Tonight’s trip to Kansas Speedway marks the seventh round of what has been an unpredictable 2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season thus far. After making the switch from a points-based playoff system to a wins-based one in the offseason, six different drivers have already put themselves in that conversation with victories, ramping up the intensity of the regular season much earlier in the year.
Spacestation Gaming’s Vicente Salas led every lap at Richmond Raceway two weeks ago to score his first career eNASCAR win, joining JR Motorsports’ Michael Conti, 23XI’s Keegan Leahy, XSET’s Ryan Luza, William Byron eSports’ Logan Clampitt, and Kligerman Sport’s Bob Bryant in the winner’s circle through the first six rounds. That means, with eight regular season races to go, only four playoff spots are left—and at this rate, it’s altogether possible that a driver with a win gets excluded from the 10-car field on points because of how many winners there have been.
That means the pressure is already mounting for drivers as high as third in points, and consistency is no longer as valuable as a single checkered flag. Jim Beaver eSports’ Michael Guest had one of the drives of the year at Richmond to climb from 40th to 13th on track and sits third in points, best of the racers who are still looking for wins. If the playoff grid was set today, he’d be joined by Roush Fenway Racing’s Steven Wilson in fourth, Letarte Esports’ Bobby Zalenski in fifth, and defending series champion Nick Ottinger of William Byron eSports in sixth, all of whom are also looking for their first victory of the season.
The good news for Ottinger? Kansas is where he won in last year’s playoffs to secure his Championship 4 berth, beating Clampitt, Zalenski, and Luza to the finish after getting around Michael Guariglia in the second restart of overtime. A repeat performance by Ottinger, or any other driver to score their first win of the year tonight, would tie the all-time series record of seven different winners to start a season that was set in the inaugural eNASCAR campaign in 2010.
Before the action gets underway, iRacing Countdown to Green will begin streaming live at 8:30PM ET/5:30PM PT. Host Amy Long will join series veterans Brandon Kettelle, Michael Guariglia, and Chris Overland to preview tonight’s race and predict the winners.
Coverage of eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series action from Kansas Speedway begins at 9PM ET/6PM PT on eNASCAR.com/live, iRacing.com/live, and NASCAR and iRacing social media channels. After two weeks off, the series returns on May 18 with its inaugural visit to Circuit of the Americas. For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit www.eNASCAR.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
