Steven Wilson will return to eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series title fight after dominant day at Michigan

September 2nd, 2026 by

One Championship 4 Finale seat reserved, three seats still to be determined in Texas and Kansas

Steven Wilson returned to eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series victory lane at Michigan International Speedway for the second year in-a-row on Tuesday night. The defending and two-time series champion made it look mostly easy, taking control of the race on Lap 20, and leading 53 of the remaining 54 laps to score his third win of the 2026 season in eNASCAR Overtime, the 20th win of his career, placing him into a tie for third all-time on the most-wins list with Nick Ottinger.

On the final restart, Wilson lined up alongside Letarte eSports’ Connor Yeroschak, seeking his first-career Championship Series win. Right behind Wilson was his Spire Motorsports teammate Femi Olatunbosun, and in a nearly identical fashion to the 2025 finish at the same track, Wilson and Olatunbosun managed to get the top-two spots, extending their Team Championship lead over the field, but most importantly, locking Wilson into competing for a chance at a third title at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in October.

“I’m not nervous at all when I know my boy Femi is lined up right behind me, and we’re working together to get another 1-2 here at Michigan,” Wilson said post-race. “This thing was as fast as Spectrum Mobile all night, in qualifying and in the race, and I’ve got to thank the Spectrum connection, that’s why I’m here,” he continued, pointing out his new paint scheme for the Postseason. “I’m just really happy to have them on the car. 1-for-1 with them, and on to another Championship 4 battle.”

Yeroschak managed to finish third, while the rest of the top-five also contained Postseason competitors, with Kansas City Pioneers competitor Wyatt Tinsley finishing fourth, and the No. 1 seed, ERA eSports Team’s Bobby Zalenski, rounding out the top-five. With two races to go, Zalenski, Yeroschak, and Tinsley occupy the three points positions above the cut line to race for the Dale Earnhardt Jr Cup in the Championship 4 Finale next month. However, any of the nine drivers not named Steven Wilson still fighting for the title can win and get in, their next opportunity coming in two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway.

THREE-RACE POSTSEASON BATTLE BEGINS

With the points reset following the conclusion to the Regular Season, the 10-driver contingent entered the virtual Irish Hills of Michigan on Tuesday night to capitalize on the new beginnings. In this three-race format, at least one driver will make it to Uptown Charlotte on points, but any of the 10 in the field could win and get in, which is exactly what Steven Wilson managed to pull off for the second year in-a-row at the same venue.

Rick Ware Racing’s Daniel Faulkingham led the field to the green alongside Team Dillon Esports’ Blaze Crawford. From the jump, Faulkingham managed to take control, bringing William Byron eSports’ Christopher Hill through into the runner-up spot. Wilson, who started the night in fourth, began dropping down the order almost immediately, falling behind Wyatt Tinsley and Williams F1 Team Gaming’s Parker White for the top Postseason player.

Wilson dipped as low as eighth, but after a few laps of conditioning his tires for a longer run, started to make his way back up the order. White managed to make his way to third by Lap 7, as Wilson dove on Tinsley and Crawford to re-enter the top-five on the same lap. On Lap 18, Wilson caught and passed White for third, but he wasn’t done yet, picking off Hill just a few corners later. On Lap 19, Wilson was right on Faulkingham’s door for the lead. Before the end of the 20th lap, Wilson was in control as Faulkingham began to slide back, allowing White to take advantage and move into the runner-up spot.

Outside of the battle near the front with Wilson, White, and Tinsley, the other Postseason competitors were all having a tough time in the mid-pack. Tucker Minter (William Byron eSports) was dominant here last year, but this season, he looked to be struggling for a top-15. Bobby Zalenski was also mired back there from the start, starting from 22nd. Also fighting in the mid-pack with a Championship 4 berth on the line included Casey Kirwan (Kansas City Pioneers), Garrett Lowe (BS+COMPETITION), and Connor Yeroschak.

Shawn Conklin (RFK Racing) managed to escape the mid-section of the field from his 19th starting spot, running inside the top-10 for the majority of the first run. Vicente Salas (Kanaan Esports), on the other hand, just missed out on setting a qualifying lap, and was forced to start the day in 38th. By Lap 24, Salas managed to work his way up to 28th, but the first caution of the day would force him back to the back after incurring a speeding penalty on pit road.

PIT ONLY WHEN NEEDED

The first opportunity for the field to pit came on Lap 25 after the first caution of the night flew at the conclusion of Lap 23. Minter got slightly loose just in front of Kenny Brady (Team Dillon Esports) who, in turn, got loose into Dylan Basen (RFK Racing), which sent the No. 6 for a spin cycle. The entire field came down for service, and Wilson managed to maintain the lead. With 45 laps to go, fuel was a slight concern, right on the edge of the fuel window, but it ultimately made no difference by the end of the race.

