For the second time this eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, M80’s Steven Wilson found himself celebrating a victory on Tuesday night. Two weeks removed from heartbreak in England, losing out just barely to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bobby Zalenski at Brands Hatch, Wilson bounced back to win a thriller at Dover Motor Speedway.
On the final restart of eNASCAR Overtime, William Byron eSports’ Tucker Minter led the field back to the green. Wilson, on the outside, stayed with Minter through the first two corners, colliding as they traversed the backstretch. JR Motorsports’ Kaden Honeycutt made it three-wide entering Turn 3, but Wilson was able to get the best exit, clearing both drivers before taking the white flag.
“That was pretty damn wild, I’d say,” Wilson said post-race. “On the restart, it looked like I just timed it pretty OK. I didn’t want to beat (Minter) to the line because we were on the outside, and with more banking on old tires… they were spinning a lot. I lifted to try not to beat him to the line, and just made it even. The last time I did that, on that first restart, he was able to clear me before (turn) 2, and it looked like he was trying to do that again. A win in this series means everything for the playoffs, so I don’t blame him for that. It was just wild. I thought Kaden (Honeycutt) had it into (turn) 3 there, but he drove it in really deep, and we were just able to come out of Turn 4 clear on the next lap.”
Wilson claims his seventh eNASCAR victory in 60 career starts, and he becomes the first multi-time winner of the 2024 season. His victory boosts him into the overall points lead by 14 points over William Byron eSports’ Nick Ottinger, and ties him for the Segment 2 lead with Zalenski at 76 points.
A THREE-COURSE MEAL WITH MILES THE MONSTER
Of the four drivers that led laps on Tuesday night, Wilson led the least of them. The 2023 series champion started second, alongside his setup alliance teammate, Williams Esports’ Donovan Strauss. Wilson was able to get the early jump on Strauss to contest for the top spot, leading the opening three laps. For the next 34 laps, however, Strauss regained control and pulled away. Tire wear and strategy would play a crucial role in the outcome of the event. This became clear as Wilson and Minter closed right in on the #51’s back bumper about halfway through a normal run.
On Lap 38, Wilson got alongside Strauss for the lead with Minter in tow. As they were finishing the pass, the first caution of the evening flew on Lap 39, involving Spire Motorsports’ Malik Ray, Team Dillon Esports’ Taylor Hurst, Front Row Motorsports’ Michael Cosey Jr, Kanaan Esports’ Vicente Salas, and 23XI’s Keegan Leahy. Both the previous winners, Ray and Leahy, would suffer the most debilitating damage, both losing laps on the ensuing run.
Strategy came into play during that first round of stops, as Honeycutt opted for a two-tire stop. Alongside fgrAccel eRacing’s Garrett Manes, also on two tires, the field returned to green flag racing on Lap 43. Strauss was able to get through the two-tire drivers the quickest, but it possibly cost him some tire life as when he got to Honeycutt’s bumper, he wasn’t able to get by. Wilson and Minter also got through the chaos, and it was Minter who saved the best, contesting Honeycutt for the lead on Lap 72.
It took a number of laps, as the tires were pretty much equalized at that point, but on Lap 76, Minter prevailed and took control for the first time. Wilson was able to also get by Honeycutt, on Lap 86, just moments before the second caution of the event, which involved Manes, slipping back on his two-tire call, along with the other Spire Motorsports car of Casey Kirwan and the other Kanaan Esports car of Kollin Keister. Miles the Monster definitely had his fill in just those first two incidents.
Once again, pit strategy would play into setting the final act. Both Minter and Wilson opted for two tires, seeing how well it worked for Honeycutt in the mid section of the race. The four-tire calls would still be preferred, but if and only if the race could go green until the end. It didn’t. With 30 laps to go on the ensuing restart, the final act would see three more cautions, on laps 105, 113, and 118, sending the race into eNASCAR Overtime.
The opening stint on the two-tire call saw Minter and Wilson get close a number of times for the lead. Minter held on until the Lap 105 caution, then again through the next one, despite Honeycutt taking the pair three-wide on the second-to-last one.
On the final start, Wilson managed to stay alongside long enough for the two to make contact exiting Turn 2. Honeycutt threw it in deep on the top side, but couldn’t get the power down and lost a number of spots, finishing seventh by the end of it. Minter also slid out of the three-wide, allowing Wilson to hold on for his second win of the season.
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Race 6 at Dover Motor Speedway results were as follows:
Fin.
St.
No.
