2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series | Race Preview | Round 7 at Darlington - iRacing.com

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series is officially in the second half of the 2026 season. Next up on the schedule is a track that is often Too Tough to Tame, and also referred to as the Lady in Black. Darlington Raceway, in South Carolina, is a track where the drivers will have a tougher time racing the track itself than their competition, although in these stacked splits, anything can and surely will happen.

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.

2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series | Qualifying midseason report | Feature #6

While the focus will be on the top split, splits below that may also get screen time tonight and through the season. Coverage for Darlington 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 6 AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

In the most recent race, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series competitors took on a track that no longer exists as the 2-mile variant that was on display last Tuesday night. The Top Split saw its fair share of three, four, and sometimes more than five-wide racing throughout the night. Adam Garza, Quentin Warman, and Andrew Navarro led the majority of the way, but in eNASCAR Overtime, it was Kenny Brady getting the job done, leading only two laps—the final two—en route to his first victory of the series.

Kenny Brady steals eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series Top Split victory in Fontana

LAST TIME AT DARLINGTON IN 2024

Darlington Raceway is surely an acquired taste, and while it’s no longer a staple on the Championship Series calendar, it is seen quite often in the history books with some well-known names on the winner’s list. The last time the track was run was in 2024, and on that day, Vicente Salas returned to eNASCAR Victory Lane. Steven Wilson started on the pole, but Salas took control and was able to hold off both Casey Kirwan—the previous winner at the track—and Kaden Honeycutt.

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 kicked off the Qualifying Series season, but only for the first four races at Daytona, Las Vegas, Rockingham, and Phoenix. Starting at the fifth race, these hopefuls graduated to the next step on the NASCAR ladder, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars, racing at Homestead-Miami, Fontana, Darlington, and Bristol. 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 competitors are also taking on the challenge, and some of the official teams, including eRacr, Vegas Inferno, and the Kansas City Pioneers, are fielding hopeful drivers during the opening half of the whole year.

TOP 10 STANDINGS ENTERING ROUND 7 AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

TRACK FACTS: DARLINGTON RACEWAY

“The Lady in Black.” “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” Whatever you call Darlington Raceway, one thing is certain: the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval is unlike any other track on the NASCAR schedule.

From builder Harold Brasington having to accommodate a minnow pond to create the track’s distinct shape, to drivers running right up against the wall and earning a “Darlington stripe” on their cars when they scrape it, few tracks have quite as colorful of a backstory.

It’s no surprise that NASCAR’s annual Throwback Weekend was celebrated at Darlington up until last year, with teams continuing the tradition on their own accord into the 2026 season.

NEXT RACE: O’REILLY SERIES SECTION ENDS AT THE LAST GREAT COLISEUM

After Darlington, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series returns for the eighth round of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 7th, the fourth and final race of the season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars. Bristol is a short, steep, and sometimes chaotic half-mile concrete jungle located in Tennessee. Another track that hasn’t been on an eNASCAR schedule in quite some time, it was the site of Ryan Luza’s last Championship Series win (as of now) back in 2022.

Coverage for the racing at Bristol 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.
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