2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series | Race Preview | Round 8 at Bristol - iRacing.com

One final eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series race with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars remains at Bristol Motor Speedway on Tuesday night. With only four races remaining in the Qualifying Series season, the quest for the top-30 is beginning to narrow with chances becoming slimmer outside the cut.

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.

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

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

LAST RACE: 2026 ROUND 7 AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

The Lady in Black was particularly nice to the Top Split racers last week in the seventh race of the 2026 Qualifying Series season. Brian Mercurio claimed the pole position, but Wyatt Tinsley, from the second starting spot, took control of the race immediately on the opening lap. For 100 laps, the race ran under green flag conditions with a pit cycle taking place around halfway. Tinsley opted to stay out a little longer, losing time at first, but saving more tire for the end. Tinsley took the lead back from Eddie Kerner with just over 20 laps to go and held on for his first win of the season.

LAST TIME AT BRISTOL IN 2022

A common theme of the 2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season is that there are tracks returning to the schedule for the first time in multiple seasons. One such track is Bristol Motor Speedway, which hasn’t been seen since the 2022 Championship Season Playoffs. With a chance at winning into the Championship 4 on the line, a former champion managed to claim the win, despite no longer being championship eligible. Ryan Luza, the 2017 series champion, was victorious, leading 24 of the 175 laps en route to the win.

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 8 AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

TRACK FACTS: BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Bristol Motor Speedway bills itself as the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile,” and despite straightaways barely 200 yards long, it is a very fast racetrack. The secret is in the variable banking in the 300-yard wide-open corners – you may not have much room to accelerate off one corner before shutting down for the next, but with steep banking up to 30 degrees, there’s not much loss of speed when you get there. Plus, the all-concrete racing surface provides great traction.

With 160,000 seats, arranged in grandstands all the way around the racing surface, Bristol looks more like a football stadium on steroids than a typical race track. Veteran drivers have described racing at this East Tennessee speed emporium as the equivalent of “flying a fighter plane in a gymnasium,” so it’s not surprising that every NASCAR Cup Series race draws a massive crowd.

Still, the best seat in the house is the one behind the wheel. But it’s sure not a relaxing one, with laps at racing speeds ticking by at barely more than 15 seconds. Oh, and the compact nature of the track means that there are infield pits on both the front and rear straightaways, so drivers have that added complication to deal with. At the conclusion of a 500-lap NASCAR Cup Series race, not a single car makes it back to the garage without at least a few bumps, scrapes or other battle bruises, and the drivers aren’t in much better shape.

Opened for competition in 1961, Bristol Motor Speedway has had a number of remodels over the years, and several owners as well. It has been under its current owner, Speedway Motorsports, that Bristol Motor Speedway has enjoyed its greatest period of growth. The track hosts events for all three of NASCAR’s national series and the ARCA Menards Series.

NEXT RACE: NEXT GEN RACING TAKES OVER AT CHICAGOLAND

After Bristol, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series shifts into the next generation, with the Gen 7 car debuting at Chicagoland Speedway on April 14th. The last time that Chicagoland was on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series schedule was before it was the Coca-Cola Series, back in 2019, that race won by Keegan Leahy.

Coverage for the racing at Chicagoland 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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