2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series | Race Preview | Round 4 at Phoenix

The final NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the 2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series is set to take place on Tuesday night at Phoenix Raceway. With three rounds in the books already, the latest top split won by Garrett Manes at Rockingham, Phoenix will be the last time we see the Trucks in 2026 as the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars will take the spotlight from the fifth to the eighth race in the Qualifying Series season.

In the new eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season as a whole, the total schedule expands to a 24-races The first 11 races will be as a part of the newly reconfigured eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series from February to April. The remaining 13 races will be in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series, which starts in May, that part of the schedule previously being the entirety of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.

22 iRacing members are already locked into the Free Agency round before the Championship Series begins in May. 30 more drivers will be added to that Free Agency pool by finishing within the top-30 in the final standings by the Qualifying Series section’s end. Any iRacing member with a Class A license can take on the Qualifying Series, and splits and the Strength of Field (SoF) will be determined by each entered member’s iRating. Points will be awarded throughout each split based on the SoF.

Garrett Manes tames the top of 18 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series splits at Rockingham

While the focus will be on the top split, splits below that may also get screen time tonight and through the season. Coverage for Phoenix begins at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels. Tune in 15 minutes earlier to catch the Countdown to Green at 7:45 p.m. ET.

LAST RACE: 2026 ROUND 3 AT ROCKINGHAM SPEEDWAY

There was only one caution-free split among the 18 that ran at Rockingham Speedway last week, and as it should be, it was the Top Split competitors showing the rest how its done. Eddie Kerner led the field to the green, leading the opening stint before taking his first of two pit stops around the one-third mark. Kerner couldn’t hold on through the cycle, as Garrett Manes emerged, just ahead of Andrew Navarro to claim his first victory of the season, also taking control of the points lead.

LAST YEAR: 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ROUND 17 AT PHOENIX RACEWAY

While Phoenix won’t be a player in the Championship Series this year, it was pivotal to determining the 2025 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series Championship 4 Finale. Parker White and Casey Kirwan were the two holding the final two tickets to the dance, with both Steven Wilson and Zack Novak confirmed entry. However, Vicente Salas would not be denied, claiming the victory, moving on to the title race along with Kirwan as the defending champion, White, was eliminated.

NEW SERIES FORMAT

A Qualifying Series is not a new concept, but the way these 11 races will play out are vastly different in the sense that there will be multiple different vehicles throughout.

The NASCAR Craftsman Trucks are back in Qualifying, but only for four races. Daytona, Las Vegas, Rockingham, and Phoenix will be the four truck races to kick off the season, but in the fifth race, these hopefuls will graduate to the next step on the NASCAR ladder, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars. At Homestead-Miami, Fontana, Darlington, and Bristol, the NORAPS car will be their chariot. The final three races will put these hopefuls into the last step, the top level machine, the NASCAR Cup Series Gen 7 for the races at Chicagoland, Michigan, and Texas.

While there is no official roster, as anyone can truly participate minus those already locked into Free Agency, names such as Ray Alfalla, Michael Cosey Jr, Graham Bowlin, and many more relegated drivers from previous eNASCAR seasons will be looking to make their way back to the top level. eNASCAR College iRacing Series competitor Adam Garza is among those taking part, lining up with the Kansas City Pioneers, one of the official teams in the series, to race for their Price Chopper seat. Bowlin and Michael P Frisch are also a part of that program and will wear Price Chopper colors. Another official team, eRacr, has their own race for the seat program, the Money Lap Challenge, open to all where the top drivers wearing their logo at the end of the season will have a chance to sign with them during Free Agency.

TOP 10 STANDINGS ENTERING ROUND 4 AT PHOENIX RACEWAY

Out of the top-30, only 10 have ever made a start at the Championship Series level. That means a good number of drivers have established their worth early in the going, looking to break into the top level this year. Garrett Manes was one of those drivers, but failed to qualify back into the Free Agency pool for last season. The highest ranked driver that competed last year in the Championship Series is Eddie Kerner in fourth.

A number of drivers down to fourth split find themselves in the rankings after three races, including names like Tyler Latterell, Joe Armstrong, Logan Helton, and Aiden Bierlien. Just on the outside is NASCAR Cup Series competitor Carson Hocevar, who has had two fantastic races and finishes in second split. That’s not to say a lot of drivers from the top aren’t doing well, as the Top Split competitors are in the top-five spots after three weeks.

Eyes will be on the cut line the closer we get to Week 11. Also, the drop is still in play at the end of it all, so nothing is guaranteed yet.

TRACK FACTS: PHOENIX RACEWAY

Nestled in the foothills of Arizona’s Estrella Mountains, Phoenix Raceway is one of America’s most challenging ovals. Though originally built for open wheel racing, over the past two decades, the desert flower has become even more famous for stock car competition. The track opened in 1964, hosted its first NASCAR weekend in 1988, was purchased by the International Speedway Corp. in 1997, and then hosted the NASCAR Championship race from 2020 to 2025. The track will once again host two NASCAR weekends in 2026, the first one set for this weekend, together with the NTT IndyCar Series.

The one-mile venue was reconfigured ahead of the 2020 season, moving the start-finish line from what is now the backstretch to what was once the exit of Turn 2, now Turn 4. The apron, once a much narrower place around the well-known kink called the “Dogleg”, now offers an area where drivers sometimes fan out to multiple vehicles wide, all before getting back in order before the new Turn 1.

NEXT RACE: TWO WEEKS UNTIL O’REILLY DEBUT AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI

After Phoenix, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series takes a week off for the Season 2 build week before it returns for the fifth round of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 17th, the first race of the season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars. The Championship Series race at Homestead-Miami was won by Steven Wilson last season—a record-breaking eighth win of the year, and his final one needed to secure the title in the 2025 season.

Coverage for the racing in the virtual desert begins at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels. Tune in 15 minutes earlier to catch the Countdown to Green at 7:45 p.m. ET.

For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit eNASCAR.com or iRacing.com/eNASCAR.
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iRacing.com.­­

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