The road to $500,000 heads to the Hawkeye State for what some consider short track racing from the 7/8-mile oval at Iowa Speedway on Tuesday night. Round 5 of the 2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series pins two titans of the series head-to-head once again, both drivers looking for their third win of the season. ERA eSports Team’s Bobby Zalenski thought he had it last week, but late contact fighting with the eventual winner, Spire Motorsports’ Steven Wilson, ended that chance as Wilson picked up his second win in 2026.
Wilson enters Iowa Speedway as the only driver to win a points-paying race at the track in eNASCAR history. Graham Bowlin was close in 2024. JR Motorsports’ Zack Novak was runner-up in 2025. The other ERA eSports Team driver, Michael Cosey Jr, was the pole sitter last year after winning his Heat race.
Speaking of Heat racing, that returns for 2026. The Heats will set the field and provide more points available to the field for the top finishers in those Heat races. Coverage for the fifth round of the Championship Series season begins at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels. Tune in 15 minutes earlier to catch the Countdown to Green at 7:45 p.m. ET.
PREVIOUS RACE: WILSON WINS, ZALENSKI SPINS AFTER TWO MAKE CONTACT RACING FOR WIN
One of the tracks that Bobby Zalenski has circled every year is Dover Motor Speedway… not just because he hasn’t won there yet, but because he’s run extremely well in the past and hasn’t won there yet. That streak nearly ended two weeks ago in the fourth round of the 2026 season, but as the laps wound down, the chaos rose, and Zalenski’s dominant day was over just miles away from hoisting a virtual Miles the Monster trophy.
Steven Wilson was playing off of the backfoot, in comparison, never really able to show his strength after an early incident caved in his left front. Still, the defending champion had pace, and each caution brought him closer to the front, up until it was Zalenski versus Wilson for the win. On the second-to-last restart, Wilson was finally able to match Zalenski’s jump, and hung around on the outside. The two leaned on one another, neither wanting to give up the spot.
Eventually, Wilson did, but to set up the next corner. In the process, third place Parker White (Williams F1 Team Gaming) made slight contact with the 77 as Wilson backed off harder than expected. Whether any of these things had anything to do with one another, the end result was Wilson’s front bumper clipping Zalenski’s rear, sending the field into a tizzy. White and Zalenski were out of the race for the win, while Wilson was able to continue. In eNASCAR Overtime, Wilson held off his teammate Femi Olatunbosun at the line for his 19th career win.
LAST YEAR: WILSON CONTINUES WIN STREAK AT IOWA
The second race in 2025 to feature the Short Track format, Iowa Speedway made its second appearance as a points-paying race with just a handful of races left before the eNASCAR Playoffs were set to begin. Michael Cosey Jr grabbed the pole position and opening Heat race win, and was one of the favorites to win through the night. The outside pole belonged to Vicente Salas after he won the second and final Heat of the night to set the lineup.
In the main event, Cosey Jr led the majority of the way, with 61 laps led of 90, but his strategy failed him as Wilson was able to climb from seventh on the grid to take the lead through the pit cycle, leading 17 laps en route to his second win at the venue in two attempts.
SHORT TRACK RACE FORMAT
Once again in 2026, Iowa’s festivities will include a pair of heat races to set the lineup for the main event. First, drivers will qualify as normal, but it will matter if you qualify in an odd or even position. Two 30-lap heats are scheduled with up to 20 drivers taking part in each, with the odd-number positioned drivers racing in the first and the evens in the second.
The top-10 finishers in each heat will get the equivalent of what NASCAR does for stage points, where the winner gets 10 points and 10th place gets one. The results also determine how the drivers line up in the feature, with Heat 1 determining the inside row and Heat 2 determining the outside.
The main race will be 90 laps in distance. A driver could collect up to 50 points tonight as opposed to the normal maximum of 40 points.
STANDINGS ENTERING IOWA
There are a number of points standings to keep an eye on this season besides the Driver’s Standings. There will also be Team Standings to keep track of, where the two drivers of each official team will earn points towards the Team Championship at the end of the season.
Every three races, there will be a three-race mini-championship, dubbed Segments, where the driver with the most points in that stretch will earn five additional Playoff Points. Finally, there are nine rookies competing this season, but only one can be the Rookie of the Year.
