2026-27 eNASCAR College iRacing Series | Big Apple Battle at Watkins Glen | Week 1 Recap

100 students entered the first week of the Big Apple Battle—the third Tournament of the 2026-27 eNASCAR College iRacing Series presented by Logitech G—at Watkins Glen International on Wednesday night. The first of two IMSA-backed College Tournaments utilizing the Ford Mustang GT4, two groups once again took on the Quarterfinal Round and Semifinal Round, and now only 40 students remain with a chance to win the Final Round and the overall Tournament.

The No. 1 Seed in the Tournament, California State University, Sacramento’s Dylan Ault, set the quick time in Group 1, won his Quarterfinal Heat, and held on to win his Semifinal over a pair of newcomers this season, Daytona State College’s Hector Collazo and Virginia Tech’s Thomas Bellemin. Over in Group 2, it was the most-recent Tournament winner of the Queen City Crown, Horry-Georgetown Technical College’s Timothy Holmes taking the checkers in dominant fashion.

A different vehicle of choice this time around, but many of the same names will still be present and fighting in the Final Round, including the points leader, Tarrant County College District’s Jacob Wilkerson, who had to claw his way up into advancing in both his Quarterfinal and Semifinal appearances. Arizona State University’s Bradley Erickson, Ball State University’s Daniel Nanney, Triton College’s Adam Garza, Purdue University in Indianapolis’s Nick Luetje, and of course, the defending series champion, the University of Calgary’s Connor Yeroschak will also be in the field next week.

A total of 30 schools are represented by the 40 advancing students, with three schools bringing at least three to the feature stage next week. Ball State University will have their two usual suspects in Nanney and Kelton Quick, but this time will have Nathaniel Fryman alongside representing the Cardinals. The Boilermakers from the Indianapolis branch of Purdue have three as well, with Luetje joined by Dominic Sileo and Hudson Willingham in the Final Round.

Then, there’s the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with seven students advancing to the feature race next week. Two of their varsity players, Connor Trifari and Alexander Papadimitriou, will be joined by Aidan McFarland, Bryan Holland, Caleb Johnson, Cristian Zarate, and John Babineau, the last on that list offering up the best finish in the opening Tournament at EchoPark, the PeachTree Pursuit, and also earning the best Semifinal finish of the group, a second place in this Big Apple Battle.

On Sunday, an IMSA Esports eNASCAR College Series showcase took place as a preshow to the IMSA Esports Global Championship’s third round at Watkins Glen. The University of Michigan’s Joonsuh Lim was victorious in that 15-minute showcase, and will be looking to do the same next Wednesday after advancing forward as well. The top eight finishers from that race all made the Final Round of the Tournament as well, including Luetje, Ontario Tech’s Liam Loisel, Papadimitriou, Georgia’s Avery Mendoza, Bismarck State’s Dylan Bahm, Babineau, and UC Santa Cruz’s Faraz Khan.

A new feature in the 2026-27 season is that Week 1 of the two-week format will offer points. In both groups, the top-10 were awarded points for their finishing spot in the Semifinals. It is worth noting, for any reason those points-earning drivers don’t show up for Week 2 and the Final Round, these Semifinal points are forfeited. Ault and Holmes score the most points this week, at 10, but it’s worth pointing out that Wilkerson did not. That means that Holmes now technically leads the standings entering the Final Round by four points, since he was six back leaving Charlotte.

Ault’s point gain also brings him closer to the front, and with rival students like Brian Mercurio (DeSales) not advancing, Ault could have a case for jumping into the top-five post-Watkins Glen, or even as high as the points lead if things go a particular way. The four points for Yeroschak isn’t a lot, but every point will likely matter in deciding this year’s Student Championship, and every little bit is going to help towards a potential title defense after his less-than-ideal start to the season.

Calgary is not one of the 12 schools eligible for the School Championship again this Tournament, since Yeroschak was once again the only student to take on the Time Attack again. Joining UNC Charlotte, Purdue in Indy, and Ball State in fighting for School points will be Belmont Abbey, Sacramento State, East Tennessee State, Eastern Shore, Florida International, the University of Central Florida, the University of Georgia, the University of South Florida, and Virginia Tech, a total of 12 schools this time around. UNC Charlotte currently leads those standings after two Tournaments.

BIG APPLE BATTLE | WEEK 2 ADVANCING DRIVERS

Next week, the Big Apple Battle will conclude with the Final Round—a 70-minute race with 40 Mustangs on track—at Watkins Glen International. The winner of the race will earn 55 points, while second will get 35, each place after that going down by a single point until it becomes a single point, reminiscent of the current day NASCAR points system. The Tournament winner will collect $3,000 and be one step closer to fighting for the ultimate prize of $10,000 for winning the championship later in the Spring semester.

Tune in on Wednesday, November 4th, at 7:00 p.m. ET for the conclusion to the Tournament. Join us 15 minutes prior for the Countdown to Green. The event will be streamed live at eNASCAR.com/live and across all of iRacing’s social media channels.

For more information on the eNASCAR College iRacing Series presented by Logitech G, visit  pcl.gg/pages/enascar.

For more information about eNASCAR, visit  eNASCAR.com.

For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit  iRacing.com.

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