Minter wins, earns eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship 4 berth with Wilson at Phoenix

With Garrett Lowe and Nick Ottinger already locked in for the 2023 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship 4 battle in two weeks, the Logitech G 120 at Phoenix Raceway on Tuesday night would serve as a final chance for two of the remaining eight eNASCAR playoff drivers to clinch a spot in the fight for the title. It would take all three eNASCAR Overtime attempts and a finish under caution, but Team Dillon eSports’ Tucker Minter would not be denied, winning his third race of the 2023 season to lock his place into the Championship 4 and a spot on stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in two weeks. He’ll join the fight alongside Stewart-Haas Racing’s Steven Wilson, who returns to the Championship 4 for the second season in a row.

Ottinger took his sixth pole position of the season and led the field to the green flag. The first 10 laps went clean and green, a promising start, but the first caution flag on Lap 11 would not be the only one through the night. In fact, the race would end up slowed 14 times for 52 of the completed 135 laps, 15 more than the scheduled distance.

Through the opening quarter, Ottinger led until he decided to pit on Lap 24. This handed the lead to RFK Racing’s Kaden Honeycutt, who would benefit from a slew of cautions from there until Lap 50. When things finally settled down, JR Motorsports’ Michael Conti was in position to pounce, having fresher tires than Honeycutt and a lane to take the spot away. But Conti would have to contend with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bobby Zalenski, another driver in a must-win scenario to make the Championship 4. Conti looked low on Honeycutt, and when he couldn’t complete the pass, Zalenski took advantage and took the lead away.

A crucial decision came about at halfway when Barney the Flagman threw another yellow. Zalenski opted to stay out as the rest of the field came in for service. Some drivers opted to take two tires, such as Minter, Ottinger and defending champion Casey Kirwan, while Conti played the four-tire card. But there were some hopefuls who opted to stay out with Zalenski, including Wilson and 23XI’s Michael Guest, who were both involved in an earlier incident and seemingly out of contention.

That move would benefit Wilson as well as Lowe, who also stayed out for the track position. When the field got the green flag on Lap 75, it would turn into the longest green flag stretch and best racing of the night. Zalenski had the track position, but also the oldest tires. Kirwan was able to track him down and the two went to battle. A season ago, the two fought at Phoenix for the title, but this time, it would be for a chance at racing for the title in two weeks. Kirwan was eventually able to get by, but so was Minter, who did so much more easily as Zalenski faded back to third, ahead of Conti on his four tires in fourth.

Minter was able to get to Kirwan’s back bumper almost instantly, and on Lap 93, he began to make the move. The two leaned on one another, rough at times but also fair as the two continued moving forward without wrecking. Minter made a slick slide to take the lead away on Lap 94 in Turns 1 and 2, but Kirwan wasn’t through with him yet. Kirwan continued to fight for a few more laps, but eventually Minter was able to create a gap. From there, he began to pull away.

With 12 laps remaining, Minter had nearly gapped Kirwan by the entire backstretch, but of course, a caution would once again shake up the remainder of the event. Minter never wavered as the field came to pit road entrance, making his decision obvious that he was planning to stay out. Nearly the entire rest of the field opted to pit for tires, as some took two and some took four. Minter had the oldest tires on the track at that point following the longest green flag stretch of the night, so he would need a lot of help in terms of cautions to keep ahead of the other must-win drivers.

As Wilson had recovered back to the top 10, it essentially ensured that anyone else in the playoffs would need to win to advance. Rise eSports’ Jimmy Mullis joined Minter on old tires at the front of the field with eRacr’s Collin Bowden. After that, the rest of the field had at least two tires to contend with. On the ensuing restart, Mullis and Bowden were shuffled out as Minter got an incredible restart. Zalenski managed to get up to second and Kirwan to third before the next caution flag waved.

The vicious cycle began for the next four restarts, a natural green-white-checkered followed by three attempts at eNASCAR Overtime. For each one, a caution flag would fly before the field could ever take the white flag. This was crucial for Minter, who was sliding the tires into Turn 3 and out of Turn 4 each time. Minter threw incredible blocks on Zalenski and Kirwan, blocking the right lines at the right time just before the cautions to keep his place. At one point, the quartet of Minter, Kirwan, Zalenski and Lowe went four-wide for the lead just before a caution would bail Minter out again.

The call was gutsy, but it worked out to be the correct one as Minter will race for the championship in his rookie season. Wilson finished sixth, having only needed to finish eighth or better to clinch on points. The Phoenix result eliminated Zalenski, Kirwan, Minter’s Team Dillon eSports teammate Jordy Lopez, Conti, Mullis and Guest from the championship fight.

Lowe, Minter, Ottinger and Wilson are set to compete for $100,000 in two weeks live at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Their championship arena will be a track familiar to eNASCAR championship races in the past—Homestead-Miami Speedway. There will also be a relegation battle to keep an eye on as well, with five spots still undecided in the top 20 and five drivers below the cut that could potentially still race their way in and avoid having to run the eNASCAR Contender Series.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from the Logitech G 120 at Phoenix Raceway were as follows:

The 2023 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series points standings are as follows:

1. Garrett Lowe, 1 win/2109 points
2. Tucker Minter, 1 win/2091 points
3. Nick Ottinger, 1 win/2060 points
4. Steven Wilson, 2104 points
   ——————————–
5. Jordy Lopez, 2099 points
6. Casey Kirwan, 2093 points
7. Bobby Zalenski, 2082 points
8. Michael Guest, 2078 points
9. Michael Conti, 2070 points
10. Jimmy Mullis, 2066 points

Last season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Wilson was victorious, winning his place in the Championship 4 battle for 2022. Will he be able to recreate the magic live on stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame?

Race coverage for the Homestead-Miami Speedway Championship Finale will start on Tuesday, September 26 at 9 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live. A special one-hour pre-race Countdown to Green, presented by Wendy’s, will kick things off at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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

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