On Lap 33, the field was back under caution for an incident involving Malik Ray (JR Motorsports) and Ryan Luza (fgr Accel eRacing). Some drivers opted to go down pit road for some fresher tires, but Wilson was not one of them. The third caution flew on Lap 43, and this one had potential implications in more than one way. Vicente Salas got trapped behind a loose Malik Ray, and similar to the previous wrecks, the original loose driver was able to keep going, and the car of Salas behind wound up the one spinning as a result. Salas did clip Bobby Zalenski, but the damage was minimal, and for the third time this race, Salas was starting from the rear of the field. He would ultimately finish 29th, but would not be the worst finishing Postseason competitor.

That distinction unfortunately went to the 2024 series champion, Parker White, who was fast throughout the night. White’s troubles stemmed from his pit strategy. On that Lap 43 caution, White, along with the majority of the front runners, opted to go down pit road. Wilson was not one of them. However, this set up an interesting dynamic that would keep Wilson at the front of the field.

While most of the top-2o were in for service with White on Lap 45, many of those that opted to pit 10 laps prior, on Lap 35, knew that the tires wouldn’t mean as much as track position this late in the game, and opted to stay out, pinning White, Hill, and other front runners in the mid-teens to upper-20s. Those with the Lap 35 tires would have a slight advantage over Wilson, who made his bed on the Lap 25 tires. Wilson, however, had the advantage of clean air, but his fight would be far from over.

Behind Wilson, there was Kollin Keister (Jim Beaver eSports), fresh off of a race vacation at Daytona, looking to turn his season around before it became too late. On Lap 47, Keister was able to get to Wilson’s outside and steal a lap led. Into Turn 1, Wilson held it low, and was able to drive back up in front for the lead again off of Turn 2. Enter Zack Novak (JR Motorsports), who just missed out on competing for a title two weeks ago at Daytona, but still could steal a win from Wilson and prevent anyone from claiming an early ticket to the Championship 4 Finale.

Novak then had Connor Yeroschak on his tail as Keister began to slide back. With six laps to go, Yeroschak set up Wilson off of Turn 4 and managed to clear into the lead into Turn 1. Yeroschak couldn’t get the tires to stick, however, which allowed Wilson to move back around into the lead in Turn 3. Yeroschak regained composure, despite having Novak, Hill, and now Femi Olatunbosun on his tail. Coming to two laps to go, Yeroschak was setting up for another run when one last caution put the race into eNASCAR Overtime instead.

On the final restart, Wilson led on the bottom, while Yeroschak held the top. Behind Wilson was Olatunbosun, and in fourth was Hill on the freshest tires up front. White, who wasn’t able to follow Hill through the field as easily, was caught up in the caution that set up overtime, as both Keister and Michael Guest (Vegas Inferno) were heavily damaged in the chaos.

White wound up pitting for a third time, taking him completely out of the equation, ultimately resulting in a 31st place finish. White was up against Yeroschak for the William Byron eSports Bracket Challenge finale, and seeing that White’s race fell into shambles late, Yeroschak was able to claim the bracket win.

Up front, Wilson and Olatunbosun had the restart of their lives, clearing Yeroschak to hold on to the Spire 1-2, clinching Wilson into his fifth-straight Championship 4 Finale appearance.

