Steven Wilson scores ‘wild’ eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series win over Minter and Honeycutt at Dover

April 24th, 2024 by

For the second time this eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, M80’s Steven Wilson found himself celebrating a victory on Tuesday night. Two weeks removed from heartbreak in England, losing out just barely to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bobby Zalenski at Brands Hatch, Wilson bounced back to win a thriller at Dover Motor Speedway.

On the final restart of eNASCAR Overtime, William Byron eSports’ Tucker Minter led the field back to the green. Wilson, on the outside, stayed with Minter through the first two corners, colliding as they traversed the backstretch. JR Motorsports’ Kaden Honeycutt made it three-wide entering Turn 3, but Wilson was able to get the best exit, clearing both drivers before taking the white flag.

“That was pretty damn wild, I’d say,” Wilson said post-race. “On the restart, it looked like I just timed it pretty OK. I didn’t want to beat (Minter) to the line because we were on the outside, and with more banking on old tires… they were spinning a lot. I lifted to try not to beat him to the line, and just made it even. The last time I did that, on that first restart, he was able to clear me before (turn) 2, and it looked like he was trying to do that again. A win in this series means everything for the playoffs, so I don’t blame him for that. It was just wild. I thought Kaden (Honeycutt) had it into (turn) 3 there, but he drove it in really deep, and we were just able to come out of Turn 4 clear on the next lap.”

Wilson claims his seventh eNASCAR victory in 60 career starts, and he becomes the first multi-time winner of the 2024 season. His victory boosts him into the overall points lead by 14 points over William Byron eSports’ Nick Ottinger, and ties him for the Segment 2 lead with Zalenski at 76 points.

A THREE-COURSE MEAL WITH MILES THE MONSTER

Of the four drivers that led laps on Tuesday night, Wilson led the least of them. The 2023 series champion started second, alongside his setup alliance teammate, Williams Esports’ Donovan Strauss. Wilson was able to get the early jump on Strauss to contest for the top spot, leading the opening three laps. For the next 34 laps, however, Strauss regained control and pulled away. Tire wear and strategy would play a crucial role in the outcome of the event. This became clear as Wilson and Minter closed right in on the #51’s back bumper about halfway through a normal run.

On Lap 38, Wilson got alongside Strauss for the lead with Minter in tow. As they were finishing the pass, the first caution of the evening flew on Lap 39, involving Spire Motorsports’ Malik Ray, Team Dillon Esports’ Taylor Hurst, Front Row Motorsports’ Michael Cosey Jr, Kanaan Esports’ Vicente Salas, and 23XI’s Keegan Leahy. Both the previous winners, Ray and Leahy, would suffer the most debilitating damage, both losing laps on the ensuing run.

Strategy came into play during that first round of stops, as Honeycutt opted for a two-tire stop. Alongside fgrAccel eRacing’s Garrett Manes, also on two tires, the field returned to green flag racing on Lap 43. Strauss was able to get through the two-tire drivers the quickest, but it possibly cost him some tire life as when he got to Honeycutt’s bumper, he wasn’t able to get by. Wilson and Minter also got through the chaos, and it was Minter who saved the best, contesting Honeycutt for the lead on Lap 72.

It took a number of laps, as the tires were pretty much equalized at that point, but on Lap 76, Minter prevailed and took control for the first time. Wilson was able to also get by Honeycutt, on Lap 86, just moments before the second caution of the event, which involved Manes, slipping back on his two-tire call, along with the other Spire Motorsports car of Casey Kirwan and the other Kanaan Esports car of Kollin Keister. Miles the Monster definitely had his fill in just those first two incidents.

Once again, pit strategy would play into setting the final act. Both Minter and Wilson opted for two tires, seeing how well it worked for Honeycutt in the mid section of the race. The four-tire calls would still be preferred, but if and only if the race could go green until the end. It didn’t. With 30 laps to go on the ensuing restart, the final act would see three more cautions, on laps 105, 113, and 118, sending the race into eNASCAR Overtime.

The opening stint on the two-tire call saw Minter and Wilson get close a number of times for the lead. Minter held on until the Lap 105 caution, then again through the next one, despite Honeycutt taking the pair three-wide on the second-to-last one.

