Just because there are 10 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers left racing for the championship, doesn’t mean that the other 30 drivers without the red numbers on their roofs have to back down.
In the logiPLAY DAYS 140 at Michigan International Speedway on Tuesday night, Parker White (Williams Esports) had a ticket to the NASCAR Hall of Fame to race for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Cup on the line. JR Motorsports driver Briar LaPradd, however, had a chance at a first career victory, a position he’s seldom been in throughout his Coke Series career.
It came down to the final restart, a natural green-white-checkered on Lap 69, but LaPradd managed to hold off White for his first career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory by only 0.003 seconds. LaPradd scored the victory in his 33rd-career start, and became the 68th different driver in series history to earn a victory over the past 15 seasons.
A PHOTO FINISH AT MICHIGAN! @BriarLaPradd holds off EVERYONE to get his first career win in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series!!@eNASCAR | @CocaColaRacing
pic.twitter.com/7f3l5clYxY
— iRacing (@iRacing) August 14, 2024
LaPradd got the jump on Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Jimmy Mullis, but that allowed for White to take advantage and move into second by the backstretch. On the white flag, the battle behind LaPradd went four-wide with White, Mullis, Casey Kirwan (Spire Motorsports) and LaPradd’s JR Motorsports teammate, Kaden Honeycutt. By the backstretch, Kirwan and White were able to scoot ahead, but LaPradd maintained control. In the final corners, White got alongside, the two leaning on one another out of Turn 4. They separated just before the line, and it was just enough for LaPradd to take the win.
“I’ve worked really hard, since 2016, to just try and work my way through the ranks and have fun doing what I love, and that’s racing,” LaPradd said. “It’s been a long journey, from LockDown Racing, everybody over there helped me out for a long time…. to everyone at Team Conti helping me out, I know we’ve had struggles this year, but they’re a good group of guys, and they push you to be SO good, you know? They push you hard. I can’t believe I’m a Coke Series winner, honestly, it’s just… unreal.”
The emotional sophomore driver continued on and thanked everyone he could think of in his post-race interview, choking back tears at moments when speaking of his longtime sponsors, such as Cameron Ledford at Ledford Billiard Supply, and even more so when thanking his family, including his father who has been battling health issues as of late. “He’s been down, and I hope this picks him up.”
From the 16th starting spot, LaPradd worked his way up to second place by Lap 18. He took control for the first time on Lap 37, and led 19 laps in total, including the last 12 after opting to pit with 25 laps to go. Perhaps the only driver as strong as him throughout the night finished a fraction of a nose behind, as White led the most laps out of anyone at 21.
Being the first race of the three-race playoff schedule, a win would have meant an automatic berth into the Championship 4 for any of the 10 contending drivers. Playoff drivers such as Dylan Duval (Nitro Circus Sim Racing) and Bobby Zalenski (Joe Gibbs Racing) also led laps during the event, but wound up falling down the order late in the going for one reason or another. Regular Season champion Steven Wilson (M80) also led a lap on Lap 39 while battling with LaPradd, Kirwan, and White.
However, nobody truly exerted dominance like White or LaPradd, and when they both pitted for the final time on the Lap 45, it wound up playing perfectly into both of their hands.
There were eight cautions to contend with, despite the race finishing at its scheduled distance at 70. Unknowing of how and when the cautions would fall through the night, many strategies formed after the halfway point. While track position was ideal to get around the hornet’s nest of the midfield, drivers were also able to slice their way back to the front on a new pair of virtual tires.
Both LaPradd and White were involved in a big accident on Lap 49, which saw other hopefuls such as Nick Ottinger (William Byron eSports) get taken out of contention. White opted to pit for damage repair while LaPradd and his bent Camaro nose stayed on track. The damage wasn’t enough to deter either of them, as both sat inside the top three with under 10 laps to go.
Another photo finish later, LaPradd managed to hang on for victory while White had to settle for being the best-finishing playoff driver on the night.
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Round 15 at Michigan were as follows:
Fin.
St.
No.
Name
Team
Laps
Interval
Led
Best
Pts
1
16
88
Briar LaPradd
JR Motorsports
70
0.000
19
38.774
40
2
2
53
Parker White
Williams Esports
70
-0.018
21
38.577
35
3
10
77
Casey Kirwan
Spire Motorsports
70
-0.067
0
38.698
34
4
22
29
Jimmy Mullis
Kevin Harvick Inc.
70
-0.088
0
38.760
33
5
30
62
Matt Bussa
Kevin Harvick Inc.
