Wyatt Tinsley returns to eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series Top Split winner’s circle at Darlington

For a track that is commonly known as the one that is Too Tough to Tame, Wyatt Tinsley made easy work of a caution-free carousel of 100 laps up and down at Darlington Raceway on Tuesday night. The seventh race of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series season saw 371 drivers attempt the Lady in Black across 11 splits, the top-most averaging a 7949 Strength of Field for the 34 top-ranked drivers for the night.

Tinsley started in second, but led from the get-go. A round of green flag pit stops put him out of the lead for 24 of the laps, but with 21 laps to go, Tinsley reclaimed the lead from Eddie Kerner and led the rest of the way to claim his first Top Split victory of the season.

76 Laps Led! First Victory of 2026 for @MrWyat5

He was the best at The Lady in Black! pic.twitter.com/4VBXyTdPSv

— NASCAR Gaming and Esports (@ENASCARGG) April 1, 2026

“I got fairly stuck in lapped traffic,” Tinsley said post-race, explaining his decision to pit when he did. “I think if I pitted on Lap 54, I think I would have missed all of that lap traffic and stuff, and I think I would have been further ahead… All-in-all, just glad to be back in victory lane at this racetrack. I just love this racetrack so much.”

While there were moments that nearly resulted in catastrophe, especially during the pit cycle crossover, the entire Top Split managed to bring it home in one piece, only two drivers falling out on their own volition by the end of the night.

Over in the Second Split, Jayden Hopp claimed his first victory of the year, holding off Logan Helton and Joe Armstrong, both who have Third Split victories already this season. Nate Stewart led the most laps, 35, but fell back to fourth after conceding the lead late. Only one race remains in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series vehicles, next week at Bristol Motor Speedway. The final three races will utilize the NASCAR Cup Series Gen 7.

TOP SPLIT: TINSLEY TAKES CONVINCING WIN IN CAUTION-FREE DARLINGTON EVENT

Brian Mercurio claimed his first pole position of the season, but it was all for not as the top lane was incredibly powerful at the start of the night. Wyatt Tinsley, from the outside lane, powered around Mercurio before the end of the lap, taking control right away. The bottom hindered Mercurio, as he lost even more, first to Quentin Warman, then to Sebastian Marin before everyone singled out.

Eddie Kerner eventually also managed to get by, dropping Mercurio back to fifth. From that point, the field stayed content, mostly single-file until the pit cycle entered the conversation. With 100 laps on the board, the window opened around the one-third mark, but it took until Lap 48 for the first domino to fall as points leader Andrew Navarro took to pit road first. This allowed him to cycle to the cycle lead for a moment, but Kerner, who pitted just after, had that slight advantage to take the cycle lead until the cycle completed fully.

Tinsley would not be denied, however. With the cycle completing with around 30 laps to go, Kerner found himself in the lead by two seconds with about 25 laps to go. That lead shrunk to nothing, and with 21 laps to go, Tinsley pulled back into the top spot and stayed there for the win.

AROUND THE OTHER SPLITS

Second Split was also on display on Tuesday night, featuring many Championship Series hopefuls all fighting for their maximum number of points at the Lady in Black. Blake Near grabbed the pole, but it was short lived as a lapper ended his chances of winning in the first half of the event. A caution did give the field a slight reset as Nate Stewart took control.

Jayden Hopp, however, was able to maintain his tires over the long run, taking the lead with 15 laps to go and hanging on through the remainder of the event. Ryan Andrew managed another win on the season down in Third Split, as did Jake Hoepner, the most-winningest driver on the season, this time grabbing the win in Seventh Split.

TOP POINTS SCORERS IN RACE NO. 7 AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

DRIVERS STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE NO. 7 AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

*Current standings do not include Drop Week

POINTS SITUATION: MARIN RETURNS TO TOP AS TOP 30 BECOMES MORE SOLIDIFIED

With Dylan Basen moving up to Top Split this week, eight of the top-10 in the current standings are drivers that participated in Top Split. The two outliers are Logan Helton, who moved up to Second Split this week, and Seth Noell, who made one Top Split start earlier in the year.

There wasn’t a lot of shifting among the top-30 either this week, with a good chunk of drivers staying around the same spot, not really falling out or jumping in. One move did occur at the top, with Sebastian Marin moving back into the top spot, but just by six points.

NEXT RACE: BRISTOL BECKONS FAREWELL TO O’REILLY SERIES

The eighth race of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series season, and the fourth and final race the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series machines, will take place at the Bristol Motor Speedway next Tuesday night. The last time that Bristol was on an eNASCAR schedule was back in 2022, that race won by Ryan Luza.

Coverage at Bristol on April 7th 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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