eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series | Power Rankings | Race 9 at Kansas Speedway

Dating back to the very first season of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, and through the championship race last October for the 2024 iteration, there has only ever been one driver in series history with multiple championships—Ray Alfalla.

I was sure, that at the start of this season, that trend would buck, and we would see the likes of Steven Wilson (Spire Motorsports), Casey Kirwan (Kansas City Pioneers), Zack Novak (Channel 199 Sim Racing), or even the defending champion, Parker White (Atlassian Williams Sim Racing) up front and battling out amongst themselves to see who the second-ever multi-time champion would be. Those were my Championship 4 picks, but I obviously made a glaring omission.

Tucker Minter victorious again, wins back-to-back eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series races at Nashville SS

Tucker Minter (William Byron eSports) has been unstoppable in the last few months. A three-time winner now in 2025, having won at Rockingham Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and now Nashville Superspeedway, Minter has won them just about every which way. Rockingham was a long race that ended after a long green flag run. Charlotte was a long race that went into eNASCAR Overtime—twice. Nashville was a short race with not a lot of strategy. It didn’t matter for Minter.

Yes, I surely did explain that after Kansas, everything has the potential to change. Which is why Minter and Wilson both having three wins in eight races is huge for both of their chances at the end of the year. But right now, everything is coming up Tucker Minter. Granted, the other winner in the last four races, Bobby Zalenski (ERA eSports), has to feel good about the end of the second Segment this week, a points battle he leads by 10 points over Minter and Wilson.

KANSAS DRIVER POWER RANKINGS | Minter evens up the win count with Wilson; Luza surging up the order

Tucker Minter leads the points, the Power Rankings, and is tied with Steven Wilson for the most wins in 2025. He’s done that all in the last four races. The only thing he isn’t leading is the Segment 2 standings, which belongs to Bobby Zalenski. Zalenski’s last three races have all been top-10 runs, including the win at Talladega, a 10th at Charlotte, and the third this past Tuesday night.

That’s not to say that Steven Wilson’s seventh at Talladega, ninth at Charlotte, and fourth at Nashville haven’t been equally as impressive, but looking at the current events, Zalenski and Minter have the wins in the last four races, which is what this formula heavily relies on. Wilson’s last win came five races ago, which has essentially dropped from the math to get these rankings.

The opening Segment winner, Zack Novak, sits fourth this week, also churning out impressive runs at Charlotte and Nashville. Charlotte, in particular, was so impressive because of the fact that he had to come from last place in the final 100 laps to ultimately finish eighth. Malik Ray (Vegas Inferno) moves up into the top-five of the Power Rankings this week thanks in part to his eighth place finish at Nashville. Incredibly, this moves Parker White outside of the top-five for the first time all year.

Photo: Josh Chin / eNASCAR

Again, Parker White is still having an incredible season, don’t get me wrong. The issue is that he only has a single top-10 in the last four races, so the math is not working in his favor. He’s 25 points back in the Segment 2 standings, so a chance at winning that is slim. He’s been outshined by many of his peers around him, but it’s definitely no cause for concern. Remember—White didn’t win his first race of his whole career until the second-to-last race of the 2024 season. He’ll be fine.

Casey Kirwan, Dylan Duval (Channel 199 Sim Racing), and Donovan Strauss (Atlassian Williams Sim Racing) continue to hang out in the top-10 in both the standings and Power Rankings, but if not for the pace of Tucker Minter these last two weeks, Ryan Luza (fgrAccel) could be the story entering Kansas. Luza scored the pole, his first of the year, and led the most laps on the day, switching the lead with Wilson in the first half, pitting perhaps one lap too late to deter his chances at scoring his first win since 2022.

Luza is the best of the currently-surging drivers that have spent a good chunk of the season on the wrong side of the top-20 line. Graham Bowlin (Kansas City Pioneers), Seth DeMerchant (fgrAccel), and now Garrett Lowe (BS+COMPETITION) seem to all be turning around their seasons as of late. While Bowlin has finally broken into the top-20, Luza, DeMerchant, and Lowe are all just on the other side, one more solid race away from breaking in themselves.

There are a number of drivers who are falling down the order more consistently as we get further into the season. Daniel Faulkingham (Six Karma) was the only driver who didn’t see the checkers on Tuesday, resulting in his drop out of the Power Rankings. The other Spire driver, Femi Olatunbosun, also falls out. His score is right on the edge of being inside the rankings this week, but he just hasn’t shown the same pace as earlier in the season. Dylan Ault had the biggest drop this week, from 11th to 18th, and that will happen when the last three results are 24th, 25th, and 25th.