PLAYOFF STANDINGS ENTERING RACE #5 AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Steven Wilson* | Spire Motorsports | 153 | Adv. | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | 22 | Bobby Zalenski | ERA eSports Team | 103 | Adv. | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 11 | Vicente Salas | Kanaan Esports | 118 | +30 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | 97 | Tucker Minter | William Byron eSports | 112 | +24 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | 20 | Wyatt Tinsley | Kansas City Pioneers | 102 | +14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 40 | Connor Yeroschak | Letarte Esports | 96 | +8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | 8 | Zack Novak | JR Motorsports | 95 | +7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | 25 | Christopher Hill | William Byron eSports | 92 | +4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 199 | Dylan Duval | Channel 199 Sim Racing | 91 | +3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 55 | Daniel Faulkingham | Rick Ware Racing | 90 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| —————————————————————PLAYOFF CUTOFF————————————————————— | |||||||||
| 11 | 17 | Shawn Conklin [R] | RFK Racing | 88 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | 7 | Femi Olatunbosun | Spire Motorsports | 84 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | 24 | Casey Kirwan | Kansas City Pioneers | 81 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | 99 | Garrett Lowe | BS+COMPETITION | 80 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | 4 | Donovan Strauss | Williams F1 Team Gaming | 77 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* = Segment 1 Champion, earns additional five Playoff Points
TEAM STANDINGS ENTERING RACE #5 AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
| POS | NOS. | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 77 | Spire Motorsports | 237 | Ldr. | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 2 | 25 | 97 | William Byron eSports | 204 | -33 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | 20 | 24 | Kansas City Pioneers | 183 | -54 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 11 | 66 | Kanaan eSports | 182 | -55 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 22 | 34 | ERA Esports Team | 177 | -60 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | 86 | 199 | Channel 199 Sim Racing | 164 | -73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 8 | 88 | JR Motorsports | 155 | -82 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | 6 | 17 | RFK Racing | 153 | -84 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 4 | 95 | Williams F1 Team Gaming | 148 | -89 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 36| 40 | Letarte Esports | 146 | -91 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
SEGMENT #2 STANDINGS ENTERING RACE 2 of 3 AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Steven Wilson | Spire Motorsports | 40 | Ldr. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 7 | Femi Olatunbosun | Spire Motorsports | 35 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 97 | Tucker Minter | William Byron eSports | 34 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 40 | Connor Yeroschak | Letarte Esports | 33 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 89 | Jordy Lopez | BS+COMPETITION | 32 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 199 | Dylan Duval | Channel 199 Sim Racing | 31 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 20 | Wyatt Tinsley | Kansas City Pioneers | 30 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 17 | Shawn Conklin [R] | RFK Racing | 29 | -11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 99 | Garrett Lowe | BS+COMPETITION | 28 | -12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 11 | Vicente Salas | Kanaan Esports | 27 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
ROOKIE STANDINGS ENTERING RACE #5 AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Shawn Conklin | RFK Racing | 88 | Ldr. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 35 | Matthew Morton | TC Esports | 66 | -22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 6 | Dylan Basen | RFK Racing | 65 | -23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 66 | Sebastian Marin | Kanaan Esports | 64 | -24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 33 | Kenny Brady | Team Dillon Esports | 60 | -28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 | Tommy Gossett | Vegas Inferno | 51 | -37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 36 | Thomas Lloyd | Letarte Esports | 50 | -38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 69 | Seth Noell | eRacr | 27 | -61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 42 | Logan Helton | eRacr | 13 | -75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
IOWA TRACK FACTS
One of America’s newest race tracks, Iowa Speedway is located in Newton, Iowa and has been in operation since 2006. The 7/8-mile oval was designed and built under the auspices of NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace at a cost of approximately $70 million. Thus, it’s no coincidence the D-shaped oval is patterned after Richmond International Raceway, scene of some of Wallace’s greatest success during his career.
Iowa Speedway has a seating capacity of more than 30,000, together with a unique multi-tiered Recreational Vehicle viewing area along its 869’ long backstretch. A fixture on the NASCAR and IndyCar schedules, Iowa Speedway also boasts a nine turn, 1.3-mile road course which utilizes most of the main oval along with a highly technical infield section and hosts professional and amateur sports car races.
NEXT RACE: SEGMENT 2 ENDS AT THE BRICKYARD
Following Iowa, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series will race next at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Once again, this will be a quick turnaround as the series will not have an off-week in-between races 5 and 6.
The Brickyard was home to a record-tying sixth win of the 2025 season for one Steven Wilson. The race came down to late race theatrics, including the previous winner, Daniel Faulkingham, giving up the lead late due to low fuel. Wilson held on through a trio of eNASCAR Overtimes to take the win.
The action from Indianapolis starts on July 14th with the Countdown to Green pre-race show at 7:45 p.m. ET.
For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit eNASCAR.com or iRacing.com/eNASCAR.
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iRacing.com.