Only four eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series competitors remain in the fight for the 2026 championship. On the line, there’s a $100,000 check and a Dale Earnhardt Jr. Cup to be earned by the winner.
On Monday, less than 36 hours before the race, where they’ll be posted on stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, the four stars of the show—Letarte eSports’ Connor Yeroschak, Spire Motorsports’ Steven Wilson, ERA eSports Team’s Bobby Zalenski, and the Kansas City Pioneers’ Wyatt Tinsley—toured the site where they’ll battle on Tuesday night.
The stage will be set in the foyer, right at the base of Glory Road, this year accompanied by an ode to Roger Penske’s successes across multiple forms of motorsport, not just NASCAR. Just upstairs is the Hall of Honor, a circular room honoring the newest inductees to the Hall of Fame, connected to a skybox overlooking the soon-to-be battlefield.
Family, friends, and fans alike will fill the Hall to watch one driver take it all. Wilson’s done this twice, and will be looking to do it for a third time. Tinsley hopes to continue his impressive comeback from the sidelines a season ago. Zalenski is here for a third time in five years, and a seventh time in 10 seasons, hoping to finally check this box on a filled-out checklist. Yeroschak, down from Canada and with all of the momentum on his side, hopes to be the next College Series standout to win the big one.
After traversing the Hall, the four travelled up to the eNASCAR Gaming Lounge on the other side of the building to chat about their 2026 seasons so far, their plans before the race on Tuesday, and who they’ll be celebrating with first should they claim the check and trophy after 100 laps or so at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway on Tuesday night.
WILSON: “I’M BUILT FOR THIS S***”
Steven Wilson—the “Hawkeye”—enters the night as the reigning champion of the series after scoring his second just one year ago at the same venue. While 2025 shattered long-standing records and unattainable milestones only once earned by the 4-Time champion of the series, Ray Alfalla, 2026 hasn’t had quite the same flair, but it’s been arguably the best of anyone in the series, let alone sitting on the stage on Tuesday night.
“Yeah, it’s been a pretty good season so far,” Wilson remarked. “I think, about eight top-fives… I think the first five races we’re on the podium, so it started pretty well. Got the one win at Atlanta, and then had some controversy on the way. I’ve been memorable on social media a few times—Dover and Nashville—but yeah, I’ve kind of moved on from those things, just trying to be better. I’ve made some mistakes this year, like Daytona, things that I would say that I don’t normally do. I was driving too hard, and I’m just kind of out of my head a little bit sometimes. I’ve gotten through that. I’ve had a pretty good playoffs, won at Michigan, running up front at Texas and Kansas. I think going to Homestead, I feel pretty good about it. Obviously a good track for me normally, and I think it’ll be pretty good.”
One of the reasons his 2026 was going to be hard to compare to 2025 is the fact that there were five less races on the Championship Series schedule. “Yeah, I think at the start of the year, it was kind of a different thing,” Wilson said. “You only had nine regular season races, so you kind of want to just get away and get it over with and make sure you were in the Playoffs, which I got that done in the third race of the year, so that was nice.”
“Just knowing, I guess in the back of your mind, if you didn’t get that win, that you still had guaranteed spot on points. You probably have more assuming there’d be some multiple winners, it just gives you some freedom, I guess, to not be super worried about it. I like that it’s shorter. I like getting that long off season, especially when you’re the champion. That’s always nice to sit on that for a few extra months. It’s all felt kind of compact, it’s kind of hard to believe. We’re already in October, back here at the Hall of Fame, but I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
Since 2022, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series title has been handed out on stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame with the Championship 4 competitors all racing from the stage in the foyer. Wilson’s been here on all five occasions now, winning two times in the previous four. “I look at it as an advantage,” Wilson stated. “I’ve been here. I know what to expect every year. Just kind of how the vibe is racing with people that you know, and people that you look up to, sometimes even with drivers here and just having that added pressure and knowing what to expect.”
“The one thing I remember last year is the last 10 laps that race, you know, it went green the whole way, and I remember Bobby almost spun out, because Casey got into him and, you know, the crowd going crazy and people talking, the broadcast is talking about caution maybe coming out the whole last 10 laps. That’s really the most memorable thing for me is just, you know, you hear everything that they’re saying in the whole race. It’s just like a different atmosphere, a different vibe. I’ve been used to it, I know what to expect. You also get to play into the crowd. I’ll have family there, family and friends, so you get to play into it and get them into it.”
