Now that the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series has finally crowned a repeat race winner—Mitchell deJong’s usurping of the throne from Bobby Zalenski on road courses enabled him to take both Circuit of the Americas and Road America—there’s an expectation that things might start resembling a normal season a little more starting with tonight’s round at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After all, 10 different winners in the first 10 rounds of the year is an extreme outlier in series history; the record that this year’s roster shattered dated all the way back to the inaugural season in 2010.
That is, unless Richmond Raceway eSports veteran Jimmy Mullis has anything to say about it.
Mullis, one of last year’s playoff drivers, is the two-time defending winner at “The Magic Mile.” He took his first career series victory at the track in 2018, and successfully defended it last year after the series skipped the track in 2019. Last year’s victory was particularly dominant, as he took the lead on Lap 42 and held it for the final 116 laps of the race.
But Mullis is also one of the 30 drivers who hasn’t taken a checkered flag yet this season, which could force an interesting conundrum if he makes it three in a row: despite the new format prioritizing victories in determining playoff berths, it’ll guarantee that at least one race winner won’t get to use their win to chase a championship. Up to 10 race winners in the top 20 in series standings at the end of the regular season will get to move on, with ties broken by wins first and points second.
iRacing’s home track on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, located just an hour north of iRacing headquarters, produces some of the most unique racing in the sport. At just over a mile but with minimal banking in its corners, whether NHMS is the sport’s longest short track or its shortest speedway might depend on who you ask. But one thing is for certain: it lends itself to quite a bit of time under the yellow flag, as evidenced by more than 50 yellow flag laps last year.
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 New Hampshire Motor Speedway begins at 9PM ET/6PM PT on eNASCAR.com/live, iRacing.com/live, and NASCAR and iRacing social media channels. The series will take nearly a month-long break from points racing after New Hampshire, but the annual All-Star Race will see drivers compete for bragging rights and glory in two weeks’ time. 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.
