2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series | Preview | Race 2 at Echo Park Speedway
June 2nd, 2026 by Justin Melillo
The road to $500,000 started off strong two weeks ago in the Coca-Cola 160 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 40 of the best eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series competitors managed a caution-free race in the opening round of the Championship Series on May 19th, that race won by ERA eSports Team’s Bobby Zalenski.
Next up, the series returns to the site of one of the wildest finishes in series history, now called EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The track formerly known as Atlanta is well-known for its close finishes from before and after the reconfiguration. The same is true for the eNASCAR ranks, as back in 2024, Malik Ray held on in a three-wide photo finish for his first-career win in the series. Steven Wilson also had a photo finish over Kollin Keister the year prior, and the year before that, it was the site of Wilson’s first-career win back on the old, bumpy edition of the track.
EchoPark, in all of its iterations, has been featured in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series a total of 12 times, with both Wilson and John Gorlinsky tied for the most Atlanta wins at two apiece. Coverage for the second round of the Championship Series season 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.
PREVIOUS RACE: ZALENSKI HOLDS ON FOR OPENING DAY WIN
Two weeks ago, and for the first time ever, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series class of 2026 took to the same track together for the longest race of the season—the Coca-Cola 160—the season-opening round at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
240 miles were on the board, and 160 laps would decide the first victor of the season. ERA eSports Team’s Bobby Zalenski put his chrome No. 22 on the pole position, but he would have tough competition right away from the defending winner of the race, William Byron eSports’ Tucker Minter. In fact, it was both of the William Byron eSports entries, including the new driver of the No. 25, Christopher Hill, who gave Zalenski a run for it throughout the night.
In the final run, Minter managed to get the lead through pit strategy, but Zalenski had fresher tires as the laps wound down. Also, stalking behind those three was the defending—and now two-time—series champion, Steven Wilson, who had his own strategy, which included only two fresh tires, but the freshest right side tires in the closing laps, evident in his pace to the end. Zalenski ultimately took control and held off Wilson’s charge. Across the line, it was Zalenski scoring his 19th career victory, with Hill, Wilson, Minter, and Wyatt Tinsley (Pioneers) rounding out the top-five.
LAST TIME AT ECHOPARK: RAY SCORES MAIDEN WIN IN DRAMATIC FASHION
As mentioned above, Atlanta, now known as EchoPark Speedway, loves its photo finishes. The new track races more similarly to a superspeedway than the previous cookie-cutter configuration, but there are still intermediate characteristics that make the current iteration in Hampton, Georgia, almost feel like the best of both worlds.
On that day, Malik Ray, driving at the time for Spire Motorsports, came into the night 0-for-93, having made his series debut five seasons prior, still looking for that elusive victory. Ray knew how to get the job done in official races and in league races, but just missed out on that first checkered flag a number of times prior. This time would be different.
On the final lap, Ray was in sixth place under the white flag. Ahead of him were Michael Guest, Collin Bowden, Jimmy Mullis. Garrett Lowe, and Kollin Keister. Entering Turn 1, Ray opted to get on the bumper of Bowden and pushed him through into the lead. Following behind him was Darik Bourdeau, seeking his second-career win. Bowden also sat at zero victories. Malik waited on Bourdeau to build up a run on Bowden. The two exited and split Bowden off of Turn 4. Ray wound up the winner, with Bourdeau second and Bowden in third.
STANDINGS ENTERING ECHOPARK
There are a number of points standings to keep an eye on this season besides the Driver’s Standings. There will also be Team Standings to keep track of, where the two drivers of each official team will earn points towards the Team Championship at the end of the season.
Every three races, there will be a three-race mini-championship, dubbed Segments, where the driver with the most points in that stretch will earn five additional Playoff Points. Finally, there are nine rookies competing this season, but only one can be the Rookie of the Year.
