Whitechampion Feat

Parker White earns first eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship in dramatic fashion at Homestead

It was an unforgettable conclusion to the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season on Tuesday night, live at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte. I’m still wondering how it all played out the way it did. The finish sounds like an incredible script, but not even Hollywood could have produced a more insane finish to the 15th season of the top-level stock car sim racing series.

Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway and coming to the final restart of the season, this year’s Championship 4 sat inside the top-six positions. Williams Esports’ Parker White sat fifth, behind M80’s Steven Wilson in second and right behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bobby Zalenski in third. QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming’s Graham Bowlin was in sixth, behind two non-playoff drivers ahead in William Byron eSports’ Tucker Minter and his teammate, Wyatt Tinsley.

As Barney waves the flag, Minter jumps ahead and brings Zalenski through and ahead of Wilson. They lean on each other the entire lap. Out of Turn 4, they’re three-wide for the lead. Into Turn 1 for the final time, they’re FOUR-WIDE. Here comes Parker White on the inside! White clears the three of them, and now for the first time all night, White leads the race and the championship. Wilson overcooked the corner, losing the spot back to Zalenski.

Into Turn 3 for the final time. Zalenski sends it into White’s bumper. White goes to the wall, Zalenski moves inside. Behind them, it’s Wilson and Bowlin, waiting for a mistake. Zalenski gets tight, then spins! Parker White crosses the line and wins the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship!

White immediately celebrated his victory with his mother, Tricia, as well as some other family and friends in attendance. Moments later, he was introduced to the world as the newest iRacing World Champion by none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr, the two hoisting the aptly named Dale Earnhardt Jr Cup together before the celebration continued on.

Wilson wound up finishing second, with Bowlin scoring third, both of which would be their places in the championship order as well. Zalenski came across the line in pieces, 14th, leaving it “all on the track” as always. Williams Esports also claimed the Team Championship, with White’s teammate, Donovan Strauss, fighting back from a late-race spin to finish in 25th. In the battle for avoiding relegation, the only spot that changed by the end of the night was 20th, with 23XI’s Michael Guest staving off a trip down to the Contender Series over JR Motorsports’ Briar LaPradd.

THE RACE

Team Dillon Esports’ team owner, and Coca-Cola Racing driver in the NASCAR Cup Series Austin Dillon, gave the command to fire engines and the race was underway. Kanaan Esports’ Vicente Salas took the pole in a tie-breaker over Wilson, with White starting in third. Bowlin was mired back in 26th while Zalenski was destined to fight to the top from 32nd. Drivers reported through the week that leading was a disadvantage, so Wilson kept Salas in his sights for the opening stint, knowing the real battle was with those behind him.

On Lap 30, the first caution flew, and the entire field came down for service. Wilson cycled to the lead as Salas slid down into sixth. The field kept it green for another 10 laps before the second caution flew on Lap 44, a few laps before halfway but in the window to make it to the end. Salas regained the lead by staying out with a few others, but by Lap 55, Wilson was back on his back bumper. Two laps later, in a three-wide move, Strauss made his way to the top spot around Wilson and Salas, ultimately sending Salas back and down the order.

At this point, the Championship 4 was in the top-six position. Strauss led, with Wilson and White second and third. Minter was up to fourth, but behind him were Zalenski and Bowlin. This title was far from over.

On the 74th lap, the caution flew for a third time, setting up the final strategies of the race for the Championship 4. Zalenski opted for two right side tires, and came out second behind Minter. The other three opted for all four tires, and restarted the lowest they had been in a while—Wilson in ninth, White in tenth, and Bowlin in 14th. The ensuing restart showed why falling into the grasp of the field was not the move, as the incident consumed Bowlin, damaging his nose.

Wilson and White were both ok, but the more cautions that flew, the more equalized the two-tires versus four-tires became. Zalenski held the lead through a few more cautions, but on Lap 90, Wilson was back in command just before another caution. It still wasn’t over, however, as with Minter leading, Zalenski could work together with him as a technical teammate to time the restart perfectly.

On the Lap 96 restart, Zalenski managed to jump back ahead before Wilson wrestled it back, just for another caution to send it to eNASCAR Overtime. The final restart of the season was upon us. Wilson led the Championship 4 back to the green, but with Minter leading the actual race, Zalenski was once again able to get back to the front. They leaned on one another like $100,000 was on the line. Zalenski pushed into Turn 3 and slid up into Minter, leaving the door open for Wilson to take it three-wide.

Enter Parker White. As the three-wide for the lead slowed down the entirety of the trio, White lunged to the bottom to make it four-wide. It stuck for him, as Zalenski backed out and Wilson shipped it deep to get past Minter. It was too deep for Wilson, who gave up second in the moment to Zalenski. They all gave up the top spot to White, however, and into Turn 3 was Zalenski’s final shot.