Another thing that’s changed for Steven in the 2026 season is his full-time job. While he drives in the virtual world for Spire Motorsports, he also works for them as a simulation driver for their real world program. While it sounds like something that goes hand-in-hand, it’s actually been something he’s needed to adjust to.
“My usual work days are Tuesdays, right before our races and it’s kind of different. We do our pack racing and mock races on Monday (for the Coke Series), then I’ve got to go in on Tuesday and completely reset because it’s not exactly the same. There’s different tendencies and, you know, I’m not like doing 30 lap runs and doing long runs in there. I’m just testing for basic set of feel and stuff like that. It’s just a different feel that you got to look for in there and trying to just compare it to the three drivers. I’m not really in there driving just for myself and what I need. It’s also for three other people and what they’re all looking for and what they need.”
“It’s just a different mindset overall. I’ve had to get used to the differences of driving in that sim versus on iRacing, but it hasn’t been horrible to me. I won’t be doing that this week. I was supposed to, but I asked for it off, so I’ll have the whole day to focus and be down here. The last time I had that was Michigan. I didn’t work the Tuesday of Michigan and I feel like I ran one of my best races the whole year. Maybe, in the back of my mind, it does change things, but I didn’t think it was a huge problem. But it’ll be good to just be locked in on the iRacing side of things come Tuesday at the Hall of Fame.”
In the NASCAR Cup Series, Spire Motorsports has two wins in 2026, one with Carson Hocevar at Talladega and another with Daniel Suarez at Charlotte. Those two both made The Chase and are competing for their own championship currently. Steven isn’t ready to take all of that credit.
“We were at fan day on Friday and our president Bill (Anthony) said he’s heard that I’ve been helpful. That was good to hear that at least. I don’t really want to say it’s all me and my doing, but we have such a limited time in there that every minute, every hour that we’re in there matters a lot. You’ve got to be locked in while in there, making sure you’re not just getting out of your headspace, and upset, staring at a lot of times while you’re in there. You’ve just got to focus on the end goal which is the Sunday race.”
Steve has the advantage of knowing what to expect when winning one of these races. One of those details is who he’s going to celebrate with first when the checkers fly. “I was asked this question last year, and I said my dad and it turned out to be right,” Wilson said. “He’s usually the first one on stage. He’ll be here again so I’ll assume it’ll be him again. My oldest brother is here, and a couple of grandmas. Mom. They are all here, so I’ll assume that my dad will probably be the first one up again, but then it’ll be the immediate family right after that.”
YEROSCHAK: “I’VE GOT ALL THE MOMENTUM, AND WHY NOT US?”
The Canadian, Connor Yeroschak is only in his second season of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series. A Rookie of the Year in his first in 2025, Yeroschak came in dressed to impress from the get-go, winning one of the prior Qualifying Series rounds before joining the tour as well. Canada is a country that has been represented in the series for most of its 17 years, two of the notable Canadians on the grid being Dylan Duval, who is set to retire after Tuesday’s race, and Keegan Leahy, a former champion of the series, and one of the great sim-to-reality stories out there as he works for 23XI in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Representing the University of Calgary Dinos in the eNASCAR College iRacing Series presented by Logitech G, Yeroschak is the reigning champion over there, having won three of the six Tournaments in the 2025-26 season. While forging his own path, it also tends to parallel some of the former champions of the series, such as Wilson with his growing College Series résumé, or Parker White, who won his title in his second season.
“My season overall was a really good step from last year,” Yeroschak said. “Obviously, I believe I had a strong rookie year and finished 12th in points, and was looking to take that next step to the playoffs, and got off to a strong start. I kind of went through some trouble in the middle of the year. At San Diego, I blew my motor. I was just struggling with qualifying a bit. With how hard it is to pass, being out back every race was tough.”
“We got our cars better and really had strong playoff races at the end of the year, and ended up winning Kansas. Our back-end team, Nexxus eSports, have got our cars a lot better. I’ve got confidence to go into every race… I’m just more comfortable with everything, I’d say.”
Again, with parallels to White, who also scored his first win before eventually winning his second and the title the very next race, Yeroschak could very much do the same. “I want to say I believe in trends, but being compared to someone like Parker, I have a lot of respect for Parker, the way holds himself, the way he races on the track, and obviously what he’s achieved. If I can get the championship done, I mean, I guess I do believe in trends, I don’t know.”
