Zalenski Punches Ticket to eNASCAR Championship 4 With Charlotte Roval Win

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.

Bobby Zalenski led flag to flag in Tuesday night’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series road course race, this time scoring the victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. For the second year in a row, a victory on the unique layout enabled the Fresno native to secure a spot in the Championship 4 of the series playoffs, this time ensuring that he’ll have a chance at becoming iRacing’s first $100,000 champion when the final checkered flag falls on November 1.

“I don’t know how we’re still able to do this, me and my team,” Zalenski said after the pivotal victory. “You put all this preparation in, and somehow you’re able to maximize every aspect every time, understanding the cars and tires and (so on). I’m just happy we’re going to Homestead—that’s the goal. A road course is a road course, but we’re trying to win a championship and get to Homestead.

“I’m just glad we had a clean race. We had a really great Q lap, and I was able to just go out and drive. But I’m tired!”

Zalenski’s sixth road course victory in a row in the championship was widely predicted coming into the race, but he was by no means the only eNASCAR playoff contender to have a good points day at the track. Fellow playoff contenders Jimmy Mullis and Nick Ottinger completed the podium, while Keegan Leahy hung on for fourth place in spite of an uncharacteristic mid-race mistake that saw him take on some left side damage. Only Logan Clampitt, the first driver on the outside of the playoff bubble, stood between an all-playoff top five, beating Garrett Lowe to the line by more than seven seconds.

With no full-course cautions on the Roval, it was bound to be a long night for those playoff contenders who don’t specialize in turning left and right. Ryan Luza salvaged a career-best 11th place finish, while Ray Alfalla survived with a 24th place run, one lap down. Only Michael Conti took a DNF, after a shifting issue popped the car into first gear and blew the engine; he’d be scored 37th at the finish, and will likely require a win of his own to make it into the Championship 4.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Manufacturer

Laps

Led

Interval

Best

Pts

1183Bobby ZalenskiChevrolet55551:15.00847.05845
2346Jimmy MullisToyota5501:15.51747.01639
3625Nick OttingerChevrolet5501:15.39047.15638
4232Keegan LeahyToyota5501:15.53246.93237
5999Logan ClampittToyota5501:16.47046.72736
6721Garrett LoweFord5501:15.97147.17735
7837Christian ChallinerChevrolet5501:16.20447.10734
8527Corey VincentFord5501:16.31747.17533
91323Casey KirwanToyota5501:15.92946.74432
10418Graham A. BowlinToyota5501:16.73047.13731
111853Ryan Michael LuzaFord5501:16.33946.87230
12126Nathan LyonFord5501:16.77546.74329
131524Jake NicholsFord5501:16.48046.90128
141677Bob BryantToyota5501:16.68246.80627
151117Kollin KeisterFord5501:16.59446.80726
16323Blake ReynoldsChevrolet5501:16.36146.95925
173490Zack NovakToyota5501:16.89646.76624
181441Dylan DuvalFord5501:16.90046.93623
191755Caine CookFord5501:17.23447.16622
20195Matt BussaFord5501:17.45046.86221
212288Brad DaviesChevrolet5501:17.11446.78620
222310Justin BoltonFord5501:17.26846.92719
232833Michael GuestChevrolet5401:17.72946.81318
24242Ray AlfallaChevrolet5401:16.84647.03717
25209Eric J. SmithFord5401:16.59746.76716
262615Michael GuarigliaFord5401:17.55746.94315
273866Jarl TeienChevrolet5401:16.30747.13514
283575Phillip DiazFord5401:16.81046.86113
292197John GorlinskyChevrolet5401:17.07846.84112
303036Chris ShearburnChevrolet5401:18.02947.12211
313116Chris OverlandFord5401:17.33846.92110
322547Steve SheehanChevrolet5401:17.81446.7959
332951Malik RayToyota5401:17.71146.8458
343614Brandon Hayse KettelleFord5301:18.28546.9287
352754Alex McCollumChevrolet4901:17.08247.0696
36374Santiago TirresChevrolet4101:16.97347.5785
37108Michael ContiChevrolet901:16.38347.1224
383379Brian SchoenburgFord103

 

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoff points through 17 of 20 events are as follows:

  1. Bobby Zalenski, 2015
  2. Keegan Leahy, 2046
  3. Jimmy Mullis, 2045
  4. Nick Ottinger, 2041
  5. Ryan Luza, 2039
  6. Garrett Lowe, 2035
  7. Ray Alfalla, 2020
  8. Michael Conti, 2004

There’s no rest for the drivers of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series next week, as the series continues its mad dash through the playoffs with the second of three races in the Round of 8 at Kansas Speedway. As always, the race can be seen live on Tuesday at 9PM ET on eNASCAR.com/live and across the iRacing Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube channels. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.