My biggest question mark continues to be Kollin Keister (Jim Beaver eSports). Keister won at Las Vegas and has scored three top-10s over the course of the season, showing his speed in the process. However, when Keister has a bad day, it’s glaring. Keister only managed 36th at Nashville, a week removed from a top-five finish at Charlotte. He’s still in the playoff conversation, of course, and should he stay inside the top-20, he will be there… but this roller coaster of a ride continues to be unpredictable.

TOP 20 DRIVERS POWER RANKINGS (ENTERING KANSAS)

1. Tucker Minter
2. Bobby Zalenski (+3)
3. Steven Wilson (-1)
4. Zack Novak (-1)
5. Malik Ray (+2)
6. Parker White (-2)
7. Casey Kirwan (+2)
8. Dylan Duval (+2)
9. Donovan Strauss (-1)
10. Ryan Luza (+10)
11. Graham Bowlin (+2)
12. Kollin Keister (-6)
13. Vicente Salas (+1)
14. Seth DeMerchant (+5)
15. Michael Guest (-4)
16. Collin Bowden (-1)
17. Garrett Lowe (NEW)
18. Dylan Ault (-7)
19. Michael Cosey Jr (-1)
20. Blaze Crawford (-3)

Fell out: Daniel Faulkingham, Femi Olatunbosun

KANSAS TEAM POWER RANKINGS | Balance tips in favor of Channel 199 over Spire again

If you look at the Drivers Standings after eight races, only two teams have both of their drivers in the top-10 in the standings—Channel 199 Sim Racing and Atlassian Williams Sim Racing, aka two of the teams with the longest names in the league. The reason one of them is leading the Power Rankings and the other is down in fifth has everything to do with how close it is at the top.

Take Zack Novak and Parker White, the two top drivers as the run for both teams, respectively. Novak has a whole 24-point lead over White, which is the biggest factor here. That 24 point cushion becomes 20 when one factors in that Donovan Strauss leads Dylan Duval by four points, but the two teams are split by Spire Motorsports in the standings, a team only 12 points behind the Channel 199 group and a team with three wins to their name.

Well, Justin, how in the world are they also behind William Byron eSports and ERA eSports? Simple. Those two teams have all the wins in the last four races. As explained above, the last four races are what is counted towards the Power Ranking formula, as well as points position and a general score that I get to give. On any given week, any of these five teams could be leading the Power Rankings. It is that close. Despite no wins, Channel 199 has my vote simply because they lead the way currently.

Now, don’t get it twisted. While Michael Cosey Jr (ERA eSports) has closed it up the last couple of weeks, moving himself to 14th in the Drivers Standings, William Byron eSports, ranked third in my Power Rankings, is currently suffering from a driver that is 31st in the points—Nick Ottinger.

What the points and the numbers won’t tell you is that Nick Ottinger is not a 31st-place driver. The former champion’s results this season might equate to that, but, as I seem to bring up every week at this point, he’s shown the speed. He’s gotten poles, led laps, and ran inside the top-10. It’s the same reason I ranked Vicente Salas and his team, Kanaan Esports, as high as I did earlier this season. The only thing that isn’t there are the actual finishes.

Now, on the flip side, BS+COMPETITION is back in the top-10 this week because of another driver that we all know can get good finishes—Garrett Lowe—is actually starting to get good finishes. The “Hybrid Racer” as his hybrid-animaled team likes to call him, has made the Championship 4, and knows how to win. Perhaps the split schedule with the NASCAR Euro Series is affecting his sim racing ventures, but perhaps he’s starting to get the hang of it.

TOP 10 TEAMS POWER RANKINGS (ENTERING KANSAS)

1. Channel 199 Sim Racing (+1)
2. Spire Motorsports (-1)
3. William Byron eSports (+1)
4. ERA eSports Team (+1)
5. Atlassian Williams Sim Racing (-2)
6. Kansas City Pioneers (+1)
7. Vegas Inferno (-1)
8. fgrAccel (+2)
9. BS+COMPETITION (NEW)
10. HYAK Motorsports (-1)

Fell out: Jim Beaver eSports 

Agree with these rankings? Disagree? Let me know on X (formerly Twitter) or BlueSky.

The quest for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship, and the road to $500,000, continues on Tuesday night at 8:00 pm ET, live on eNASCAR.com/live. Tune in to the pre-race Countdown to Green starting at 7:30 pm 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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