70
-0.106
0
38.644
32
6
13
48
Graham A. Bowlin
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
70
-0.199
0
38.666
31
7
6
8
Kaden Honeycutt
JR Motorsports
70
-0.211
0
38.744
30
8
18
89
Garrett Lowe
BS+COMPETITION
70
-0.234
0
38.440
29
9
39
17
Collin Bowden
RFK Racing
70
-0.273
0
38.642
28
10
34
45
Michael Guest
23XI
70
-0.298
0
38.751
27
11
14
51
Donovan Strauss
Williams Esports
70
-0.414
0
38.609
26
12
5
10
Steven Wilson
M80
70
-0.455
1
38.619
25
13
40
7
Malik Ray
Spire Motorsports
70
-0.543
0
38.859
24
14
21
6
Timothy Holmes
RFK Racing
70
-0.588
0
38.676
23
15
32
12
Garrett Manes
fgrAccel eRacing
70
-0.578
0
38.750
22
16
29
33
Taylor Hurst
Team Dillon Esports
70
-0.759
0
38.731
21
17
17
99
Matthew Zwack
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
70
-0.785
0
38.676
20
18
3
54
Daniel Faulkingham
Joe Gibbs Racing
70
-0.850
0
38.518
19
19
8
18
Bobby Zalenski
Joe Gibbs Racing
70
-0.921
14
38.717
18
20
28
80
Ryan Luza
M80
70
-1.093
0
38.613
17
21
12
11
Vicente Salas
Kanaan Esports
70
-1.320
0
38.770
16
22
38
42
Tyler Garey
eRacr
70
-1.352
0
38.556
15
23
25
38
Michael Cosey Jr
Front Row Motorsports
70
-1.384
0
38.778
14
24
9
14
Seth DeMerchant
fgrAccel eRacing
70
-1.424
0
38.808
13
25
4
23
Keegan Leahy
23XI
70
-1.571
0
38.610
12
26
11
97
Tucker Minter
William Byron eSports
70
-1.907
0
38.751
11
27
1
20
Wyatt Tinsley
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
70
-2.340
0
38.840
10
28
7
41
Dylan Duval
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
70
-2.347
11
38.684
9
29
19
40
Dylan Ault
Letarte eSports
70
-2.350
4
38.614
8
30
27
22
Femi Olatunbosun
OXYGEN Esports
70
-3.737
0
38.755
7
31
31
25
Nick Ottinger
William Byron eSports
70
-3.773
0
38.837
6
32
15
5
Zack Novak
OXYGEN Esports
70
-9.583
0
38.855
5
33
35
66
Kollin Keister
Kanaan Esports
70
-11.525
0
38.826
4
34
24
3
Jonathon Dulaney
Team Dillon Esports
70
-14.782
0
38.857
3
35
26
36
Quami Scott
Letarte eSports
69
-1L
0
38.820
2
36
36
90
Jordy Lopez
BS+COMPETITION
64
-6L
0
38.702
1
37
20
55
Ryan Doucette
Pittsburgh Knights
61
-9L
0
38.934
1
38
23
69
Ray Alfalla
eRacr
49
-21L
0
38.946
1
39
37
34
Darik Bourdeau
Front Row Motorsports
48
-22L
0
38.829
1
40
33
27
Cody Byus
Pittsburgh Knights
42
-28L
0
38.849
1
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Playoff Standings through Round 15 are as follows:
Steven Wilson, 2045
Graham A. Bowlin, 2036
Parker White, 2035
Garrett Lowe, 2034
Bobby Zalenski, 2028
Vicente Salas, 2026
Daniel Faulkingham, 2024
Tucker Minter, 2016
Dylan Duval, 2014
Nick Ottinger, 2006
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 15 are as follows:
William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 726
M80 (#10/#80), 725
Joe Gibbs Racing (#18/#54), 706
Williams Esports (#51/#53), 696
Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 662
Top playoff seed Wilson brought it home in 12th, a 10 point swing in White’s direction. White moves from ninth up to third, now 10 points behind Wilson with two races to go. One point ahead of White is Graham Bowlin (QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming), who brought it home in sixth. Rounding out the top four currently holding on to tickets to the playoffs is BS+COMPETITION’s Garrett Lowe, who sits six points ahead of Bobby Zalenski in fifth.
With a non-playoff competitor taking the victory, it now means that at least two drivers will advance to the Championship 4 on points this season. It could ultimately end up being all four on points depending on the results at Texas and Phoenix. While Wilson is still fairly safe for now, a bad day at Texas or a winner from lower in the points could evaporate the 17-point advantage he currently holds.
Outside of the playoffs, there’s also a relegation line to keep an eye on. With his win, LaPradd moves up to 20th, five points ahead of Malik Ray (Spire Motorsports). That battle will continue over the final three races, and those outside the playoffs but ahead of 21st will maintain their license in the series for 2025. Those behind 20th will be relegated into the Contender Series, and will have to battle back in against approximately 20 of the up-and-coming drivers from the eNASCAR Qualifying iRacing Series.
The current 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers head back to Texas Motor Speedway for the first time since 2021 in two weeks. 100 laps are scheduled for the second round of the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs. Tune in on Tuesday, August 27th, 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.
