Vicente Salas returns to eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series winner’s circle at Richmond

August 5th, 2026 by

On April 13th, 2021, a younger Vicente Salas logged on for his first eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series race at Richmond Raceway. 200 laps later, the rookie did what no other driver in series history had done to that point—lead every lap in an oval race to score his first career Championship Series win.

More than five years later, he’s only gotten faster since then. A Championship 4 competitor in 2025, the Kanaan Esports competitor was still winless entering the eighth race of the 2026 season on Tuesday night at the site of his first win. With a Playoff lock on the line, ‘Chente set the fastest lap in Final Practice, set the fastest lap in Qualifying, earned the pole position through a Heat win, and led 69 of 72 laps in eNASCAR Overtime for his first win of the 2026 season, and sixth of his career in his 94th start. That puts him tied for 11th on the all-time wins list with Brad Davies, Jimmy Mullis, and Iowa’s winner earlier this season, Garrett Lowe.

With two laps to go, Salas led the field back to the green flag for the final time, lined up alongside Hyak Motorsports’ Quentin Warman, the Heat 2 winner. Behind him was the two-time champion of the series, Spire Motorsports’ Steven Wilson. Both Warman and Wilson kept Salas honest in those final laps, but ultimately, the pair fought each other enough for the No. 11 to pull away for the win.

“We just had to be dialed those last restarts,” Salas said post-race. “This restart zone is in such a peculiar place at this track that you’re kind of just in a tough situation every time, with them guessing when you’re going to go, going in one consistent spot. I’m glad that we came out of it with the victory.”

Warman managed to hold off Wilson for the runner-up spot, his best-career finish to-date. Wilson’s bad luck streak might officially be over with his first top-five in the last three races, although a win at a track he claimed victory at in 2025 would have put him back as the No. 1 Seed with just one race until the Playoffs. Wilson was already clinched, and is now joined by Salas, Bobby Zalenski (ERA eSports Team), Parker White (Williams F1 Team Gaming), Garrett Lowe (BS+COMPETITION), and Tucker Minter (William Byron eSports) as those locked-in via wins, or in Minter’s case, points.

Only four spots remain up for grabs with just one race left in the 2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series Regular Season. Connor Yeroschak (Letarte eSports), Shawn Conklin (RFK Racing), Wyatt Tinsley (Kansas City Pioneers), and Casey Kirwan (Kansas City Pioneers) currently hold those final four spots on points. However, at Daytona, with a win-and-in Playoff system, anything can happen with 20 drivers still mathematically eligible for those final four spots. Daytona sets the Playoff field in two weeks, on August 18th.

“TAME” HEATS SET THE MAIN RACE FIELD

Like Iowa earlier in the season, Richmond Raceway featured the series’ Short Track Format, which includes a pair of Heat Races following Qualifying that offer points to the top-10 finishers, and sets the field for the Main race later in the night. Vicente Salas laid down the fastest lap in Qualifying to earn the pole position in Heat 1, while Quentin Warman was second, earning the pole for Heat 2. Iowa’s Heat races were objectively wild, with incidents at the starts of the sprints, and quite a lot of aggressive action all around. In comparison, Richmond offered a pair of tame Heats, while still offering moments of drama all the same.

Salas led the field to the green in the first Heat and absolutely walked away from there. Ryan Luza (fgrAccel eRacing) started second and finished second, while Dylan Duval (Channel 199 Sim Racing) managed to get by Connor Yeroschak for third. Casey Kirwan had qualified good enough to start third in the event, but due to a restart violation from the previous race, he was forced to start from pit road in the Heat, and subsequently finished 18th. His teammate, Wyatt Tinsley, also had the same penalty and finished 19th.

There was one incident that would have normally brought out a caution flag with just a handful of laps to go. Kollin Keister (Jim Beaver eSports) and Blaze Crawford (Team Dillon Esports) got together multiple times, the end result being a spun-around No. 3 car after their contact also wound up including Crawford’s teammate Kenny Brady. Crawford, who qualified 29th initially, would have to start 39th instead in the Main event later in the night.

Heat 2’s drama came right out of the gate. While Dylan Basen was forced to start from pit road for the same reason as Kirwan and Tinsley, the last place finisher would actually be ERA eSports Team’s Michael Cosey Jr, a former Heat race winner at The Action Track. Cosey Jr was lined up in second after setting the fourth-fastest lap in Qualifying. On the initial start, Cosey did the one thing you can’t do on any initial start, and that was beat the leader to the line. The result was a drivethrough penalty, which he served the next time by.

That allowed for Warman to get a comfortable lead over Parker White and eRacr’s Seth Noell. With dynamic track in play, while it didn’t start to come into play in the first Heat, the second Heat did start to see multiple lanes open up, with Noell opting for the highest line he could take by the end. The Heat was just short enough, however, for that to not yet come into play, as Warman held off White for the win and 10 crucial points.

MID-MAIN CAUTION THROWS “TAME” OUT THE WINDOW

Now with all 40 cars on track for the first time all night, Salas led the field to the green as they fanned out three, four, and at times, five-wide across the multi-grooved surface. It didn’t take long, however, for the fanned out racing to get too close for comfort, and on Lap 4, Bobby Zalenski was the first victim of circumstance, bringing out the first caution after contact with Garrett Lowe, Jake Nichols, and Garrett Manes sent him into a slide.