He timed the bump-and-run perfectly, moving White up and into the wall. Zalenski gassed it up to get alongside, but the angle just wasn’t there. Zalenski got tight, then loose, then lost it. White escaped it, as Wilson and Bowlin battled back behind. It was too late for the latter, as White crossed the line ahead of everyone to claim his first career championship, becoming the 12th different champion in eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series history.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Round 18 at Homestead-Miami were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts

1 3 53 Parker White Williams Esports 104 0.000 1 33.299 40
2 2 10 Steven Wilson M80 104 -0.169 15 33.172 35
3 26 48 Graham A. Bowlin QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming 104 -0.348 0 33.281 34
4 6 20 Wyatt Tinsley QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming 104 -0.500 0 33.314 33
5 23 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 104 -0.487 27 33.137 32
6 5 54 Daniel Faulkingham Joe Gibbs Racing 104 -0.616 0 33.321 31
7 4 89 Garrett Lowe BS+COMPETITION 104 -0.643 0 33.297 30
8 1 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 104 -0.659 42 33.348 29
9 8 7 Malik Ray Spire Motorsports 104 -0.755 0 33.340 28
10 14 99 Matthew Zwack Nitro Circus Sim Racing 104 -0.860 0 33.248 27
11 25 77 Casey Kirwan Spire Motorsports 104 -0.855 0 33.414 26
12 40 6 Timothy Holmes RFK Racing 104 -0.978 0 33.237 25
13 36 69 Ray Alfalla eRacr 104 -1.018 0 33.333 24
14 32 18 Bobby Zalenski Joe Gibbs Racing 104 -1.029 0 33.225 23
15 21 34 Michael P Frisch Front Row Motorsports 104 -1.167 0 33.289 22
16 10 45 Michael Guest 23XI 104 -1.292 0 33.371 21
17 33 12 Garrett Manes fgrAccel 104 -1.281 0 33.477 20
18 17 33 Taylor Hurst Team Dillon 104 -1.392 0 33.425 19
19 19 29 Jimmy Mullis Kevin Harvick Inc. 104 -1.392 0 33.321 18
20 20 90 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 104 -1.437 0 33.406 17
21 27 8 Kaden Honeycutt JR Motorsports 104 -1.477 0 33.380 16
22 22 22 Femi Olatunbosun OXYGEN 104 -1.536 0 33.305 15
23 9 5 Zack Novak OXYGEN 104 -1.587 0 33.305 14
24 39 38 Michael Cosey Jr Front Row Motorsports 104 -1.570 0 33.501 13
25 7 51 Donovan Strauss Williams Esports 104 -1.630 19 33.232 12
26 34 23 Keegan Leahy 23XI 104 -1.757 0 33.244 11
27 11 88 Briar LaPradd JR Motorsports 104 -1.790 0 33.259 10
28 30 14 Seth DeMerchant fgrAccel 104 -1.841 0 33.486 9
29 35 3 Jonathon Dulaney Team Dillon 104 -1.872 0 33.589 8
30 16 40 Dylan Ault Letarte eSports 104 -2.007 0 33.429 7
31 12 25 Nick Ottinger William Byron eSports 104 -2.038 0 33.429 6
32 24 66 Kollin Keister Kanaan Esports 104 -2.277 0 33.430 5
33 31 36 Quami Scott Letarte eSports 104 -2.353 0 33.561 4
34 28 55 Ryan Doucette Pittsburgh Knights 104 -2.360 0 33.455 3
35 29 17 Collin Bowden RFK Racing 104 -2.993 0 33.442 2
36 15 41 Dylan Duval Nitro Circus Sim Racing 104 -3.249 0 33.349 1
37 13 42 Tyler Garey eRacr 104 -3.750 0 33.316 1
38 38 27 Cody Byus Pittsburgh Knights 92 -12L 0 33.471 1
39 18 80 Ryan Luza M80 80 -24L 0 33.506 1
40 37 62 Matt Bussa Kevin Harvick Inc. 40 -64L 0 33.775 1

Photo by Nate Stewart

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Driver’s Standings through Round 18 are as follows:

  1. Parker White, 3040
  2. Steven Wilson, 3035
  3. Graham A. Bowlin, 3034
  4. Bobby Zalenski, 3023
    —————————
  5. Vicente Salas, 2113
  6. Tucker Minter, 2099
  7. Garrett Lowe, 2087
  8. Daniel Faulkingham, 2086
  9. Nick Ottinger, 2041
  10. Dylan Duval, 2035
  11. Casey Kirwan, 446
  12. Zack Novak, 371
  13. Donovan Strauss, 359
  14. Kaden Honeycutt, 351
  15. Jimmy Mullis, 349
  16. Michael Cosey Jr, 340
  17. Femi Olatunbosun, 331
  18. Jordy Lopez, 331
  19. Seth DeMerchant [R], 320
  20. Michael Guest, 314
    —————————
  21. Wyatt Tinsley, 311
  22. Malik Ray, 311
  23. Briar LaPradd, 306

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 18 are as follows:

  1. Williams Esports (#51/#53), 884
  2. Joe Gibbs Racing (#18/#54), 857
  3. M80 (#10/#80), 850
  4. William Byron eSports (#25/#97), 844
  5. Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 796

 

 

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.