For both of his eNASCAR campaigns, Connor has run under the Letarte eSports banner, that being the namesake team of one Steve Letarte, a legendary crew chief and now broadcast personality on many of the major networks that cover the sport. “I’ve loved working with Steve, he’s been great for me,” Yeroschak said. “He took a chance on me in my rookie year, and I’m beyond grateful that he let me drive his car and was willing to bring me back this year and it’s just been great and it’s obviously cool like Steve’s a big name and to have him congratulating me, talking with me and supporting me and he’ll be there tomorrow so I’m excited to see him and hopefully I can get it done for him.”
To even make it to this level took a lot, but Connor made it look easy in 2024, winning the second round of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series, back when that ladder had more than two rungs on it, and then winning a race to make the Free Agency period in the Contender portion. “I mean, it’s hard, but I feel like you can do what you can believe you can do, and I never thought ‘oh, I’m just going to make the series and run last’,” Yeroschak said. “I believe that I could be the best, so it’s just what you believe.”
It will be Connor’s first time thrust into the spotlight at a live event at this level. He’s got a cheering section waiting for him through the evening. The question is, however, who he would run to should he take the crown in the Crown City?
“That would be my parents,” Yeroschak responded. “I’m very happy, obviously, coming from Canada, that they’ve made the effort to come down and support me and they’ve supported me my whole life in everything. They’ve always been there for me, so it would have to be my mom and dad, my brother, I’m very grateful they can be here.”
TINSLEY: “HOPEFULLY I CAN SNEAK AWAY WITH IT”
“Quiet” Wyatt Tinsley has been quietly making one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the series. Drafted to the Kansas City Pioneers for his rookie season in 2023, then winning his first race with the same organization in 2024, in 2025, their plans didn’t align. KCP had a Championship 4 competitor in Graham Bowlin in that same season, while Wyatt was relegated out of the top level for the second straight season, having to re-qualify back in. He did, but the Pioneers had already found a new driver for the team in Casey Kirwan, so Wyatt was left without a ride in 2025.
That didn’t deter him, and in 2026, during the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series, he was a standout once more, finishing ninth in the final standings with a win to his credit at Darlington Raceway. With Bowlin also back in the Qualifying Series and unable to transfer back into Free Agency, there was an open seat once more with the Pioneers, and the two were partnered up again for what turned out to be an incredible 2026.
“Consistency,” Tinsley said about his year to-date. “That’s been the biggest thing, this whole entire year. I don’t have a finish worse than 22nd, that was Richmond, where I had to start from pit road. Just an overall consistent season, starting with a fifth at Charlotte. All of the playoff races were top-10’s. I feel like, this whole year, from being relegated and not being selected in Free Agency in 2025, going through the Qualifying Series again, just overall, I would say, it was anxious anxiety, with going through again, and then qualifying, and then coming back with the Pioneers, I think was overall, just fueled a lot of momentum for me.”
“That whole entire journey has been, I would say, quite a bit of a journey. Just from the ending 2024, like finishing 2023 in 21st, then 2024, right back again, finished 21st, one point out both years getting relegated. Then going through the Qualifying Series again in 2025, and not being selected, definitely was a big bummer, I would say, because I just had a full year out of the series.”
“Everyone in the room with me right now—Bobby, Steve, Connor—all have another year under their belt in the Coke Series last year. Going through this year, I knew I just had to be consistent, stay out of trouble, and overall, I’d just be there at the end, and I feel like that’s what I’ve done the entire year.”
While both Steven and Bobby have been here multiple times, for Wyatt and Connor, this is their first time racing for this title, at this venue, on this stage. “I’m enthusiastic, overall, I’m excited for this race,” Tinsley said. “My grandma watches all my races, and she’s probably my biggest supporter. It sucks that she didn’t get to watch last year, but she’s gonna be down here this weekend, so that’s going to be awesome.” If Wyatt wins, his Grandma is also the first person he’s celebrating with on Tuesday night.
One of the quirks of this Championship format is that, while winning is the best thing anyone could do to further their season towards racing for a title, Wyatt’s gotten to this point without a victory on the Championship Series side of things.
“A win would be nice, of course, but winning a Coke Series race is, I would say, one of the hardest things to do, in my opinion,” Tinsley stated. “You have to be at the right place at the right time, have the right strategy, have a great car. I would love to win, but if I have to finish second, or finish third in order to win the championship, that’s fine by me.” If he were to win the cup without a win, he would be the first champion in series history to do so.
Wyatt knows that his stealth might be his greatest strength in the battle for the Dale Earnhardt Jr Cup on Tuesday night. The other three have scratched and clawed their way to wins, and that’s exactly what he hopes they do again. He just wants to be the one there to pick up the pieces when they get into one another.
