Garrett Manes tames the top of 18 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series splits at Rockingham
February 25th, 2026 by Justin Melillo
The Rock, otherwise known as Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina, hosted the third round of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series on Tuesday night. Over 600 hopeful competitors registered for the 200-lap event, and 18 splits were made among those drivers. This week’s top split featured many of the same names, with a couple of drivers graduating up from second split to partake in the action. That was common throughout the field, where many in lower splits now found themselves in a higher one, making their chances at victory tougher, but also more rewarding for a good finish.
Both Daniel Faulkingham and Sebastian Marin were victorious in the top split races at Daytona and Las Vegas, respectively. This week, a new name in Garrett Manes was added to the top split winners list, and like Faulkingham, they are a former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series competitor. A four-year veteran, with two years racing for Elliott Sadler Esports and two with FGRAccel, Garrett Manes looks to make his return after missing out in the 2025 season.
The broadcast also followed along with the third split again this week, and it was one of the eNASCAR College iRacing Series competitors for UCONN, Jose Solis Jr, claiming the win. Second split saw Jackson Crowder claim the win in a pass late in the going. Other notable names in the second split included NASCAR Cup Series competitor Carson Hocevar, last week’s second split winner, as he finished fifth this week. CARS Tour competitor Caden Kvapil was featured during the third split, but his night came to an unfortunate early end on Lap 38.
200 green flag laps in the Rockingham Speedway Top Split! Garrett Manes claims the victory!!!@ENASCARGG | @CocaColaRacing pic.twitter.com/HUUhrG7iiS
— iRacing (@iRacing) February 25, 2026
Through three weeks, Manes now leads the total points standings, and would also lead a dropped standings as well, his two best finishes being first at Rockingham and third at Daytona, dropping an eighth at Las Vegas. Other former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series drivers that find themselves in the top-30 after three weeks include Eddie Kerner (4th), Faulkingham (5th), Quentin Warman (7th), Wyatt Tinsley (11th), Michael Cosey Jr (12th), Cody Byus (13th), Nate Stewart (24th), Garrett Lowe (26th), and one of the fill-in drivers from last year, Matthew Morton (16th).
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series portion of the season comes to a close at Phoenix Raceway on March 3rd. On March 10th, the series takes a week off before returning on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, for the first race in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
TOP SPLIT
The 2024 eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series champion (Contender also known as the series that predated the current iteration of Qualifying), Eddie Kerner took the pole position in a tie with Sebastian Marin, and by 0.001 seconds over another former eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series driver (and Contender Series champion back when it was the Pro Series), Blake Reynolds.
Unknown at the time, but this 200-lap spectacle would go caution-free to the checkers, all 200 laps run without interruption, except for the occasional pit stop or two. Kerner immediately extended his lead over the field as Marin fell into the clutches of the field, passed by Reynolds, Garrett Manes, and Andrew Navarro, to name a few.
It was initially thought that the fuel could extend to halfway, but could the tires? Fall off was huge in any case, with drivers slowing down multiple seconds over a run. Whether they could make it that far or not, the field all opted for the two-stop pit strategy, with the first takers on pit road around Lap 60, that including Kerner.
Noted Rockingham enthusiast Blake McCandless, another former Championship Series competitor, also opted for the undercut pit stop, placing him up inside the top-five for the second run. He would eventually claim 10th place, a good run towards his chances at making it back to the top level. Yet another former Championship Series driver, Wyatt Tinsley, was the field’s biggest mover on the night, splitting up his pit stops and making his moves around the field to get to finish in ninth at the end of the night, up 18 spots from his 27th starting spot.
Up front, Kerner’s lead couldn’t last, as his undercut was too under, plus he was getting beat up at times by the lapped cars unlapping themselves. This allowed both Manes and Navarro to close in and pass him. Kerner would eventually finish in fifth. On the final stop, Manes was able to extend his lead to a point that Navarro couldn’t overcome. Another eNASCAR Championship Series driver from last year, Cody Byus, made his way up to finish in third by the end of the night, with Reynolds finishing fourth. Marin, the co-points leader entering, wound up eighth, while the other co-points leader, Daniel Faulkingham, managed a 14th.
AROUND THE OTHER SPLITS
Only the Top Split wound up caution-free on Tuesday night. The second split had a massive six cautions over their 200 laps, while third split only saw two cautions. Most of the splits, starting with the seventh split, saw 10 or more yellow flags on the night, the most being the bottom split with 20 cautions.
In the third split, Maverick Davis led the field to the green flag, and led for a good amount of laps, 77 of the 200 on the board. Jose Solis Jr started in the 19th starting spot, but quickly moved his way through the field, taking the lead on Lap 98. He would lead the rest of the way from there, claiming the win over Tyler Latterell in second and Ryan Doucette, another former eNASCAR Championship Series competitor, in third. Davis wound up finishing in eighth.
Second split wasn’t broadcasted, but did feature a wild finish. With 15 laps to go, eNASCAR College iRacing Series Tournament winner, Dylan Basen, found himself in the lead from the pole position, but assumedly was short on fuel to make it to the finish, having made his final stop on Lap 108. Jackson Crowder caught and passed Basen with three laps to go. Basen’s truck sputtered to the line to finish in eighth as Crowder claimed the win following a speeding penalty earlier in the event.
TOP POINTS SCORERS IN RACE NO. 3 AT ROCKINGHAM SPEEDWAY
Pos. |
Driver |
Pts. |
Split |
Finish |
Led |
Wins |
| 1 | Garrett Manes | 438 | 1 | 1 | 81 | 1 |
| 2 | Andrew Navarro | 425 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| 3 | Cody Byus | 412 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Blake Reynolds | 400 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Jackson Crowder | 399 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 6 | Noah Bitz | 387 | 2 | 2 | 97 | 0 |
| 7 | Eddie Kerner | 387 | 1 | 5 | 102 | 0 |
| 8 | Dakota Long | 376 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Shawn Conklin | 375 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Jose Solis Jr | 370 | 3 | 1 | 103 | 1 |
TOP 30 STANDINGS (NOT INCLUDING DROP) FOLLOWING RACE NO. 3 AT ROCKINGHAM SPEEDWAY
Pos. |
Driver |
Pts. |
Starts |
R2 Split |
R2 Fin. |
Wins |
T5’s |
| 1 | Garrett Manes | 1215 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Andrew Navarro | 1214 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Sebastian Marin | 1165 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Eddie Kerner | 1122 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Daniel Faulkingham | 1090 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Tyler Latterell | 1079 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Quentin Warman | 1063 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Lucas Cram | 1019 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Logan Helton | 1007 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Joe Armstrong | 1005 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Wyatt Tinsley | 975 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Michael Cosey Jr | 954 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Cody Byus | 950 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Wyatt Gray | 942 | 3 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Tommy Gossett | 939 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Matthew Morton | 939 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Abraham Vela | 932 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Aiden Bierlein | 929 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 | Dakota Long | 923 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 | Jose Solis Jr | 918 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | Blake Giglio | 882 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Shawn Conklin | 875 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Jackson Crowder | 872 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Nate Stewart | 872 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Justin Levine | 863 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Garrett Lowe | 839 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Seth Noell | 816 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | Chris Treppa | 814 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 | Ethan Eckert | 804 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Kevin West | 782 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
NEXT RACE
Following The Rock, the truck portion of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Qualifying Series season concludes at Phoenix Raceway. The Championship Series race at Phoenix was won by Vicente Salas last season. Coverage for Phoenix on March 3rd 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.
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