Previewing the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Title Tilt

From left: Steven Wilson (10), Graham Bowlin (48), Parker White (53), and Bobby Zalenski will battle for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship trophy Tuesday night at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. (Justin Melillo/NASCAR photo)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After seven months, 17 races, and 1,600 laps at virtual courses from across the globe, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship fight is down to its final, electric showdown.

The longest-running officially sanctioned esports racing series reaches a dramatic conclusion Tuesday night at the virtual Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, marking the 18th and final round of the 15th season for NASCAR’s premier esports circuit.

However, while the virtual sights will be oceanside, the four drivers vying for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Trophy and the $100,000 check that comes with it will participate live from the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Defending series champion Steven Wilson, along with rivals Parker White, Bobby Zalenski, and Graham Bowlin will square off just as the stars of NASCAR’s three national series will in November – in a one-race, first-to-the-checkers showdown where the top finisher among the quarter will take home the title.

None of the Championship 4 necessarily has to win the 100-lap race at the 1.5-mile oval; they just have to finish ahead of the other three title-eligible competitors in order to secure the season laurels.

M80 eSports’ Wilson captured his first Coca-Cola Series crown in the same elimination-style format a year ago and hopes to become just the second multi-time champion in series history by repeating Tuesday night.

He’s not focused on the historical aspect, however. Wilson just has his eyes on the direct target ahead.

Steven Wilson with the 2023 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship trophy. (NASCAR photo)

“I don’t think, when it comes to being back-to-back … or a multiple time champion, I don’t think that’s going to really affect me. I think just knowing that a championship is in front of me is all I’m focused on,” Wilson said in advance of Tuesday’s finale. “[It’s the] same mindset as last year. It’s just one race, that’s all it comes down to, and it’s one championship, and whether it’s back-to-back, two-time, I don’t really care.

“I just want to win that one come Tuesday night.”

Zalenski is the driver entering the title tilt with the most playoff experience – having made every edition of the eNASCAR postseason since the format debuted in 2017 and in his sixth Championship 4 overall.

He’s yet to win the big prize, however.

Zalenski, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, tipped it’s something that hasn’t weighed too much on his mind over the years, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less hungry to finally seal the deal.

“I want to win this title just as much as any other year, and I don’t think it changes anything for me that I haven’t gotten a championship yet,” Zalenski admitted. “If anything, I’m not super duper confident even though I’ve been in this position before, because I know I have a big task ahead of me and I haven’t won [at Homestead] before in my career.

“How can you lose this [championship] race five times and just be blindly confident? I’m more so just being smart about it and knowing that confidence doesn’t mean anything in this format,” he added. “I’m just going to show up the best I can and not even think about if I’m confident or not. We’re here to win [the race], and if we do that, the championship will take care of itself.”

Bowlin has been the surprise of the postseason, first catapulting himself into the playoffs via a walk-off win in the regular season finale and then quietly doing everything necessary to advance himself into a second Championship 4 in three years.

Three top-seven finishes in the playoff Round of 10 got Bowlin to the final race with a chance, but the QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming driver believes it will take more than that to capture a championship.

“Everyone elevates their game so much at this point in the season that you just expect the other three [title contenders] are going to be in or very close to the top five during the race,” Bowlin noted. “I don’t think you can expect to be able to win a title by finishing 10th – you have to go out as if a victory is what it will take.

Graham Bowlin won at Pocono Raceway to make the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoff field. He's now in contention to win the season championship. (Justin Melillo/NASCAR photo)

“All four of us are pretty good, right? We wouldn’t have gotten here if we weren’t,” he continued. “Steve’s on a hot streak, but I think in all reality, it just comes down to whoever is good that night, because there’s not a lot separating us speed-wise. I think whoever performs in crunch time is going to win the 100 [grand].”

Williams eSports’ White, however, may be the driver with all the momentum on his side.

The 18-year-old from Norridgewock, Maine, earned his first Coca-Cola Series victory in the penultimate playoff race at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway, snapping a season-long streak of “what ifs?” and close calls.

Knowing now that he’s won a race – rather than just that he’s capable of doing so – gives White quiet confidence entering Homestead that he can close the season on the ultimate run.

“Momentum is a very big part of having success in racing, and I feel like the storyline coming into this race … if I didn’t win three weeks ago, was going to be that I’m the only one in the Championship 4 that doesn’t have a win,” he admitted. “The other three guys have been here before, so I feel like I was just going to be the underdog by far. But now that I have that win, that definitely helps a lot.”

Perhaps notable is the fact that Wilson, Bowlin, and White all work with the Norse Force Racing sim group on their setups and gameplans from week to week – making the trio quasi-teammates, in a way – while Zalenski is on an island when it comes to having any friends in the Championship 4.

Zalenski’s not concerned about that dynamic, however, noting that “any of us” can realistically go out and win the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship.

“They’re all setup teammates, and their team at NFR has done really good for the past year and a half. We know we have to just be on our game, because they will be too, and it could be any [of the] three of them that we’re fighting at the end,” he said. “I’m not going to pick one, because they’ve all been strong at these kinds of tracks as well … but I think Parker has the momentum.”

Looking at the big picture, Tuesday night marks the third year in a row that the eNASCAR finale has been held in front of a live audience at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

It’s the biggest stage in esports racing, and Wilson – in particular – knows it, as the only driver who has made the Championship 4 in each of the past three seasons (2022-’24).

“Racing here again at the Hall of Fame means everything. Obviously, being here three years in a row is pretty meaningful for me,” said Wilson. “Having my family here again will also mean everything to me. You know, they watch me every week, every race. That’s really who I do it for at this point.

“I feel good at Homestead, I mean … I won the championship there last year, I won the race there in 2022, and I won the [eNASCAR] College Series race there this year,” he continued. “We have good momentum at this particular racetrack.”

But momentum doesn’t mean everything in a winner-take-all showdown. All four drivers know that they’ll have to be at their absolute best – and then some, perhaps – in order to stand atop the mountain.

“You can’t make any mistakes,” said Zalenski. “It takes being as close to perfect as you can be, and if you do that … there will be a big trophy with your name on it when the racing is all said and done.”

Broadcast coverage of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series finale from the virtual Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway is slated for Oct. 1 on the iRacing eSports Network.

The Countdown to Green pre-race show starts the night at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by racing at 8 p.m. ET.