Wilson Keeps Rolling With Richmond eNASCAR Score

RICHMOND, Va. – The early-season eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series dominance of Spire Motorsports’ Steven Wilson continued Tuesday night, as the veteran sim racer notched his third victory in four races during the tour’s feature race at virtual Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

The 2023 eNASCAR champion took the lead from polesitter Zack Novak on lap 55 at ‘The Action Track’, controlling the field for most of the remaining distance.

Even though the end result was the same, the familiar sight of the No. 77 GGT Energy Solutions Chevrolet in the lead nearly came to an end with less than 10 laps to go.

Logan Clampitt and Nate Stewart crashed on the frontstretch, forcing a late caution at the three-quarter-mile racetrack. Wilson led the majority of the field onto pit road, with only Blake McCandless and Timmy Holmes attempting the ‘Carson Hocevar Homestead’ strategy of staying out on old tires.

Unlike Hocevar, both plummeted through the field on the ensuing restart with four laps left in regulation. Wilson, who had narrowly beaten Novak off pit road by mere inches, retook the lead before a multi-car melee on the backstretch pushed the race into eNASCAR Overtime.

Wilson launched perfectly on the final restart, leaving Novak to fight with defending eNASCAR champion Parker White. With the competition dueling among themselves, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native went on to his 12th career victory in NASCAR’s only officially sanctioned eSports division by .388 seconds.

“I was committed to taking tires there,” Wilson explained afterward. “I think we had about 55 laps green there, probably more actually. I don’t know where Blake (McCandless) ended up finishing, but he was talking about doing the Hocevar Homestead strategy. I think he was laying back to do that, and he had talked about that. I knew he was going to do that, but I was committed to my plan at that point.

“We were quite a bit off of where we were at the start of the run, so I knew I could get by him quickly; I just had to make sure I did it by turn one, in case we kept getting yellows. But we made it far enough for the first one to get him,” Wilson added. “We had a really fast piece tonight. Whether it was the long run or the short run, it didn’t seem to matter. We had it hooked up.”

Wilson’s victory was aided by starting third. He finished runner-up to Novak in the first of the two heat races. That came after the fastest qualifier of the night, Jordy Lopez, was penalized for jumping the start. That left Wilson with one less frontrunning car to contend with in the main event.

More help came after a multi-car accident broke out at the initial start of the feature. Matt Bussa’s car veered right on the green, sparking a chain reaction that damaged multiple cars in the field.

With zero laps completed at full speed, the field restarted single-file, relieving Wilson of having to fend off fourth-starting Tucker Minter. From there, the duel for supremacy was between he and Novak, who led the first 54 laps in succession.

Novak crossed second for Channel 199 Sim Racing ahead of White, who earned a third-place result for the rebranded Atlassian Williams Sim Racing team. Tony Kanaan eSports’ Vicente Salas and the second Williams entry of Donovan Strauss were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Dylan Ault, Femi Olatunbosun, Tucker Minter, rookie Blaze Crawford, and Daniel Faulkingham closed out the top 10. After his strategy ploy didn’t pan out, McCandless faded to 19th in the final rundown.

With his win, Wilson climbed to third in the segment one point standings, 11 behind White for the series lead and the $3,000 payout awarded at the conclusion of race five.

Next for Wilson and the rest of the eNASCAR contingent is the first points-paying trip to the virtual Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway.

Broadcast coverage of the Coca-Cola iRacing Series at Rockingham is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, at 8 p.m. ET on the iRacing eSports Network, streamed on https://enascar.com/live and through eNASCAR and iRacing’s Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube channels.

The results:

Race (80 laps, extended from 70 due to overtime finish): 1. 77-Steven Wilson [3], 2. 2-Zack Novak [1], 3. 95-Parker White [15], 4. 11-Vicente Salas [2], 5. 4-Donovan Strauss [11], 6. 47-Dylan Ault [14], 7. 7-Femi Olatunbosun [6], 8. 97-Tucker Minter [4], 9. 3-Blaze Crawford [27], 10. 39-Daniel Faulkingham [24], 11. 48-Graham Bowlin [18], 12. 1-Malik Ray [23], 13. 19-Eddie Kerner [32], 14. 42-Logan Clampitt [20], 15. 15-Kollin Keister [22], 16. 62-Matt Bussa [12], 17. 5-Nate Stewart [38], 18. 34-Michael Cosey Jr. [37], 19. 8-Blake McCandless [31], 20. 22-Bobby Zalenski [5], 21. 199-Dylan Duval [17], 22. 96-Christopher Hill [34], 23. 17-Timmy Holmes [40], 24. 21-Michael Guest [25], 25. 69-Tyler Garey [30], 26. 66-Alexander Russell [29], 27. 6-Collin Bowden [28], 28. 40-Connor Yeroschak [21], 29. 36-Quami Scott [10], 30. 25-Nick Ottinger [13], 31. 98-Cody Byus [33], 32. 50-Quentin Warman [36], 33. 14-Seth DeMerchant [35], 34. 99-Garrett Lowe [9], 35. 12-Ryan Luza [19], 36. 24-Casey Kirwan [16], 37. 29-Jimmy Mullis [7], 38. 33-Taylor Hurst [8], 39. 88-Briar LaPradd [26], 40. 89-Jordy Lopez [39].

Lead Changes: Three among three drivers.

Lap Leader(s): Zack Novak 1-54, Steven Wilson 55-63, Blake McCandless 64-66, Steven Wilson 67-80.

Laps Led: Zack Novak 54, Steven Wilson 23, Blake McCandless 3.

Hard Charger: 5-Nate Stewart (+21)

Fastest Qualifier: 90-Jordy Lopez; 21.827 seconds (123.700 mph); third career and second of season

Heat Winners: 2-Zack Novak and 11-Vicente Salas

Rookie of the Race: 3-Blaze Crawford (ninth)

Caution Flags: Five yellows for 20 laps

Winning Team: Spire Motorsports

Margin of Victory: 0.388 seconds

Time of Race: 38 minutes, 54.325 seconds

Average Speed: 92.532 mph

Fastest Lap: 77-Steven Wilson; Lap 80, 21.916 seconds (123.198 mph)