Parker White earns first eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship in dramatic fashion at Homestead

It was an unforgettable conclusion to the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season on Tuesday night, live at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte. Many fans might still be wondering exactly how it all played out the way it did. The finish sounds like an incredible script, but not even Hollywood could have produced a more insane finish to the 15th season of the top-level stock car sim racing series.

Setting up the scene, the top-40 simulated eNASCAR competitors are racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and they’re coming to the final restart of the season. The final four—this year’s virtual version of NASCAR’s Championship 4—sit inside the top-six positions.

Williams Esports’ Parker White has lurked in the conversation all night long, waiting for the right moment to strike. White sits fifth overall, behind M80’s Steven Wilson in second, but situated right behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bobby Zalenski in third.

QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming’s Graham Bowlin lurks in sixth, stuck behind two non-playoff drivers ahead—his own teammate, Wyatt Tinsley, and ahead of that, leading the entire race and looking to play the Championship spoiler, it’s William Byron eSports’ Tucker Minter.

As Barney the Flagman waves the green flag for the final time of the season, Minter jumps back to the lead, bringing Zalenski through to second, and once again ahead of Wilson for the title lead. These two have been trading blows for a couple of restarts, now. The two championship competitors lean on one another again for nearly the entire penultimate lap. Out of Turn 4, with varied momentum, Wilson, Zalenski, and Minter go three-wide for the lead.

Just before they go into Turn 1 for the final time, now they’re suddenly four-wide. From the clutches of defeat comes White, taking the run off of Turn 4, down on the inside to make it four-abreast. By the middle of the corner, White clears to the lead, and for the first time all night, he leads the finale, and more importantly, the championship.

Wilson, meanwhile, had overcooked the corner entry as he raced White, Zalenski, and Minter into Turn 1. By the exit of Turn 2, Wilson had lost the spot to Zalenski, falling into the clutches of Minter in the meaningless race for third. Wilson will need some shenanigans ahead to stay alive. Bowlin, as well, now in fifth, needs something crazy to happen ahead.

Into Turn 3 for the final time. Zalenski sends it into White’s bumper. White goes to the wall, Zalenski moves inside. Behind them, it’s Wilson and Bowlin, eyes wide on their monitors, hoping for the contact ahead to evolve in their favor. Zalenski, the initiator, suddenly gets tight, and then he spins, nearly clipping the rear end of White’s #53.

White crosses the line unscathed, claiming the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship in just his second career season.

Fists pumping in the air, chanting “let’s go” to his teammates on the wireless headset, White then turns to his mother, Tricia, as well as his grandmother, both crying in the audience. Moments later, White gets introduced to the world as the newest iRacing World Champion by none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr, the two hoisting the aptly named Dale Earnhardt Jr Cup together before the celebration continued on.

A script virtually unlike any other.

Wilson wound up second, with Bowlin scoring third, both of which would be their places in the championship order as well. Zalenski, who tore up the right front as a result of his attempt to take the title, came across the line in pieces, finishing 14th, and leaving it “all on the track”.

Williams Esports also claimed the Team Championship, with White’s teammate, Donovan Strauss, fighting back from a late-race spin to finish in 25th. In the battle for avoiding relegation, the only spot that changed by the end of the night was 20th, with 23XI’s Michael Guest staving off a trip down to the Contender Series over JR Motorsports’ Briar LaPradd.

THE RACE

Team Dillon Esports’ team owner, and Coca-Cola Racing driver in the NASCAR Cup Series Austin Dillon, gave the command to fire engines. Kanaan Esports’ Vicente Salas took the pole, winning the virtual tie-breaker over Wilson, with White starting in third. Bowlin was mired back in 26th while Zalenski was destined to fight to the top from 32nd. Drivers reported through the week that leading was a disadvantage, so Wilson kept Salas in his sights for the opening stint, knowing the real battle was with those behind him.

On Lap 30, the first caution flew, and the entire field came down for service. Wilson cycled to the lead as Salas slid down into sixth. The field kept it green for another 10 laps before the second caution flew on Lap 44, a few laps before halfway but in the window to make it to the end. Salas regained the lead by staying out with a few others, but by Lap 55, Wilson was back on his back bumper. Two laps later, in a three-wide move, Strauss made his way to the top spot around Wilson and Salas, ultimately sending Salas back and down the order.

At this point, the Championship 4 was in the top-six position. Strauss led the way, with Wilson and White second and third. Minter was up to fourth, but behind him were Zalenski and Bowlin. This title was far from over, and all of the players still had a legitimate chance.

On the 74th lap, the caution flew for a third time, setting up the final strategies of the race for the Championship 4. Zalenski opted for two right side tires, coming off pit road in second behind Minter. The other three opted for all four tires, and restarted the lowest they had been in a while—Wilson in ninth, White in tenth, and Bowlin in 14th. The ensuing restart proved costly for Bowlin, as he was deep enough to get involved in the fracas, damaging the center of his nose.

Wilson and White were both OK, but as more and more cautions flew, the more equalized the tire strategies became. Zalenski held the lead through a few more cautions, but on Lap 90, Wilson was back in command just before another caution. It still wasn’t over, however. The wild card to the championship battle hinged on Minter leading, as Zalenski could work together with him as a technical teammate to time ensuing restarts perfectly.

On the Lap 96 restart, Zalenski managed to jump back ahead, but not for long before Wilson wrestled it back, just for another caution to send it to eNASCAR Overtime. Wilson led the Championship 4 back to the green from second spot, but with Minter leading the actual race, Zalenski was once again able to get back to the front of the title battle from third.

They raced one another like $100,000 was on the line.

Enter Parker White.

As the three-wide for the lead slowed down the entirety of the trio, White lunged to the bottom to make it four-wide. It stuck for him, as Zalenski backed out and Wilson shipped it deep to get past Minter. It was too deep for Wilson, who gave up second in the moment to Zalenski. They all gave up the top spot to White, however, and into Turn 3 was Zalenski’s final shot.

He timed the bump-and-run perfectly, moving White up and into the wall. Zalenski gassed it up to get alongside, but the angle just wasn’t there. Zalenski got tight, then loose, then lost it. White escaped it, as Wilson and Bowlin battled back behind. It was too late for the latter, as White crossed the line ahead of everyone to claim his first career championship, becoming the 12th different champion in eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series history.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Round 18 at Homestead-Miami were as follows:

Photo by Nate Stewart

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Driver’s Standings through Round 18 are as follows:

1. Parker White, 3040
2. Steven Wilson, 3035
3. Graham A. Bowlin, 3034
4. Bobby Zalenski, 3023
   —————————
5. Vicente Salas, 2113
6. Tucker Minter, 2099
7. Garrett Lowe, 2087
8. Daniel Faulkingham, 2086
9. Nick Ottinger, 2041
10. Dylan Duval, 2035
11. Casey Kirwan, 446
12. Zack Novak, 371
13. Donovan Strauss, 359
14. Kaden Honeycutt, 351
15. Jimmy Mullis, 349
16. Michael Cosey Jr, 340
17. Femi Olatunbosun, 331
18. Jordy Lopez, 331
19. Seth DeMerchant [R], 320
20. Michael Guest, 314
    —————————
21. Wyatt Tinsley, 311
22. Malik Ray, 311
23. Briar LaPradd, 306

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 18 are as follows:

1. Williams Esports (#51/#53), 884
2. Joe Gibbs Racing (#18/#54), 857
3. M80 (#10/#80), 850
4. William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 844
5. Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 796

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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