Quami Scott coasts to eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series winner’s circle at Chicagoland

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series took to Chicagoland Speedway on Tuesday night, the ninth race in 11 of the 2026 season. After eight races, four in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks and four in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts machines, the last car change of the season was on display with the NASCAR Cup Series Gen 7 cars, the car that will be used for the entirety of the Championship Series season.

First, however, these Qualifying Series hopefuls need to make their way through the trenches to make the top-30. For some, it’s been a cake walk, but for most, the cut line becomes more and more volatile as the season begins to come to a close.

Seemingly out of contention three races ago, Quami Scott made a statement last week at Bristol, finishing third to keep his chances, albeit slim, still alive. On Tuesday night in virtual Joliet, a fuel save strategy—that was seemingly unthinkable by the top drivers that night—wound up the winning one as Quami Scott etched his name in winner’s circle for his first win of the season in Top Split, driving 66 laps to the end without stopping to cash in on a potentially season-saving win.

HE HAS DONE IT. Stayed out. P29 before the pit cycle@YungQuami is a Winner in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series at Chicagoland!!! pic.twitter.com/2YIAQItiaq

— NASCAR Gaming and Esports (@ENASCARGG) April 15, 2026

“I was clutching from the start of that run just to make sure we made it,” Scott explained post-race. “Even when I was good, I was still clutching… I finally just went. We kept the tires on it, too. It just played right into our favor… That was exactly what I wanted.”

Entering Bristol, Quami was 108th in the standings. After his podium, he jumped up to 69th. Now as the most-recent Top Split winner, with two races to go, he’s 45th on the charts, still with 183 points to make up on the cut line. Michigan and Texas will need to be strong finishes for his ascent to continue, but he’s no stranger to last minute heroics. “I’m not trying to do this on purpose,” Scott laughed. “Every year, I’m in a tight points battle, and it’s stressful—super stressful—and it’s not my plan at all, but here we are again. Just going to have to do it again.”

Dylan Basen had to endure a bunch of cautions to claim another victory in Second Split. Down in Third Split, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Rajah Caruth was victorious, claiming his second win of the year in his part-time Qualifying Series schedule. The top-three splits all featured NASCAR National Series talent, with Craftsman Truck Series contender Kaden Honeycutt finishing 18th in Top Split and NASCAR Cup Series star Carson Hocevar claiming 17th in Split 2.

TOP SPLIT: FUEL SAVE SETS UP WIN CONDITIONS FOR SCOTT

Taking on the NASCAR Cup cars for the first time this season, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series lined up 36 drivers per split for the ninth race of the season, the third-to-last before determining the top-30 drivers that will qualify for the 2026 Free Agency pool.

Channel 199’s Blake Reynolds claimed his first pole position of the season, edging eRacr Money Lap competitor Seth Noell in second, who re-graduated from Split 2 to the Top Split this week. Reynolds led the way early, but another Money Lap Challenger, Matthew Morton, was hot on his tail until the caution flew for the first time on Lap 22. Morton, like most of the field, opted to pit, but surprisingly, Reynolds, along with BS+COMPETITION’s Garrett Lowe and JR Motorsports’ Blake McCandless, stayed out.

That call didn’t work out for any of them, as McCandless wound up last following a wreck, Reynolds wound up on the wrong side of off-sequence and finished 30th, and Lowe was relegated to finishing 20th. A second caution flew a lap after the restart with Reynolds still maintaining the lead, but it wouldn’t last too long.

Morton assumed the lead on Lap 32, bringing three-time winner this season, Sebastian Marin, through to second. A third, and what would end up being final caution flew on Lap 33, and it set up for what would eventually be the move to win the race for Quami Scott.

On Lap 44, a familiar name to the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series winner’s circle, and a former champion of the Championship Series, entered the top-three. Making a one-off (or potentially a two-off or three-off should he finish off the year), Team Conti’s own Michael Conti was able to make his way from 12th on the grid up into third.

