is a clean slate now with no recent data to pull from, plus the track having a completely new scan since the last time it was run. These setup engineers and World Championship-level drivers will have their work cut out for them.

It almost leans towards being a wild card, but don’t be so sure that the fast teams this season won’t have any advantages. Names that have dominated this season, including Steven Wilson, Tucker Minter, Parker White, and Vicente Salas, have never competed in a Coke Series race here before. Maybe that might lend itself as a slight advantage to drivers like Ottinger, Duval, Novak, and Leahy, all who have raced and won at Indy before.

PREVIOUS INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY WINNERS (active drivers in BOLD)

• 2010 – Brad Davies
• 2011 – Brad Davies (x2)
• 2012 – Ray Alfalla
• 2013 – Jon Adams
• 2014 – Ray Alfalla (x2)
• 2015 – Nick Ottinger
• 2016 – Dylan Duval
• 2017 – Zack Novak
• 2018 – Logan Clampitt
• 2019 – Corey Vincent
• 2020 – Keegan Leahy

The quest for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship, and the road to $500,000, continues tonight at 8:00 pm ET, live on eNASCAR.com/live. Tune in to the pre-race Countdown to Green starting at 7:30 pm ET.

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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