Name
Team
Laps
Interval
Led
Best
Pts
1
2
10
Steven Wilson
M80
123
0.000
8
22.896
40
2
6
97
Tucker Minter
William Byron eSports
123
-0.091
46
23.005
35
3
1
51
Donovan Strauss
Williams Esports
123
-0.204
34
23.028
34
4
22
80
Ryan Luza
M80
123
-0.458
0
23.129
33
5
3
18
Bobby Zalenski
Joe Gibbs Racing
123
-0.562
0
23.024
32
6
4
53
Parker White
Williams Esports
123
-0.580
0
23.065
31
7
5
8
Kaden Honeycutt
JR Motorsports
123
-0.604
35
23.011
30
8
13
25
Nick Ottinger
William Byron eSports
123
-0.690
0
23.110
29
9
14
5
Zack Novak
OXYGEN Esports
123
-0.724
0
23.104
28
10
37
11
Vicente Salas
Kanaan Esports
123
-0.728
0
23.092
27
11
17
88
Briar LaPradd
JR Motorsports
123
-0.920
0
23.032
26
12
25
90
Jordy Lopez
BS+COMPETITION
123
-0.965
0
23.104
25
13
32
14
Seth DeMerchant
fgrAccel eRacing
123
-1.012
0
23.223
24
14
33
55
Ryan Doucette
Pittsburgh Knights
123
-1.064
0
23.223
23
15
15
41
Dylan Duval
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
123
-1.112
0
23.086
22
16
7
34
Darik Bourdeau
Front Row Motorsports
123
-1.127
0
23.062
21
17
20
77
Casey Kirwan
Spire Motorsports
123
-1.152
0
23.119
20
18
38
45
Michael Guest
23XI
123
-1.156
0
23.243
19
19
34
54
Daniel Faulkingham
Joe Gibbs Racing
123
-1.246
0
23.195
18
20
9
62
Matt Bussa
Kevin Harvick Inc.
123
-1.381
0
23.128
17
21
11
48
Graham A. Bowlin
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
123
-1.475
0
23.194
16
22
16
27
Cody Byus
Pittsburgh Knights
123
-1.496
0
23.226
15
23
27
99
Matthew Zwack
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
123
-1.527
0
23.104
14
24
26
36
Quami Scott
Letarte eSports
123
-1.653
0
23.155
13
25
23
29
Jimmy Mullis
Kevin Harvick Inc.
123
-1.677
0
23.106
12
26
29
40
Dylan Ault
Letarte eSports
123
-1.744
0
22.909
11
27
36
69
Ray Alfalla
eRacr
123
-1.779
0
23.244
10
28
28
3
Jonathon Dulaney
Team Dillon Esports
123
-2.056
0
23.050
9
29
12
33
Taylor Hurst
Team Dillon Esports
123
-2.162
0
23.192
8
30
24
22
Femi Olatunbosun
OXYGEN Esports
123
-2.278
0
23.162
7
31
21
7
Malik Ray
Spire Motorsports
123
-2.420
0
23.150
6
32
18
38
Michael Cosey Jr
Front Row Motorsports
123
-2.659
0
23.293
5
33
39
20
Wyatt Tinsley
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
123
-3.164
0
23.207
4
34
35
89
Garrett Lowe
BS+COMPETITION
123
-3.726
0
23.233
3
35
40
42
Tyler Garey
eRacr
122
-1L
0
23.273
2
36
8
6
Timothy Holmes
RFK Racing
120
-3L
0
23.159
1
37
19
12
Garrett Manes
fgrAccel eRacing
113
-10L
0
23.107
1
38
31
23
Keegan Leahy
23XI
113
-10L
0
23.607
1
39
30
17
Collin Bowden
RFK Racing
105
-18L
0
23.198
1
40
10
66
Kollin Keister
Kanaan Esports
88
-35L
0
23.191
1
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Driver’s Standings through Round 6 are as follows:
Steven Wilson, 194 (2 WINS)
Nick Ottinger, 180
Casey Kirwan, 176
Vicente Salas, 171
Parker White, 159
Donovan Strauss, 149
Bobby Zalenski, 148 (1 WIN)
Zack Novak, 143
Tucker Minter, 142
Kaden Honeycutt/Briar LaPradd, 135
13. Wyatt Tinsley, 119 (1 WIN)
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Segment 2 Standings through Segment Race 2 are as follows:
Bobby Zalenski, 76
Steven Wilson, 76
Tucker Minter, 72
Parker White, 68
Nick Ottinger, 66
Vicente Salas, 66
Jordy Lopez, 61
Casey Kirwan, 53
Ryan Luza, 51
Donovan Strauss, 51
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 6 are as follows:
William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 322
Williams Esports (#51/#53), 308
Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 306
Kanaan Esports (#11/#66), 286
M80 (#10/#80), 284
After six races, Wilson looks to be the man to beat as he now sits on top of the standings, in both the overall and second segment. Bobby Zalenski also holds a piece of the Segment #2 lead after finishing in fifth at Dover. Former points leader Casey Kirwan falls back into third. The two winners outside the top 20 entering the day stayed there, with Malik Ray now in 24th and Keegan Leahy in 28th. They’ll need to work back into the top 20 to be eligible to use their wins for a chance at the playoffs.
Spire Motorsports loses both the Driver’s championship lead as well as the Team title lead, falling to third behind two Williams. William Byron eSports, with Minter and Ottinger, now lead by 14 points over the Williams Esports pair of Strauss and Parker White.
The 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers return in two weeks for another wide-open, pack racing event at Talladega Superspeedway. Tune in on Tuesday, May 7th, at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Countdown to Green. Race coverage at Talladega 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.