Steven Wilson is the defending eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion, and he has been the most dominant driver so far in 2024. Therefore, it was only fitting that Wilson became the first driver to punch his ticket to the eNCCiS Championship 4 with a victory at the virtual Texas Motor Speedway.
It was the fourth win of 2024 for Wilson as the Iowa City, Iowa native is now one step closer to becoming the first back-to-back eNCCiS champion since Ray Alfalla claimed the 2011 and 2012 titles.
“It looks like we took the kids to class today,” Wilson said on the Sunoco Postrace Report. “That was a lot of fun. The dynamic track was insane. Really happy for 100 laps green. I was working like crazy there just to hold everybody off.”
The 100-lap race stayed green from start to finish, the first caution-free race of the season besides the two road courses.
Bobby Zalenski rallied to second place to get himself back above the playoff cutline. After finished second by a bumper at Michigan, Parker White again came close to victory but settled for third. Graham Bowlin finished fourth, while Zack Novak was the top non-playoff driver in fifth.
TONIGHT’S ACTION
Wilson started from the pole, but he did not maintain the top spot for long, losing the lead quickly to Vicente Salas.
The first half of the race featured Wilson, Salas, and White, all playoff drivers, taking turns at the front of the field. White wrested the lead from Salas on lap 8, while Wilson returned to the point on lap 19, only for Salas to pass him back on lap 24.
Around lap 40, green-flag pit stops began to cycle through, with Wilson pitting from the lead on lap 45 and Salas right on his tail. That handed the lead to Zalenski, who came down for service on lap 47.
Once the pit cycle ended with 36 laps to go, it was Wilson who emerged with the race lead over Salas, White, and Dylan Duval. Wilson maintained a comfortable cushion of about two-and-a-half seconds over the field all the way to the checkered flag.
PLAYOFF GRID (TWO RACES LEFT IN THE ROUND OF 10)
| Driver | Texas Finish | Points |
| Steven Wilson | 1st | LOCKED IN |
| Parker White | 3rd | 2069 |
| Graham Bowiln | 6th | 2067 |
| Bobby Zalenski | 2nd | 2063 (+13) |
| Vicente Salas | 13th | 2050 (-13) |
| Tucker Minter | 4th | 2049 (-14) |
| Garrett Lowe | 28th | 2043 (-20) |
| Daniel Faulkingham | 32nd | 2029 (-34) |
| Dylan Duval | 27th | 2024 (-39) |
| Nick Ottinger | 23rd | 2020 (-43) |
After some tough runs at Michigan, playoff drivers fared much better at Texas, making up five of the top six spots. Salas faded late to widen the gap between himself and Zalenski, but he, Minter, and Lowe could still point their way to the Championship 4. Faulkingham, Duval, and Ottinger almost certainly need to win at Phoenix to keep their title hopes alive.
NEXT UP
The Round of 10 concludes and the Championship 4 will be set in two weeks on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the virtual Phoenix Raceway. Race coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. with Countdown to Green, followed by the green flag for 120 miles in the desert shortly after 8 p.m. on enascar.com/live, youtube.com/iracingofficial, and twitch.tv/iracing.
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.