With most of the field still needing to pit, the floodgates opened with about a third of the race remaining as Marin slid down pit road from second place. While he surprisingly didn’t incur a penalty for his slide onto pit road, Marin made his stop and got a speeding penalty on exit, which resulted in a second trip down pit road, ending his chances.

Conti managed to get around Morton during the cycle, and as the laps ran out, Team Dillon Esports’ Coca-Cola driver Michael Cosey Jr wound up making the move around Conti for the cycle lead, but that would not end up the battle for the win. Up front, it was Justin Campbell, who started 29th, but was one of the few to pit on the final caution, leading the way. Right behind was Scott, who was able to save even more in his wake.

In fact, the top-10 finishers all managed to make it home without stopping for service on the final green flag run, which placed Cosey Jr in 11th at the end of the day. Up front, Scott, now secured on his fuel number, made the move around Campbell with seven laps to go. The race stayed green and Scott was able to cross the line the winner, with enough fuel to even put on a smoke show post-race.

AROUND THE OTHER SPLITS

As Top Split only saw three cautions, Second Split wasn’t as fortunate. The second rung race managed 10 cautions on the night, many of which occurring as a result of three and four wide racing on the restarts. One thing that was constant was Dylan Basen, who started in second behind last week’s winner, Ryan Doucette. Doucette led the opening 33 laps before Basen was able to finally get by into the lead on Lap 34.

From there, Basen led the rest of the way, except for two laps under yellow that were led by Carson Hocevar. Joe Armstrong fought from 32nd on the grid to finish the night in second, while Jeremy Davis rounded out the podium. Nate Stewart and Jake Nichols, both soundly inside the top-30, rounded out the top-five in fourth and fifth, respectively.

While not on display on the broadcast, it was Rajah Caruth, who started in 30th, leading 31 laps en route to his second win of the season.

Third split dub lets go @ENASCARGG pic.twitter.com/XLxWXSvtAF

— Rajah Kirby Caruth (@rajahcaruth_) April 15, 2026

TOP POINTS SCORERS IN RACE NO. 9 AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

DRIVERS STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE NO. 9 AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

*Current standings reflect Drop Week rule

POINTS SITUATION: 16TH TO 45TH THE FOCUS ENTERING FINAL TWO RACES

As it stands after nine races, the top-30 battle is among the top-four splits. While the official series points situation does not really allow for mathematical locks, it is assumed that the maximum number of points available is around 420 to 430 for a Top Split win. With that knowledge, and now assuming a drop week into the equation, it is safe to say that the top-four won’t fall out of the top-30 under almost any circumstance, and the top-15 are fairly safe should they race the final two races of the season.

In reality, the section of drivers from 16th to 45th is the main focus. It will be tough to gain points, but it will be easy to give up a solid points day from here on out. Blake Reynolds was in, but fell pretty far below the line after his fumble at Chicagoland. On the flip side, Matt Bussa is scratching and clawing his way towards the top-30, and after two-straight top-10s, he’s just outside, needing two more solid weeks to break back into potentially racing his 14th season in the Championship Series.

As mentioned above, it was all but over for Quami Scott, but the last two weeks has him shot up to 45th in the points, up from as low as 118th four races ago. I would argue that Quami, and anyone in his vicinity, is the fringe of those still vying for a top-30 spot. Again, it is not mathematically impossible for someone like 4-Time series champion Ray Alfalla, down in 92nd, to gain over 600 points and make the top-30 in the final two weeks, but it is basically impossible considering the uncertainty of who shows up and how the Strength of Field affects the maximum points available per split.

NEXT RACE: TRIP TO THE IRISH HILLS FOR THE PENULTIMATE QUALIFYING SHOWDOWN

The 10th race of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series season, the second of which that will utilize the NASCAR Cup Series Generation 7 car, will take place at Michigan International Speedway next Tuesday night. In the Championship Series, Steven Wilson claimed his seventh win of the 2025 season, a win that would propel him to an eighth win at Homestead-Miami where he would claim his second title.

Coverage at Michigan on April 21st 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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