When 38 of the top college-aged sim racers in North America rolled off the grid for the inaugural eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by NACE Starleague race, Thursday night’s Playfly Sports 60 at Daytona International Speedway, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Colton Salek was set to roll off 27th. When the checkered flag fell, he had only led one lap—but it was the most important one.
Using a push from University of Rhode Island’s Shawn Jencsik, Salek got past Rutgers driver Daniel Buttafuoco in Turn 3, and had enough of a gap coming to the finish line to hang on for the victory as Jencsik ducked to try to make a run in the final feet. Buttafuoco, who led 14 laps, would hang on for third, as the top 10 drivers were separated by just under a second across the stripe.
The eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by NACE Starleague gives college and university-enrolled drivers an opportunity to compete in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series vehicles on behalf of their respective schools for a year-long prize pool of $50,000 in scholarship money. The list of qualifiers for Thursday night’s race was a varied one, representing schools across the continental United States and Canada, and even current and former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers. That group was led by former Letarte Esports driver Santiago Tirres, who qualified on the pole, led a race-high 19 laps, and finished fifth on behalf of UNC Charlotte.
eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by NACE Starleague results from the Playfly Sports 60 at Daytona International Speedway were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Name | Manufacturer | Laps | Interval | Led | Best |
| 1 | 27 | 91 | Colton Salek | Chevrolet | 67 | 1 | 47.936 | |
| 2 | 36 | 29 | Shawn Jencsik | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.082 | 0 | 47.767 |
| 3 | 3 | 13 | Daniel Buttafuoco | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.157 | 14 | 48.140 |
| 4 | 13 | 14 | Connor Okrzesik | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.231 | 0 | 48.176 |
| 5 | 1 | 17 | Santiago Tirres | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.237 | 19 | 48.139 |
| 6 | 26 | 52 | Jack Coyne | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.307 | 0 | 48.090 |
| 7 | 14 | 66 | Thomas Twomey | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.503 | 0 | 48.241 |
| 8 | 15 | 15 | Derrick Jennings | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.574 | 0 | 48.150 |
| 9 | 28 | 65 | Stone Schafer | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.768 | 0 | 48.003 |
| 10 | 17 | 90 | Malachi Drake | Chevrolet | 67 | -0.966 | 0 | 48.203 |
| 11 | 10 | 7 | Anthony Keyes | Chevrolet | 67 | -1.511 | 0 | 48.280 |
| 12 | 24 | 11 | Carson King | Toyota | 67 | -2.571 | 0 | 48.227 |
| 13 | 35 | 99 | Edwin Onofre | Chevrolet | 67 | -2.826 | 0 | 48.087 |
| 14 | 34 | 88 | Blake Kinkennon | Chevrolet | 67 | -3.559 | 0 | 47.919 |
| 15 | 31 | 85 | Trey Normile | Toyota | 67 | -8.068 | 0 | 47.879 |
| 16 | 5 | 40 | Dylan Ault | Chevrolet | 67 | -10.934 | 5 | 48.150 |
| 17 | 16 | 61 | Athena Leclerc | Toyota | 67 | -16.603 | 0 | 48.193 |
| 18 | 33 | 10 | Coleson Phelps | Toyota | 67 | -18.689 | 0 | 48.093 |
| 19 | 11 | 27 | Alexander L Russell | Toyota | 67 | -24.365 | 0 | 48.153 |
| 20 | 37 | 24 | Aidan Doyle | Chevrolet | 67 | -28.568 | 0 | 47.915 |
| 21 | 20 | 83 | Daniel R Carter | Chevrolet | 66 | -1 L | 0 | 48.160 |
| 22 | 32 | 5 | Kenneth Talbott | Chevrolet | 66 | -1 L | 18 | 48.084 |
| 23 | 6 | 97 | Jack Paynter | Toyota | 66 | -1 L | 0 | 48.245 |
| 24 | 29 | 0 | Ryan Kendrick | Toyota | 65 | -2 L | 0 | 48.081 |
| 25 | 12 | 95 | Jake Cummings | Ford | 64 | -3 L | 0 | 48.181 |
| 26 | 38 | 19 | Ricky Paz | Chevrolet | 62 | -5 L | 0 | 47.883 |
| 27 | 22 | 198 | Connor Hale | Toyota | 61 | -6 L | 3 | 48.177 |
| 28 | 25 | 71 | Nick Robinson | Chevrolet | 54 | -13 L | 0 | 47.846 |
| 29 | 2 | 1 | Reece Baham | Chevrolet | 53 | -14 L | 7 | 48.217 |
| 30 | 4 | 80 | Kristina Ryan | Chevrolet | 48 | -19 L | 0 | 48.228 |
| 31 | 7 | 22 | Alex Kolonics | Ford | 45 | -22 L | 0 | 48.146 |
| 32 | 19 | 39 | Jonathan Diamond | Chevrolet | 32 | -35 L | 0 | 48.175 |
| 33 | 23 | 100 | Steven Wilson | Ford | 31 | -36 L | 0 | 48.025 |
| 34 | 18 | 3 | Hagan Johnson | Toyota | 31 | -36 L | 0 | 48.275 |
| 35 | 30 | 9 | Blake Bottoms | Chevrolet | 29 | -38 L | 0 | 48.071 |
| 36 | 8 | 75 | Jose Solis Jr | Toyota | 29 | -38 L | 0 | 48.249 |
| 37 | 9 | 77 | Ryan Doucette | Chevrolet | 28 | -39 L | 0 | 48.146 |
| 38 | 21 | 4 | Jackson Shipley | Toyota | 28 | -39 L | 0 | 48.106 |
The eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by NACE Starleague continues next month at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with a time attack session for registered drivers on March 7-20 to set the grid for an 80-lap race on March 24.
The eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by NACE Starleague is supported by SCW, Coca-Cola, Playseat, and Logitech G. For more information on the series and how to qualify, visit www.cslesports.com/enascar. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iRacing.com.