“My grandma always tells me—and it’s the funniest thing in the world—She says, ‘why do you let the drivers push you over and you don’t push them back?’ I tell her every time that I just don’t race that way. I just don’t, even if you wreck me, I won’t wreck you back, because there’s just no need to entice anyone. But, I would say, there is $100,000 on the line… We’ll just see how it goes.”
ZALENSKI: “I’VE GOT THE BEST TEAM BEHIND ME”
He’s the best to never do it, and he’s tired of those remarks. Bobby Zalenski is ready to be more than just a bunch of great stats with one obvious missing mark, that being a championship. Bobby’s been chasing the crown for 10 years now. 10 straight seasons making the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series postseason. Seven of those seasons, n0w, have gone far enough to make it to the Championship 4 Finale. Twice, he’s raced on stage at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, this year being his third. All of that said, Bobby is ready to make the most of it and have a good time in the process.
Kicking off 2026 with a win, something he’s never done before, Bobby’s season has had its ups, its downs, and its moments, for sure. The chromed-out No. 22 entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed, despite not having the points that Steven had collected. Bobby had the wins though—at Charlotte, Coronado, and Nashville. In the postseason, Bobby had all the points he needed to transfer onward. While some parts, like Dover, haven’t been ideal, 2026 has been pretty good to the driver who’s got the most laps over the other three he’s fighting against on Tuesday night.
“I mean, it was statistically one of my better years,” Zalenski said about the 2026 season. “We had some bumps along the way with our bad stretch of finishes, which is a combination of stuff we couldn’t control, and stuff I could have definitely controlled. It’s still three wins, lot of laps led, and I felt like I took a bit of a step up—me and my team took a bit of a step up, and we left it in, cruising to another Championship 4. We’re in championship form, and I can’t really complain. It’s been a good year. I kind of went into the year not knowing what to expect, but it ended up being really good.”
It could be third times the charm, it could be lucky number 7, but it could be another year that gets away, and Bobby’s just thankful to still be in this spot so deep into his career. “I’m just glad to have made it this many times,” Zalenski said. “I try to look at the positives a bit like, yeah, it sucks that I haven’t been able to win it yet, but more experience is always helpful. I’ve got to the point, I think after I lost 2022, where it’s like, this ain’t going to upset me no more if it doesn’t go my way.”
“I feel good about it this year. Certainly, I believe we can do it, but if not… I don’t worry about the outcome, I guess. It’s just a race, like it’s, you know, I’m going against three guys that are prepping really hard, but then there’s people that aren’t really prepping very hard in the race that are easy picking. Just going to go race, have fun, but we’re here to have fun, this is just, you know, it’s just esports, just racing. It’s like, we’re supposed to be having a good time with it.”
Drafted by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019, having also raced with Team VRS in 2020, Letarte eSports in 2021, and again with JGR in 2022, 2023, and 2024, when 2025 rolled around, Bobby had to find a new team to race with. He partnered up with Jesse Iwuji and the ERA eSports Team in their maiden season, and now, they are racing together for a title in 2026.
“They’re really supportive,” Zalenski said. “It’s been my second season with them, and me and (Michael Cosey Jr) went out to San Diego for the race there. I met a lot of people, drivers and fans, stuff. The whole group, it just feels like I have a lot of support and really believe in me and they’re always gassing me up. Just a good experience with them.”
Bobby is also known for his chrome paint schemes, which he won’t be racing in on Tuesday, with NEX jumping back on board for the title race, but it’s something he’s been able to showcase in three of his seasons now, and there’s a little history behind it as well. “It’s just pretty, like ever since (iRacing) added the spec mips in 2020, I think that’s just pretty when chrome’s done right. My dad’s done a bit of metal finishing, he’s done chrome work… a little bit of history there.”
Should this be the year, Bobby does have an idea of who he would like to celebrate right away with, but unlike the other three, they won’t be in the crowd that night, unfortunately. “That person would be my dad, but he can’t make it out here. It would certainly be him. Maybe I’ll FaceTime him right away or something.” Bobby won’t be there without support, however. “(I’ll celebrate with) the people there, that’d probably have to be my best friends and former teammates. Keegan Leahy is planning on being here. He won five years ago, and he’s been bothering me, like, ‘Hey, why don’t you have one yet?’ We had a lot of good years together.”
TUNE IN FOR A GRAND FINALE AT THE HALL OF FAME
Tune in at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Countdown to Green pre-race show over at eNASCAR.com/live or on iRacing’s social channels. The racing action begins at 8:00 p.m. ET live from the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Uptown Charlotte.
For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit eNASCAR.com or iRacing.com/eNASCAR.
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