Vicente Salas scores second career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series win at Darlington

Hours after Bill McAnally Racing announced that he would make his second career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start this weekend, Kanaan Esports’ Vicente Salas scored his second career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory in dominant form in the Sunoco 120 at Darlington Raceway.

From fourth on the grid, sporting a throwback to Tony Kanaan’s livery in his final Indianapolis 500 attempt in 2023, Salas took control during the pit cycle under caution on Lap 47 and never looked back. A late caution sent the field into eNASCAR Overtime, but Salas executed another perfect pit stop, regained the lead, and held on for his first win of the season, and the first for Kanaan Esports in their second season.

“It’s nice to re-solidify that speed,” Salas said post-race. “In 2021, we kind of came out firing, and won at Richmond. It’s been really hard to put it together ever since. We did it in the Contender Series a few months ago, but to finally solidify our spot in the playoffs… I’m so incredibly thankful.”

Already second in the standings coming in, Salas also entered the evening with an outside chance at taking the Segment 2 points victory, which awards five playoff points and a cash prize. From Richmond through Charlotte, Salas had the fifth-most points, behind Bobby Zalenski (Joe Gibbs Racing), Parker White (Williams Esports), Tucker Minter (William Byron eSports), and Steven Wilson (M80).

Wilson, the pole sitter on the night, looked to be the candidate for the win and Segment title early as he dominated the opening 46 laps. However, on the first caution, during the pit cycle, he slid through his box and lost eight spots, restarting ninth. Wilson, who continues to lead the way in the overall standings and the playoff picture with two wins, rebounded to finish in fifth. Zalenski and White, who were tied coming in, both had their own pitfalls through the night.

Zalenski failed to set a lap time due to contact with the wall, so he started back in 34th. With Darlington as difficult as it is to make passes at, it was an incredible feat for him to rebound to finish 11th. White, meanwhile, qualified in eighth and ran a good portion of the night inside the top 10. However, on the final restart, he fell to finish in 12th. With Salas winning and scoring max points, both Zalenski and White needed to finish seventh to score the Segment 2 title, and were unable to do so.

Salas ultimately led a line of Deadzone Racing-affiliated drivers, as Spire Motorsports’ Casey Kirwan, the defending race winner, finished second, and JR Motorsports’ Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the podium. Nitro Circus Sim Racing’s Dylan Duval also had a solid night, starting in second and finishing in fourth.

Salas and Duval were the top-finishing throwback schemes in the field, with Kollin Keister, sharing the same TK paint at Salas, finished in eighth. There were only two cautions and one lead change, a stark difference from last week’s event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Sunoco 120 results from Darlington Raceway were as follows:

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Driver’s Standings through Round 9 are as follows:

1. Steven Wilson, 266 (2 WINS)
2. Vicente Salas, 260 (1 WIN)
3. Nick Ottinger, 244
4. Parker White, 242
5. Kaden Honeycutt, 225
6. Bobby Zalenski,224 (1 WIN)
7. Casey Kirwan, 221
8. Tucker Minter, 208
9. Jimmy Mullis, 191
10. Kollin Keister, 190
    11. Garrett Lowe, 184 (1 WIN)
    15. Dylan Duval, 178 (1 WIN)
    18. Malik Ray, 164 (1 WIN)

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

1. Vicente Salas, 155
2. Bobby Zalenski, 152
3. Parker White, 151
4. Steven Wilson, 148
5. Tucker Minter, 138
6. Nick Ottinger, 128
7. Kaden Honeycutt, 126
8. Jordy Lopez, 124
9. Dylan Duval, 118
10. Garrett Lowe, 111

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 9 are as follows:

1. William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 452
2. Kanaan Esports (#11/#66), 450
3. Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 419
4. Williams Esports (#51/#53), 410
5. M80 (#10/#80), 409

Only five races remain in the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series regular season. After Darlington, there are already eight different winners on the scoreboard with 10 spots in the playoff field. Wilson, Salas, Zalenski, Duval, Garrett Lowe (BS+COMPETITION), and Malik Ray (Spire Motorsports) are currently in possession of six of those 10 spots, having a victory and sitting within the top 20.

Wyatt Tinsley (QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming) and Keegan Leahy (23XI) also have wins, but they sit outside the top 20 with only five races to make up the points difference. They also need to hope that there are no more than two new winners through the remainder of the regular season. Once it hits 11 different winners, no matter if a driver resides in the top 20 or not, only the drivers with more than one win, or the top 10 of those winners in the points, will race for their share of $500,000 and the Dale Earnhardt Jr Cup.

The 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers will return in two weeks for the tenth race of the 2024 season at Iowa Speedway. This is the first points-paying race at the 7/8-mile oval in Newton, however, the series competed here in 2019 for an All-Star event broadcasted on NBC Sports Network, which was won by Nick Ottinger in a photo finish over Ryan Luza.

Tune in on Tuesday, June 11th, 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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