RACE #10 | MICHIGAN INT’L SPEEDWAY | OFFICIAL RESULTS

POS. ST. NO. DRIVER TEAM LAPS INTERVAL LED BEST PTS.
1 4 77 Steven Wilson Spire Motorsports 73 0.000 53 37.697 40
2 27 7 Femi Olatunbosun Spire Motorsports 73 -0.122 0 37.833 35
3 24 40 Connor Yeroschak Letarte eSports 73 -0.207 0 37.790 34
4 8 20 Wyatt Tinsley Kansas City Pioneers 73 -0.340 0 37.817 33
5 22 22 Bobby Zalenski ERA eSports Team 73 -0.560 0 37.725 32
6 7 66 Sebastian Marin [R] Kanaan Esports 73 -0.644 0 37.967 31
7 3 25 Christopher Hill William Byron eSports 73 -0.741 0 37.821 30
8 5 14 Seth DeMerchant fgrAccel eRacing 73 -0.893 0 37.915 29
9 25 8 Zack Novak JR Motorsports 73 -0.919 0 37.760 28
10 2 3 Blaze Crawford Team Dillon Esports 73 -1.052 0 37.914 27
11 19 17 Shawn Conklin [R] RFK Racing 73 -1.089 0 37.958 26
12 14 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 73 -1.104 0 37.734 25
13 23 34 Michael Cosey Jr ERA eSports Team 73 -1.200 0 37.862 24
14 10 50 Quentin Warman Hyak Motorsports 73 -1.262 0 37.589 23
15 17 51 Garrett Manes Rick Ware Racing 73 -1.313 0 38.006 22
16 39 4 Donovan Strauss Williams F1 Team Gaming 73 -1.442 0 37.737 21
17 29 199 Dylan Duval Channel 199 Sim Racing 73 -1.504 0 37.854 20
18 31 24 Casey Kirwan Kansas City Pioneers 73 -1.569 0 37.811 19
19 1 55 Daniel Faulkingham Rick Ware Racing 73 -1.608 19 37.704 18
20 37 47 Dylan Ault Hyak Motorsports 73 -1.575 0 37.801 17
21 9 01 Tommy Gossett [R] Vegas Inferno 73 -1.632 0 37.833 16
22 12 35 Matthew Morton [R] TC Esports 73 -1.719 0 37.944 15
23 20 6 Dylan Basen [R] RFK Racing 73 -1.818 0 37.735 14
24 35 69 Seth Noell [R] eRacr 73 -1.965 0 37.825 13
25 21 98 Cody Byus Apex Racing Team 73 -2.022 0 37.929 12
26 40 16 Ryan Doucette Apex Racing Team 73 -2.100 0 37.923 11
27 36 86 Blake Reynolds Channel 199 Sim Racing 73 -2.246 0 38.044 10
28 11 99 Garrett Lowe BS+COMPETITION 73 -2.326 0 38.036 9
29 38 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 73 -3.387 0 37.816 8
30 30 42 Logan Helton [R] eRacr 73 -3.955 0 37.796 7
31 6 95 Parker White Williams F1 Team Gaming 73 -5.379 0 37.875 6
32 16 88 Malik Ray JR Motorsports 73 -8.737 0 37.953 5
33 18 36 Thomas Lloyd [R] Letarte eSports 73 -11.438 0 37.833 4
34 13 33 Kenny Brady [R] Team Dillon Esports 73 -16.680 0 37.694 3
35 28 73 Jake Nichols TC Esports 73 -25.114 0 38.014 2
36 26 12 Ryan Luza fgrAccel eRacing 72 -1L 0 37.901 1
37 15 89 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 72 -1L 0 38.187 1
38 34 15 Kollin Keister Jim Beaver eSports 67 -6L 1 37.832 1
39 32 21 Michael Guest Vegas Inferno 67 -6L 0 37.811 1
40 33 5 Nate Stewart Jim Beaver eSports 51 -22L 0 37.586 1

POSTSEASON STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #10 | MICHIGAN INT’L SPEEDWAY

POS NO. DRIVER TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
1 77 Steven Wilson Spire Motorsports 2055 Adv. 3 0 7 7
2 22 Bobby Zalenski ERA eSports Team 2047 +21 3 2 4 5
3 40 Connor Yeroschak Letarte eSports 2034 +8 0 0 3 8
4 20 Wyatt Tinsley Kansas City Pioneers 2033 +7 0 0 2 3
—————————————————————CHAMPIONSHIP CUTOFF—————————————————————
5 17 Shawn Conklin [R] RFK Racing 2026 -7 0 0 1 4
6 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 2025 -8 0 0 6 6
T-7 99 Garrett Lowe BS+COMPETITION 2019 -14 1 0 1 2
T-7 24 Casey Kirwan Kansas City Pioneers 2019 -14 0 1 3 3
9 95 Parker White Williams F1 Team Gaming 2016 -17 1 1 3 6
10 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 2013 -20 1 2 3 5

