After coming close so many times, Parker White is finally a winner in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, and it could not have come at a better time.
White dominated late and stayed ahead of numerous wrecks to win at the virtual Phoenix Raceway and punch his ticket to the Championship 4. Donovan Strauss, his Williams eSports teammate, finished right behind him in second.
“To win this race, it means so much to me,” White said during the Sunoco Post Race Report. “Really just the execution all race was there. Staying on the bottom on restarts was very important.”
Vicente Salas needed to get by White to make the Championship 4, but he came up just short in third. Late-race contact with Zack Novak played a factor in Salas being unable to get to White.
“I think we played the strategy we best we could,” Salas said. “I think the significant problem you all saw in the broadcast here is someone who had nothing to lose. [Novak] hadn’t done anything in the series this year or the last few years. He flat drove through us, kind of took our chance away.”
With two more championship spots open on points, Graham Bowlin and Bobby Zalenski raced their way into the Championship 4, finishing seventh and sixth, respectively.
It was a sloppy night for the eNCCiS field, with a total of 13 cautions in the 120-lap race.
TONIGHT’S ACTION
Tucker Minter turned the fastest lap in qualifying to sit in the pole, but Salas had his nose in front when an early caution came out on lap 3.
Salas took advantage of being the control car on the ensuing lap 7 restart to get a jump on Minter and the rest of the field. Salas built up a lead of slightly over half a second before the second caution of the evening flew on lap 25 for an incident between Garrett Manes and Michael Cosey Jr. Salas lost the lead on the ensuing pit stops as five drivers stayed on the racetrack, led by Malik Ray.
This is where the racing got choppy, with five more cautions over the next 30 laps. By lap 42, Salas navigated his way back to the top of the scoring pylon, with fellow playoff driver White hot on his tail.
Salas led the field back to the green on lap 60, but as they passed the halfway point, yet another caution came out for a backstretch crash involving Collin Bowden, Darik Bourdeau, and playoff driver Dylan Duval.
The 40-car field got back up to speed with 55 laps remaining for the beginning of a slightly longer green-flag run. But the…
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