On the final start, Wilson managed to stay alongside long enough for the two to make contact exiting Turn 2. Honeycutt threw it in deep on the top side, but couldn’t get the power down and lost a number of spots, finishing seventh by the end of it. Minter also slid out of the three-wide, allowing Wilson to hold on for his second win of the season.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Race 6 at Dover Motor Speedway results were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts
1 2 10 Steven Wilson M80 123 0.000 8 22.896 40
2 6 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 123 -0.091 46 23.005 35
3 1 51 Donovan Strauss Williams Esports 123 -0.204 34 23.028 34
4 22 80 Ryan Luza M80 123 -0.458 0 23.129 33
5 3 18 Bobby Zalenski Joe Gibbs Racing 123 -0.562 0 23.024 32
6 4 53 Parker White Williams Esports 123 -0.580 0 23.065 31
7 5 8 Kaden Honeycutt JR Motorsports 123 -0.604 35 23.011 30
8 13 25 Nick Ottinger William Byron eSports 123 -0.690 0 23.110 29
9 14 5 Zack Novak OXYGEN Esports 123 -0.724 0 23.104 28
10 37 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 123 -0.728 0 23.092 27
11 17 88 Briar LaPradd JR Motorsports 123 -0.920 0 23.032 26
12 25 90 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 123 -0.965 0 23.104 25
13 32 14 Seth DeMerchant fgrAccel eRacing 123 -1.012 0 23.223 24
14 33 55 Ryan Doucette Pittsburgh Knights 123 -1.064 0 23.223 23
15 15 41 Dylan Duval Nitro Circus Sim Racing 123 -1.112 0 23.086 22
16 7 34 Darik Bourdeau Front Row Motorsports 123 -1.127 0 23.062 21
17 20 77 Casey Kirwan Spire Motorsports 123 -1.152 0 23.119 20
18 38 45 Michael Guest 23XI 123 -1.156 0 23.243 19
19 34 54 Daniel Faulkingham Joe Gibbs Racing 123 -1.246 0 23.195 18
20 9 62 Matt Bussa Kevin Harvick Inc. 123 -1.381 0 23.128 17
21 11 48 Graham A. Bowlin QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming 123 -1.475 0 23.194 16
22 16 27 Cody Byus Pittsburgh Knights 123 -1.496 0 23.226 15
23 27 99 Matthew Zwack Nitro Circus Sim Racing 123 -1.527 0 23.104 14
24 26 36 Quami Scott Letarte eSports 123 -1.653 0 23.155 13
25 23 29 Jimmy Mullis Kevin Harvick Inc. 123 -1.677 0 23.106 12
26 29 40 Dylan Ault Letarte eSports 123 -1.744 0 22.909 11
27 36 69 Ray Alfalla eRacr 123 -1.779 0 23.244 10
28 28 3 Jonathon Dulaney Team Dillon Esports 123 -2.056 0 23.050 9
29 12 33 Taylor Hurst Team Dillon Esports 123 -2.162 0 23.192 8
30 24 22 Femi Olatunbosun OXYGEN Esports 123 -2.278 0 23.162 7
31 21 7 Malik Ray Spire Motorsports 123 -2.420 0 23.150 6
32 18 38 Michael Cosey Jr Front Row Motorsports 123 -2.659 0 23.293 5
33 39 20 Wyatt Tinsley QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming 123 -3.164 0 23.207 4
34 35 89 Garrett Lowe BS+COMPETITION 123 -3.726 0 23.233 3
35 40 42 Tyler Garey eRacr 122 -1L 0 23.273 2
36 8 6 Timothy Holmes RFK Racing 120 -3L 0 23.159 1
37 19 12 Garrett Manes fgrAccel eRacing 113 -10L 0 23.107 1
38 31 23 Keegan Leahy 23XI 113 -10L 0 23.607 1
39 30 17 Collin Bowden RFK Racing 105 -18L 0 23.198 1
40 10 66 Kollin Keister Kanaan Esports 88 -35L 0 23.191 1

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Driver’s Standings through Round 6 are as follows:

  1. Steven Wilson, 194 (2 WINS)
  2. Nick Ottinger, 180
  3. Casey Kirwan, 176
  4. Vicente Salas, 171
  5. Parker White, 159
  6. Donovan Strauss, 149
  7. Bobby Zalenski, 148 (1 WIN)
  8. Zack Novak, 143
  9. Tucker Minter, 142
  10. Kaden Honeycutt/Briar LaPradd, 135
    13. Wyatt Tinsley, 119 (1 WIN)

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Segment 2 Standings through Segment Race 2 are as follows:

  1. Bobby Zalenski, 76
  2. Steven Wilson, 76
  3. Tucker Minter, 72
  4. Parker White, 68
  5. Nick Ottinger, 66
  6. Vicente Salas, 66
  7. Jordy Lopez, 61
  8. Casey Kirwan, 53
  9. Ryan Luza, 51
  10. Donovan Strauss, 51

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 6 are as follows:

  1. William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 322
  2. Williams Esports (#51/#53), 308
  3. Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 306
  4. Kanaan Esports (#11/#66), 286
  5. M80 (#10/#80), 284

After six races, Wilson looks to be the man to beat as he now sits on top of the standings, in both the overall and second segment. Bobby Zalenski also holds a piece of the Segment #2 lead after finishing in fifth at Dover. Former points leader Casey Kirwan falls back into third. The two winners outside the top 20 entering the day stayed there, with Malik Ray now in 24th and Keegan Leahy in 28th. They’ll need to work back into the top 20 to be eligible to use their wins for a chance at the playoffs.

Spire Motorsports loses both the Driver’s championship lead as well as the Team title lead, falling to third behind two Williams. William Byron eSports, with Minter and Ottinger, now lead by 14 points over the Williams Esports pair of Strauss and Parker White.

The 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers return in two weeks for another wide-open, pack racing event at Talladega Superspeedway. Tune in on Tuesday, May 7th, at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Countdown to Green. Race coverage at Talladega begins at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.

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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