RELEGATION LINE STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #10 | MICHIGAN INT’L SPEEDWAY

POS NO. DRIVER TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
11 8 Zack Novak JR Motorsports 235 +53 0 0 1 5
12 50 Quentin Warman Hyak Motorsports 216 +34 0 1 3 3
13 25 Christopher Hill William Byron eSports 209 +27 0 0 2 3
14 7 Femi Olatunbosun Spire Motorsports 207 +25 0 0 2 3
15 4 Donovan Strauss Williams F1 Team Gaming 206 +24 0 0 0 1
16 55 Daniel Faulkingham Rick Ware Racing 196 +14 0 1 1 4
17 199 Dylan Duval Channel 199 Sim Racing 190 +8 0 0 0 3
T-18 14 Seth DeMerchant fgrAccel eRacing 186 +4 0 0 1 4
T-18 89 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 186 +4 0 0 1 4
T-18 35 Matthew Morton [R] TC Esports 186 +4 0 0 0 0
—————————————————————RELEGATION CUTOFF—————————————————————
21 66 Sebastian Marin [R] Kanaan Esports 182 -4 0 1 1 2
22 3 Blaze Crawford Team Dillon Esports 160 -26 0 0 1 4
23 51 Garrett Manes Rick Ware Racing 156 -30 1 0 1 1
24 34 Michael Cosey Jr ERA eSports Team 151 -35 0 0 0 1
25 36 Thomas Lloyd [R] Letarte eSports 147 -39 0 0 0 2
26 33 Kenny Brady [R] Team Dillon Esports 144 -42 0 0 0 1
27 86 Blake Reynolds Channel 199 Sim Racing 141 -45 0 0 1 2
28 88 Malik Ray JR Motorsports 135 -51 0 1 1 2
29 98 Cody Byus Apex Racing Team 128 -58 0 0 0 1
30 73 Jake Nichols TC Esports 125 -61 0 0 1 1

TEAM STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #10 | MICHIGAN INT’L SPEEDWAY

POS NOS. TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
1 7 | 77 Spire Motorsports 520 Ldr. 3 0 9 10
2 25 | 97 William Byron eSports 486 -34 0 0 8 9
3 20 | 24 Kansas City Pioneers 473 -47 0 1 5 6
4 4 | 95 Williams F1 Team Gaming 463 -57 1 1 3 7
5 11 | 66 Kanaan Esports 419 -101 1 3 4 7
6 36 | 40 Letarte eSports 413 -107 0 0 3 10
7 22 | 34 ERA eSports Team 387 -133 3 2 4 6
8 6 | 17 RFK Racing 384 -136 0 0 1 4
9 89 | 99 BS+COMPETITION 378 -142 1 0 2 6
10 8 | 88 JR Motorsports 370 -150 0 1 2 7

ROOKIE STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #10 | MICHIGAN INT’L SPEEDWAY

POS NO. DRIVER TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
1 17 Shawn Conklin RFK Racing 260 Ldr. 0 0 1 4
2 35 Matthew Morton TC Esports 186 -74 0 0 0 0
3 66 Sebastian Marin Kanaan Esports 182 -78 0 1 1 2
4 36 Thomas Lloyd Letarte eSports 147 -113 0 0 0 2
5 33 Kenny Brady Team Dillon Esports 144 -116 0 0 0 1
6 6 Dylan Basen RFK Racing 124 -136 0 0 0 0
7 69 Seth Noell eRacr 118 -142 0 0 0 0
8 01 Tommy Gossett Vegas Inferno 93 -167 0 0 0 0
9 42 Logan Helton eRacr 56 -204 0 0 0 0

THREE RACES REMAIN IN 2026 SEASON. TWO LEFT TO DETERMINE TITLE FIGHTERS.

There’s still a lot to decide before the 2026 eNASCAR season concludes. Not only are we watching those chasing a championship, but there’s the Team Championship in play, a Rookie of the Year battle nearly decided, and perhaps most important to the majority of the field, the top-20 relegation fight to retain a spot in Free Agency in 2027 without falling back into the Qualifying Series.

Bobby Zalenski, Connor Yeroschak, and Wyatt Tinsley are the three drivers currently above the Championship 4 Finale cut entering Texas. Vicente Salas is in last after Michigan, but still has a shot on points being just 20 points back. The easiest solution for all nine drivers not named Steven Wilson is to win at Texas or Kansas and guarantee the seat. Speaking of Wilson, he and Femi Olatunbosun had a perfect Team score on Tuesday night, finishing first and second, and now lead the Team Championship by 34 points over the William Byron eSports duo of Tucker Minter and Christopher Hill.

Shawn Conklin is the first man out of the Championship 4 Finale as it stands leaving Michigan, but his Rookie of the Year title is all but clinched over Matthew Morton (TC Esports) and Sebastian Marin (Kanaan Esports). The gap is 74 points, and should he leave Texas with that gap at 81 points or more, the Rookie of the Year title will be over with two races to spare.

NEXT RACE: POSTSEASON CONTINUES IN FORT WORTH

Following Michigan, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series will race next at Texas Motor Speedway, the second race of three in the 2026 Postseason. Last year, Zack Novak managed to score the victory, his first since his title in 2019, allowing him to claim a spot in the 2025 eNASCAR Championship 4 Finale. Can Novak play spoiler this year, or can anyone else claim their Championship 4 Finale ticket to Homestead-Miami before Kansas?

The action from Texas starts on September 15th with the Countdown to Green pre-race show 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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