Road America hosts the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series for the first time ever Tuesday. These are the drivers to watch at the second road-course race of 2021.
Honorable mention: Logan Clampitt, who, despite three consecutive finishes in the bottom half of the field this season, is no slouch on road courses.
Ryan Luza, XSET
Rank: 10 (-7)
Road America probably won’t be a race of note for Ryan Luza fans. Luza, as we’re always quick to note heading into a road course, doesn’t have quite the same results turning right as he does on ovals. With a win already under his belt, it’ll be a matter of logging laps in Wisconsin, then coming back strong next month at New Hampshire.
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Michael Guest, Jim Beaver eSports
Rank: 9 (-2)
It’s been a breakout season for Michael Guest, who’s had a tendency to survive races and collect points by putting together smart runs from green flag to checkered flag. He’s racked up the second-fewest incident points this season — behind only Ray Alfalla — and he’s done so with a 29th-place average starting position. If it were any other season, he’d be an easy lock for the playoffs on points, but in this year’s reality, he’s likely locked out without a win. It won’t happen at Road America; Guest has a 26th-place average finish on road courses.
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Jimmy Mullis, Richmond Raceway eSports
Rank: 8 (-4)
Though he’s ranked outside the top 20 without a win to his name this season, we can’t ignore the fact that Jimmy Mullis finished runner-up in the last three road-course races. He’s due for a win, and the summer is when Mullis tends to hit his stride. If there’s anybody who can dethrone Mitchell deJong or Bobby Zalenski, he’s the guy.
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Michael Conti, JR Motorsports
Rank: 7 (-5)
A slump, or a stretch of bad luck? Conti looked fast early at Pocono, leading a handful of laps, but came home 32nd after the flurry of cautions near the end of the race seemed to target the No. 8 over and over. Speed aside, the 2014 champ hasn’t scored a top five since finishing fourth at Atlanta in March.
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Graham Bowlin, Stewart-Haas eSports
Rank: 6 (+4)
Graham Bowlin has been slowly making headway up the standings, and he hasn’t finished outside the top 15 since March. Like many other of the weekly points-racers — Steven Wilson, Michael Guest, Corey Vincent — he needs a win. Bowlin scored a podium at COTA, so you never know what might happen at a new track like Road America.
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Keegan Leahy, 23XI Racing
Rank: 5 (-4)
We were puzzled by Leahy’s uncharacteristic performance at Pocono, where he was a non-factor all evening and finished 33rd. But, if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that when he’s down, he’s not down for long. We expect the No. 32 to contend at Road America.
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Steven Wilson, Roush Fenway Racing
Rank: 4 (+4)
The rookie continues to impress. Coming off his third-consecutive top-10 finish, it’s likely he’ll add a fourth at Road America, given his fifth-place run at COTA. But as consistent as he’s been, he still needs a win if he wants a shot at the championship.
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Ray Alfalla, Gibbs Gaming
Rank: 3 (+3)
Proving his Charlotte win was no fluke, Four-Time brought home a runner-up finish at Pocono, determined to inch closer to the top-20 points cutoff to make that win mean something in the playoffs. He’s 24 points out with four races left in the regular season.
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Mitchell deJong, 23XI Racing
Rank: 2 (previously not ranked)
Circuit of the Americas winner Mitchell deJong is an easy favorite for Road America. He’s proven he can qualify exceptionally well, one of the most important parts of road racing in the Coca-Cola iRacing Series, and he’s rolling off a podium finish at Pocono.
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Bobby Zalenski, Letarte Esports
Rank: 1 (previously not ranked)
Well, we dropped Bobby Zalenski from our Top 10 last week, and then he went on to win in style at Pocono. We won’t make that mistake again, especially heading into a road course — Zalenski’s specialty. After losing on a road course for the first time at COTA, he’s ready to ride the momentum wave back to Victory Lane at Road America.
Catch the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series live from Road America Tuesday, June 29 at 9 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live.