DRIVER’S STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #1 | COCA-COLA 160 AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Bobby Zalenski | ERA eSports Team | 40 | Adv. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 25 | Christopher Hill | William Byron eSports | 35 | +9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 77 | Steven Wilson | Spire Motorsports | 34 | +8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 97 | Tucker Minter | William Byron eSports | 33 | +7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 20 | Wyatt Tinsley | Kansas City Pioneers | 32 | +6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 4 | Donovan Strauss | Williams F1 Team Gaming | 31 | +5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 14 | Seth DeMerchant | fgrAccel | 30 | +4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 34 | Michael Cosey Jr | ERA eSports Team | 29 | +3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 40 | Connor Yeroschak | Letarte eSports | 28 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 86 | Blake Reynolds | Channel 199 Sim Racing | 27 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| —————————————————————PLAYOFF CUTOFF————————————————————— | |||||||||
| 11 | 11 | Vicente Salas | Kanaan Esports | 26 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 99 | Garrett Lowe | BS+COMPETITION | 25 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 8 | Zack Novak | JR Motorsports | 24 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 66 | Sebastian Marin [R] | Kanaan Esports | 23 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | 17 | Shawn Conklin [R] | RFK Racing | 22 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TEAM STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #1 | COCA-COLA 160 AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
| POS | NOS. | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | 34 | ERA eSports Team | 69 | Ldr. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 25 | 97 | William Byron eSports | 68 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 7 | 77 | Spire Motorsports | 55 | -14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 11 | 66 | Kanaan eSports | 49 | -20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 12 | 14 | fgrAccel | 47 | -22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 86 | 199 | Channel 199 Sim Racing | 46 | -23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 20 | 24 | Kansas City Pioneers | 44 | -25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 8 | 88 | JR Motorsports | 42 | -27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 6 | 17 | RFK Racing | 35 | -34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 4 | 95 | Williams F1 Team Gaming | 32 | -37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
SEGMENT #1 STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #1 | COCA-COLA 160 AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Bobby Zalenski | ERA Esports Team | 40 | Ldr. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 25 | Christopher Hill | William Byron eSports | 35 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 77 | Steven Wilson | Spire Motorsports | 34 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 97 | Tucker Minter | William Byron eSports | 33 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 20 | Wyatt Tinsley | Kansas City Pioneers | 32 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 4 | Donovan Strauss | Williams F1 Team Gaming | 31 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 14 | Seth DeMerchant | fgrAccel | 30 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 34 | Michael Cosey Jr | ERA Esports Team | 29 | -11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 40 | Connor Yeroschak | Letarte eSports | 28 | -12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 86 | Blake Reynolds | Channel 199 Sim Racing | 27 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
ROOKIE STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #1 | COCA-COLA 160 AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS | + / – | WINS | POLES | TOP 5’S | TOP 10’S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66 | Sebastian Marin | Kanaan Esports | 23 | Ldr. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 17 | Shawn Conklin | RFK Racing | 22 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 35 | Matthew Morton | TC Racing | 14 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 6 | Dylan Basen | RFK Racing | 13 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 33 | Kenny Brady | Team Dillon Esports | 9 | -14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 1 | Tommy Gossett | Vegas Inferno | 8 | -15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 69 | Seth Noell | eRacr | 6 | -17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 42 | Logan Helton | eRacr | 3 | -20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 36 | Thomas Lloyd | Letarte eSports | 2 | -21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
After just one race, Bobby Zalenski and his ERA eSports Team are looking pretty, leading in both categories. Zalenski, by default, also leads the Segment #1 standings, and whoever leads the points after three races will also win the Segment before that table reverts back to zero for the second group of three races. Sebastian Marin (Kanaan Esports) had the best opening round of the rookies and leads that by a single point over Shawn Conklin (RFK Racing).
ECHOPARK TRACK FACTS
With over 125,000 seats, the 1.54-mile EchoPark Speedway, located about 20 miles south of downtown Atlanta in Hampton, GA, has come a very long way from the first race. That inaugural race was held in 1960 and won by NASCAR legend Fireball Roberts, who also took the pole at just 133 mph. Spectators from that day, who watched from one small grandstand or on blankets spread out on an adjacent dirt bank, wouldn’t begin to recognize the facility today, even down to the name.
Dubbed Atlanta International Raceway when it opened, the track struggled financially through the ’60s and ’70s before finding a degree of stability in the ’80s. Real change came following Bruton Smith’s purchase of the facility in 1990, with the culmination of the transformation of Atlanta International Speedway occurring in 1997 following an extensive reconfiguration that switched front and back straightaways and added a double-dogleg in the new front straightaway.
In the seven intervening years, new grandstands sprouted almost every year, along with a nine-story tower, Tara Place, that houses the track offices and a number of luxury condominiums. Subsequently the “Winners Grandstand” was erected overlooking the double-dogleg frontstretch and pits, along with the new private-membership Club One, which features climate-controlled views of the entire track.
NEXT RACE:
Following EchoPark, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series will race again on June 16th.
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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