deJong Finally Gives 2021 eNASCAR Season Repeat Winner at Road America

The moment we were all waiting for in the 2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season finally came on Tuesday night: somebody won a second race of the season.

That “somebody” was Mitchell deJong, and the bigger surprise than seeing the 23XI driver take the checkered flag from the pole at Road America was the fact that he didn’t lead every lap. Stewart-Haas eSports’ Graham Bowlin managed to sneak in two of the 31 laps of the race up front during the mid-race pit cycle, but that was all that anyone has for the California native, as he made it two for two on road courses after a perfect race at Circuit of the Americas earlier this season.

Letarte Esports’ Bobby Zalenski, who had formerly been perfect on road courses until deJong made it into the series for the first time this season, finished second after matching deJong’s pace for much of the night. Third place went to Roush Fenway Racing’s Steven Wilson, the series’ top rookie on points, who would climb into the final playoff spot for the moment after holding off Bowlin for the spot. Wilson would surpass Jim Beaver eSports’ Michael Guest, who took contact early in the night and limped home to a 31st place finish.

In fact, contact and off-track excursions were the name of the game for many drivers on Tuesday night, as they all attempted to adapt to the newest track on the eNASCAR schedule. Whether Turn 1, Turn 5, or the infamous Canada Corner, multiple drivers would either see their days end in the track’s heaviest braking zones, or at least lose a handful of spots after missing their braking point and sliding off track. Without caution flags to bunch the field back up, the result was a major spread between the lead lap drivers. Still, in spite of the challenges, an overwhelming majority of starters—34 out of 40, to be exact—would complete all 31 laps of the race.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Road America were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Manufacturer

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts

1123Mitchell deJongToyota31292:07.53640
2383Bobby ZalenskiChevrolet31-6.69302:08.11435
3417Steven WilsonFord31-17.53802:08.25034
4510Graham A. BowlinFord31-20.79222:08.10833
5103Corey VincentChevrolet31-36.47602:08.70132
6746Jimmy MullisToyota31-37.01602:09.26931
7955Vicente SalasFord31-39.28502:08.86430
81466Blake ReynoldsChevrolet31-43.88802:09.46929
9225Nick OttingerChevrolet31-48.07702:08.19828
101138Casey KirwanFord31-48.44602:10.37327
1168Michael ContiChevrolet31-50.15102:08.94626
121541Dylan DuvalFord31-51.50502:08.99825
131890Zack NovakToyota31-54.51702:09.39824
14192Garrett ManesToyota31-54.98302:09.15723
151333Taylor HurstChevrolet31-58.15802:09.43922
162021Garrett LoweFord31-58.34702:08.65821
171267Allen BoesChevrolet31-59.38102:09.63220
182588Brad DaviesChevrolet31-1:06.88402:09.15219
192344Anthony BurroughsChevrolet31-1:12.29502:09.49318
20401Ashton CrowderToyota31-1:12.55302:09.32217
211697Logan ClampittChevrolet31-1:12.89402:10.20316
222277Bob BryantChevrolet31-1:23.03502:09.36715
233214Blade WhittFord31-1:23.40402:10.55414
243675Matt BussaFord31-1:30.76302:10.43213
2584Ryan Michael LuzaFord31-1:31.07502:09.44212
263516John GorlinskyFord31-1:36.13502:09.97411
273037Derek JustisChevrolet31-1:38.52002:10.22010
282851Ray AlfallaToyota31-1:41.39302:10.2519
293736Chris ShearburnChevrolet31-1:41.64402:10.1978
301732Keegan LeahyToyota31-1:42.12102:09.0177
31299Michael GuestFord31-1:42.44502:11.1046
323179Ryan DoucetteFord31-1:55.63402:10.3915
332718Femi OlatToyota31-1:55.94502:11.2114
34386Nathan LyonFord31-1:58.32702:11.4653
352124Jake NicholsFord18-13 L02:10.3172
363429Zack NicholsFord16-15 L02:11.6481
372415Caine CookFord15-16 L02:11.5061
383311Malik RayFord14-17 L02:12.7861
392652Jake MathesonFord13-18 L02:11.5541
403947Brian SchoenburgChevrolet7-24 L02:12.3691

 

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoff grid after 11 races is as follows:

  1. Mitchell deJong, 2 wins, 245 points
  2. Keegan Leahy, 1 win, 271 points
  3. Bobby Zalenski, 1 win, 259 points
  4. Vicente Salas, 1 win, 242 points
  5. Logan Clampitt, 1 win, 235 points
  6. Michael Conti, 1 win, 232 points
  7. Ryan Luza, 1 win, 223 points
  8. Bob Bryant, 1 win, 223 points
  9. Chris Shearburn, 1 win, 196 points
  10. Steven Wilson, 267 points

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series returns to action two weeks from now, taking on New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 13. As always, coverage begins with iRacing Countdown to Green at 8:30PM ET, with the racing action picking up at 9PM ET on eNASCAR.com/live and iRacing’s social media channels. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iRacing.com.

Images via Justin Melillo