Daniel Faulkingham tops 37 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series split winners at Daytona

On Tuesday night, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series returned for its 17th season, once again kicking everything off at Daytona International Speedway. What was different from previous years is that there were 37 different winners of the opening round, this being because at the start of the year, in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series section of the schedule, the first 11 races are open to anyone with a Class A Oval license.

Daytona enticed over 1,300 iRacers to participate in the opening round, which ultimately created 37 splits and those 37 different winners, each winner that much closer to a chance to compete in the 2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series later this year. Granted, those winning outside the top-five splits are likely not going to have a chance to finish inside the top-30 by the end of the season, but those consistently winning within the top-five splits on the night could make a case, seeing as all five of those winners currently sit inside the top-30 after one week.

One of the relegated eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series drivers from the 2025 season, Daniel Faulkingham, who competed for Six Karma last season, just missed out on staying above the relegation line, falling to 26th in the final standings by season’s end. On Tuesday night, Faulkingham scored the most points out of anyone, winning the Top Split race, which boasted over an 8000 Strength of Field (SoF) among the 36 entries.

TOP SPLIT

Faulkingham was dominant in his performance, leading 64 of the 80 laps in the event. Top Split saw only one caution for three laps, which included an incident involving Matt Bussa and Quentin Warman, two other former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series competitors, but most of the field escaped without too much damage. On Lap 51, Rocky Boyd III, Michael P Frisch, and Justin R Smith tangled on a green flag pit stop, ultimately ending their chances at a good finish.

At the front of the field, Faulkingham wasn’t alone in his quest to victory. “Every single one of my teammates I had pushing me, that was the only reason we were as dominant as we were,” Faukingham explained post-race. “Myself, Garrett (Manes), Kenny (Brady), Kayden (Diederich), especially that last run, when we all got together, we just controlled that S.O.B. from start to finish… That’s a team win for every single one of us that worked together there until the very end.”

Those teammates wound up second with Garrett Manes, third with Kenny Brady, and fifth with Kayden Diederich. Andrew Navarro snuck up from 13th to finish in fourth on the final lap. Other notable finishes in the field included some former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series talents, such as Warman and Bussa recovering for seventh and tenth, respectively, as well as Garrett Lowe in 11th, Brian Mercurio in 12th, Ray Alfalla in 13th, Cody Byus in 18th, Wyatt Tinsley in 19th, Graham Bowlin in 20th, Blake McCandless in 26th, and Blake Reynolds in 28th. From the eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by PlayVS, Ohio State’s Matthew Morton finished in eighth, Triton’s Adam Garza wound up 22nd, and Saddleback’s John Forbes Jr finished in 30th.

AROUND THE OTHER SPLITS

The second split was also on display on Tuesday night, with Wyatt Gray holding off Seth Noell for the win in a caution-free race. Michael Cosey Jr, repping the Coca-Cola colors alongside Alfalla during this Qualifying Series section of the season, wound up finishing in third. Nate Stewart and Eddie Kerner, two of the relegated rookies from the 2025 Championship Series, were also in the second split and finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Other notable winners among the splits included the third split, won by one of the College Series drivers for Ball State, Daniel Nanney. From the World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series, Aiden Bierlien was victorious in fifth split. In the middle of those two splits, a name familiar to fans of NASCAR, Rajah Caruth, who is driving for JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts season this year, wound up winning in fourth split.

Those five winners find themselves among the top-30 after this first race, as do all of the second place finishers in those splits—Manes, Noell, Tyler Latterell, Colton Salek, and Casee Sprinkle. Kerner, with his eighth place finish in second split, sits 30th in the overall standings, right on the cut line after one race.

TOP POINTS SCORERS IN RACE NO. 1 AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TOP 30 STANDINGS (NOT INCLUDING DROP) FOLLOWING RACE NO. 1 AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

NEXT RACE

Following Daytona, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series heads across the United States over to Las Vegas for the second round of the season. The Championship Series race at Las Vegas was won by Kollin Keister last season. Coverage for Las Vegas on February 17th 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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