Steven Wilson set to defend eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series title following dominant victory at Texas

For the third-straight season, M80’s Steven Wilson will be fighting for an eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series title, live on-stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Following a convincing victory on Tuesday night at Texas Motor Speedway, his fourth on the 2024 season, Wilson becomes the first of the 10-man playoff field to lock-in a Championship 4 spot. If he goes on to win back-to-back titles next month, he would become the second driver in series history with multiple titles, joining 4-Time, Ray Alfalla.

Wilson led 45 laps from the pole, including the final 36 to the checkers in a race that never saw a caution flag during the 100-lap sprint. “Looks like we took the kids to class today,” Wilson said post-race. “That was a lot of fun, the dynamic track was insane. We were running all sorts of different grooves. Just really happy for having 100 laps green… I was working like crazy there to hold everybody off, and I was worried when they got by me that I was a little tight.

“That dynamic track, we didn’t have that at all in practice, so it was really cool that we joined into the session and had something like that, an added element that we’re not really fully prepared for, but I’d like to thank my dirt track experience on iRacing to get me to move up a lane there early and get some spots. Once we got the lead, we were just setting sail. We hit it really good on the setup, we were really fast with lots of grip, and we could run any lane on the racetrack.”

Despite taking the pole position, Wilson lost the lead on Lap 1 to Kanaan Esports’ Vicente Salas, who started alongside. A few laps later, Williams Esports’ Parker White threw his name into the conversation, taking the lead from Salas on Lap 8. It wasn’t until Lap 20 that Wilson decided to march back to the front and lead his first laps, but it was short lived as Salas took back control on Lap 24. The jockeying returned on Lap 40 as Wilson reclaimed the lead once more with pit stops looming on a fully-green flag event.

Salas, Wilson, White, OXYGEN Esports’ Zack Novak, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bobby Zalenski all separated themselves from the rest of the field. Eventually, Novak, the only non-playoff driver in the mix, began to lose ground, but lucked out on Lap 45 when Wilson and Salas both ducked for pit road. The pit cycle lasted until Lap 65, when Wilson resumed leading with a two second lead over Salas and White.

White, who opted to pit a lap after Wilson and Salas, had a slight tire advantage that he hoped to utilize to catch Wilson. However, when he caught Salas, the battle ensued, with both drivers giving up multiple seconds in the process. This allowed for Zalenski to eventually catch and pass them both for second place. Salas continued to fall from there.

While Wilson went on to win in the zero-caution event, the standings shuffled with differing pit strategies crossing over in the closing laps. Salas fell all the way back to finish 13th, behind Backup Driver Daniel Buttafuoco, who finished 12th in his series debut in the RFK Racing #6 Ford. A quartet of playoff drivers, including Nitro Circus Sim Racing’s Dylan Duval, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Faulkingham, BS+COMPETITION’s Garrett Lowe, and William Byron eSports’ Nick Ottinger, all had it worse that, finishing outside the top-20 by race’s end.

On the flip side, both William Byron eSports’ Tucker Minter and QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming’s Graham Bowlin had hero drives from the back of the field. Bowlin managed to finish sixth after starting 29th, but even more impressive than that was Minter, who started 37th and crawled up to finish in fourth. The points will be a topic in the penultimate Phoenix playoff event, but one thing is for sure—Steven Wilson will be in Uptown Charlotte for a third-straight season. He’s already won it once, and with his pace this season, he’ll be hard to beat in the Championship finale.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Round 16 at Texas were as follows:

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Playoff Standings through Round 16 are as follows:

1. Steven Wilson, 2085 – ADVANCED WITH WIN
2. Parker White, 2069 (+19)
3. Graham A. Bowlin, 2067 (+17)
4. Bobby Zalenski, 2063 (+13)
   —————————
5. Vicente Salas, 2050 (-13)
6. Tucker Minter, 2049 (-14)
7. Garrett Lowe, 2043 (-20)
8. Daniel Faulkingham, 2029 (-34)
9. Dylan Duval, 2024 (-39)
10. Nick Ottinger, 2020 (-43)

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Drivers Standings (16th-25th) through Round 16 are as follows:

16. Donovan Strauss, 312 (+38)
17. Jordy Lopez, 306 (+32)
18. Seth DeMerchant [R], 300 (+26)
19. Kollin Keister, 291 (+17)
20. Femi Olatunbosun, 284 (+10)
—————————
21. Briar LaPradd, 274 (-10)
22. Ryan Luza, 274 (-10)
23. Michael Guest, 272 (-12)
24. Malik Ray, 259 (-25)
25. Wyatt Tinsley, 259 (-25)

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 16 are as follows:

1. M80 (#10/#80), 788
2. William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 773
3. Williams Esports (#51/#53), 757
4. Joe Gibbs Racing (#18/#54), 746
5. Kanaan Esports (#11/#66), 693

Parker White, Graham Bowlin, and Bobby Zalenski currently hold the final three spots by points entering Phoenix. For everyone else, Phoenix is almost in must-win territory. Tucker Minter was able to do just that last season, but he’s a lot closer on points this year, 14 behind Zalenski. Salas is just ahead of Minter, 13 back of the cut.

Garrett Lowe, another Championship 4 driver from last season, is 20 points back. it’s not impossible for him to make it on points, but it’s not likely given the drivers ahead of him. Daniel Faulkingham, Dylan Duval, and Nick Ottinger are all in must-win territory at Phoenix, it will be their only path to a seat on stage in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Besides the playoff battle, the battle for the top-20 ensues. Michigan winner Briar LaPradd (JR Motorsports) is back outside the top-20 following a 26th place effort in Texas. Femi Olatunbosun (OXYGEN Esports) is back in by 10 points after finishing seventh. The battle seems to have shrunken to 19th through 23rd, those four drivers separated by less than 20 points, but Daytona winner Wyatt Tinsley and Atlanta winner Malik Ray are just outside that slice, still with an outside chance to make it back above the cut.

In the battle for the Team Championship, M80 takes control following Wilson’s win. Together with Ryan Luza’s 14th place finish, the Bomb Squad moves ahead of William Byron eSports by 15 points with two races to go. Williams Esports and Joe Gibbs Racing also have a chance, both within a race to the leaders in terms of points.

The 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers return in two weeks with the final chance to advance to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. 120 laps are scheduled for the third round of the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs. Tune in on Tuesday, September 10th, at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Countdown to Green. Race coverage for the event 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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