Parker White entered the penultimate race of the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season at Phoenix Raceway on Tuesday night in the best position to advance to this year’s Championship 4. White barely missed out on his first-career win by 0.003-seconds at Michigan International Speedway a month ago. Two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway, White was only able to muster a third place run.
White didn’t have to win at Phoenix, he even said as much in an interview mid-race as he rode in second place. However, in his 35th-career start, the stars finally aligned for the sophomore phenom as he was able to get to the lead and stay there for his first career victory—perhaps the most important one of his career—which qualifies him for a seat on-stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame next month to compete for the Dale Earnhardt Jr Cup.
“To win this race, it means so much to me,” White said post-race. “The execution all race was there, I executed qualifying very well. I was able to start up front, and just from there, staying on the bottom on restarts was very important… I was just able to play that all race. It eventually all came down to that one restart where Vicente (Salas) started on the outside, and I started on the inside. I was able to get by him, and luckily we went green long enough so that I could get the lead. From there, it was just ‘no mistakes’, just eyes forward toward winning the race.”
White started in third, behind Tucker Minter (William Byron eSports) on the pole position, and Vicente Salas (Kanaan Esports) alongside the front row. Salas jumped out to an early advantage on the top lane before the first caution flew on the third lap of competition. The early caution set the stage for what the complexion of the race would look like, as the race was stopped on multiple occasions for multiple incidents.
In total, there were 13 cautions for 48 laps. but unlike last season, it ended in the 120-lap regulation period without any extra overtime laps. The many different slow-down periods did offer some shuffling of the pack, but in most cases, the faster drivers were able to get back ahead before another caution filled its place. In the conversation among the yellow laps were Salas, Minter, and White.
Daniel Faulkingham (Joe Gibbs Racing) saw an opportunity to rekindle his Indianapolis magic, and led a group of cars on older tires on a restart just past halfway. This proved to be the most crucial restart of the race, as Salas found himself on the top lane while White was on the preferred bottom. Salas, who led 70 of the 120 laps, wasn’t able to cut through the slower traffic as fast as White, and by the time the fresh tires emerged, it was White, his Williams Esports teammate, Donovan Strauss, and Salas fighting for third.
Zack Novak (OXYGEN Esports) found himself running up in the top-five, and on the outside of Salas on many of the later restarts. Salas attempted to pass by, to hunt for the lead, but Novak held strong alongside. By this point in the race, the 13-point gap that Salas had to overcome was unlikely, as both Zalenski and Bowlin ran inside the top-10. Salas, essentially needing the win to advance, put his car up on Novak’s door moments before the final caution. Novak was seemingly not happy with the way he was being raced, and as the caution flew many rows behind, the two racing for third made contact.
The slide was enough to upset the tires. As White went on to score the victory over Strauss, Salas had to settle for third, which was not enough to advance.
Both Zalenski and Bowlin needed either another Steven Wilson win, a Parker White win, or at least a win from a driver that wasn’t in the playoff field to both have a shot at pointing into the Championship 4. While Salas led, the two flipped positions through the night, only being four spots apart. When White took control, they were both back in, only needing to finish within 13 or 17 points ahead of Salas to advance. Zalenski took sixth while Bowlin settled for seventh, which was more than enough to guarantee a place in the top-four.
White, Wilson, Bowlin, and Zalenski all advance to the Championship 4. Salas missed out by 10 points. Minter wound up involved in a few slides late, and misses the cut as well. Garrett Lowe (BS+COMPETITION), Faulkingham, Nick Ottinger (William Byron eSports), and Dylan Duval (Nitro Circus Sim Racing) also failed to advance to the Championship 4 round.
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Round 17 at Phoenix were as follows:
Fin.
St.
No.
Name
Team
Laps
Interval
Led
Best
Pts
1
3
53
Parker White
Williams Esports
120
0.000
33
27.735
40
2
6
51
Donovan Strauss
Williams Esports
120
-0.461
0
27.783
35
3
2
11
Vicente Salas
Kanaan Esports
120
-1.109
70
27.787
34
4
23
5
Zack Novak
OXYGEN Esports
120
-1.283
0
27.899
33
5
18
22
Femi Olatunbosun
OXYGEN Esports
120
-1.391
0
27.834
32
6
4
18
Bobby Zalenski
Joe Gibbs Racing
120
-1.598
0
27.976
31
7
10
48
Graham A. Bowlin
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
120
-1.733
0
27.871
30
8
15
77
Casey Kirwan
Spire Motorsports
120
-1.928
0
28.003
29
9
29
42
Tyler Garey
eRacr
120
-2.046
0
27.957
28
10
40
6
Timothy Holmes
RFK Racing
120
-2.229
0
28.001
27
11
7
54
Daniel Faulkingham
Joe Gibbs Racing
120
-2.269
5
28.008
26
12
28
10
Steven Wilson
M80
120
-2.401
0
28.018
25
13
25
7
Malik Ray
Spire Motorsports
120
-2.488
12
27.952
24
14
14
12
Garrett Manes
fgrAccel eRacing
120
-2.622
0
28.037
23
15
24
88
Briar LaPradd
JR Motorsports
120
-2.820
0
28.050
22
16
36
45
Michael Guest
23XI
120
-3.123
0
28.086
21
17
38
3
Jonathon Dulaney
Team Dillon Esports
120
-3.741
0
28.044
20
18
13
20
Wyatt Tinsley
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
120
-5.285
0
28.149
19
19
1
97
Tucker Minter
William Byron eSports
120
-5.565
0
27.913
18
20
11
62
Matt Bussa
Kevin Harvick Inc.
120
-6.699
0
28.236
17
21
39
36
Quami Scott
Letarte eSports
120
-8.229
0
28.157
16
22
5
25
Nick Ottinger
William Byron eSports
120
-9.083
0
28.159
15
23
19
89
Garrett Lowe
BS+COMPETITION
120
-9.453
0
27.990
14
24
37
33
Taylor Hurst
Team Dillon Esports
120
-10.321
0
28.031
13
25
8
38
Michael Cosey Jr
Front Row Motorsports
120
-12.581
0
28.149
12
26
21
14
Seth DeMerchant
fgrAccel eRacing
120
-13.014
0
28.082
11
27
16
41
Dylan Duval
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
120
-13.335
0
28.149
10
28
27
29
Jimmy Mullis
Kevin Harvick Inc.
120
-14.999
0
28.063
9
29
9
90
Jordy Lopez
BS+COMPETITION
120
-15.274
0
28.039
8
30
33
17
Collin Bowden
RFK Racing
120
-15.610
0
28.108
7
31
17
55
Ryan Doucette
Pittsburgh Knights
120
-16.704
0
28.065
6
32
34
27
Cody Byus
Pittsburgh Knights
120
-17.027
0
28.168
5
33
35
34
Darik Bourdeau
Front Row Motorsports
120
-18.771
0
27.977
4
34
32
23
Keegan Leahy
23XI
120
-28.530
0
28.035
3
35
12
99
Matthew Zwack
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
119
-1L
0
27.990
2
36
20
8
Kaden Honeycutt
JR Motorsports
119
-1L
0
27.998
1
37
26
40
Dylan Ault
Letarte eSports
119
-1L
0
28.114
1
38
22
66
Kollin Keister
Kanaan Esports
93
DNF
0
28.280
1
39
30
69
Ray Alfalla
eRacr
50
DNF
0
28.341
1
40
31
80
Ryan Luza
M80
36
DNF
0
28.404
1
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Playoff Standings through Round 17 are as follows:
Steven Wilson, 2110 – ADVANCED WITH WIN
Parker White, 2109 – ADVANCED WITH WIN
Graham A. Bowlin, 2097 (+13) ADVANCED ON POINTS
Bobby Zalenski, 2094 (+10) ADVANCED ON POINTS
—————————
Vicente Salas, 2084 (-10)
Tucker Minter, 2067 (-27)
Garrett Lowe, 2057 (-37)
Daniel Faulkingham, 2055 (-39)
Nick Ottinger, 2035 (-59)
Dylan Duval, 2034 (-60)
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Drivers Standings (16th-25th) through Round 17 are as follows:
16. Michael Cosey Jr, 327 (+34)
17. Femi Olatunbosun, 316 (+23)
18. Jordy Lopez, 314 (+21)
19. Seth DeMerchant [R], 311 (+18)
20. Briar LaPradd, 296 (+3)
—————————
21. Michael Guest, 293 (-3)
22. Kollin Keister, 292 (-4)
23. Malik Ray, 283 (-13)
24. Garrett Manes, 282 (-14)
25. Wyatt Tinsley, 278 (-18)
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 17 are as follows:
Williams Esports (#51/#53), 832
M80 (#10/#80), 814
William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 806
Joe Gibbs Racing (#18/#54), 803
Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 742
With one race remaining in the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, there are a lot of things at stake for many drivers. Of course, for the Championship 4 of Steven Wilson, Parker White, Graham Bowlin, and Bobby Zalenski, it’s about being the other three drivers and nothing else.
Wilson will make his third straight appearance to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, participating in the Championship 4 in 2022 and winning it all in 2023. Both Bowlin and Zalenski return to the live battle for the first time since the inaugural fight in 2022. For Zalenski, it marks his sixth Championship 4 appearance in eight seasons, a mark nobody else is close to. As for Bowlin, after losing out to Wilson at Iowa, he matter-of-factly stated that Wilson would have to fight him for the title this year, a promise he made good on.
The only NASCAR Hall of Fame Championship event rookie is White, who makes his Championship 4 debut in three weeks. Last season, in his rookie campaign, White missed out on the playoffs due to not having a win. This season, despite not having a win again, he was still able to point in. Even if he didn’t get the win on Tuesday night at Phoenix, it was likely he would still fight for the title. Now he doesn’t have to sweat being a possible champion with no career victories.
The battle for relegation will be on for 13 of the competitors. A Kevin Harvick Inc. sandwich, from Jimmy Mullis in 15th down to Matt Bussa in 27th, any one of those drivers could either fall out or move above the top-20 line, a crucial point in retaining a license in the series for 2025. Falling below that line will mean a trip back down to the eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series. There’s also an insane Team Championship to keep an eye on. With Williams Esports scoring their first 1-2 finish in team history, they hurdle right into the lead, 18 points ahead of M80. William Byron eSports and Joe Gibbs Racing are also within a 30-point gap and could also steal the title away.
The 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers in 2024 have one last battle—the Championship 4 fight at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 100 laps are scheduled, and the four title fighters will race from the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte. Viewers at home can tune in on Tuesday, October 1st, at 7:00 p.m. ET, for the extended 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.