The field regained their composure and set off for the longest run of the night, again with Salas in command. From Lap 9 to Lap 43, there was good, clean action among the pack, as some mired in the back picked their way back up the order while others were abusive of their tires and began to fall off. On Lap 44, the mood shifted from calm to chaos once again, as a caution involving Manes, Ryan Doucette (Apex Racing Team), and Thomas Lloyd (Letarte eSports) bunched the field back up once again.

With enough laps on the virtual tires, the majority of the field came down for at least two right-side tires, with Salas winning that race off of pit road. However, Blake Reynolds (Channel 199 Sim Racing) and Nate Stewart (Jim Beaver eSports), both knowing that they could make it on fuel, tried to see if track position was more important than tire wear. Unfortunately for them both, as well as a couple of other drivers that got stuck behind them, tires did matter more than they anticipated.

From that point, the race once again devolved into caution-after-caution, with Salas able to get the lead back before it all came undone. One restart was even single-file due to the caution being too soon after another restart. Reynolds and Stewart both plummeted down the order, both collecting damages on their way back there as the field swallowed them up.

ANOTHER BOUT OF ENASCAR OVERTIME

A total of five cautions in 70 laps meant that the final restart would come in eNASCAR Overtime. At Indianapolis, a triple eNASCAR Overtime night led to one of the most confusing finishes ever. At Nashville, the field again managed to go to a third eNASCAR Overtime, but thankfully that race ended under green conditions. This go would go even better than that, with the field only needing one eNASCAR Overtime period to determine the result.

Salas led the field to the green with Warman outside. Right behind him was last year’s Richmond winner, Steven Wilson. Wilson got alongside Warman and the two fought hard to clear each other, hoping to have at least one shot at Salas for the win. Warman did end up winning that battle, but it was far too late as Salas was already at the line to claim his first win of the season.

RACE #8 | RICHMOND RACEWAY | OFFICIAL RESULTS

POS. ST. NO. DRIVER TEAM LAPS INTERVAL LED BEST PTS.
1 1 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 72 0.000 69 21.291 50
2 2 50 Quentin Warman Hyak Motorsports 72 -0.260 0 21.365 45
3 9 77 Steven Wilson Spire Motorsports 72 -0.401 0 21.381 40
4 4 95 Parker White Williams F1 Team Gaming 72 -0.487 0 21.364 42
5 13 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 72 -0.543 0 21.318 36
6 7 40 Connor Yeroschak Letarte eSports 72 -0.665 0 21.422 38
7 12 8 Zack Novak JR Motorsports 72 -0.769 0 21.342 35
8 5 199 Dylan Duval Channel 199 Sim Racing 72 -0.925 0 21.425 37
9 11 89 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 72 -1.057 0 21.366 33
10 8 55 Daniel Faulkingham Rick Ware Racing 72 -1.461 0 21.468 34
11 30 35 Matthew Morton [R] TC Esports 72 -1.496 0 21.385 26
12 24 4 Donovan Strauss Williams F1 Team Gaming 72 -1.919 0 21.492 25
13 6 69 Seth Noell [R] eRacr 72 -2.099 0 21.555 32
14 26 25 Christopher Hill William Byron eSports 72 -2.196 0 21.397 23
15 10 17 Shawn Conklin [R] RFK Racing 72 -2.265 0 21.443 28
16 35 24 Casey Kirwan Kansas City Pioneers 72 -2.261 0 21.428 21
17 17 66 Sebastian Marin [R] Kanaan Esports 72 -2.360 0 21.497 22
18 19 22 Bobby Zalenski ERA eSports Team 72 -2.375 0 21.286 20
19 27 33 Kenny Brady [R] Team Dillon Esports 72 -2.571 0 21.377 18
20 40 34 Michael Cosey Jr ERA eSports Team 72 -2.684 0 21.419 17
21 20 51 Garrett Manes Rick Ware Racing 72 -3.129 0 21.616 17
22 37 20 Wyatt Tinsley Kansas City Pioneers 72 -3.150 0 21.356 15
23 38 6 Dylan Basen [R] RFK Racing 72 -3.225 0 21.347 14
24 16 21 Michael Guest Vegas Inferno 72 -3.287 0 21.402 16
25 39 3 Blaze Crawford Team Dillon Esports 72 -3.438 0 21.536 12
26 33 15 Kollin Keister Jim Beaver eSports 72 -3.623 0 21.508 11
27 23 86 Blake Reynolds Channel 199 Sim Racing 72 -4.015 3 21.698 10
28 15 99 Garrett Lowe BS+COMPETITION 72 -4.170 0 21.373 12
29 36 36 Thomas Lloyd [R] Letarte eSports 72 -4.288 0 21.737 8
30 32 88 Malik Ray JR Motorsports 72 -4.963 0 21.415 7
31 22 7 Femi Olatunbosun Spire Motorsports 72 -5.102 0 21.530 6
32 18 73 Jake Nichols TC Esports 72 -5.558 0 21.572 7
33 3 12 Ryan Luza fgrAccel eRacing 72 -5.639 0 21.376 13
34 25 98 Cody Byus Apex Racing Team 72 -5.953 0 21.364 3
35 29 16 Ryan Doucette Apex Racing Team 72 -6.695 0 21.403 2
36 31 5 Nate Stewart Jim Beaver eSports 72 -9.931 0 21.678 1
37 28 01 Tommy Gossett [R] Vegas Inferno 72 -14.021 0 21.538 1
38 34 42 Logan Helton [R] eRacr 72 -14.266 0 21.600 1
39 14 14 Seth DeMerchant fgrAccel eRacing 71 -1L 0 21.475 5
40 21 47 Dylan Ault Hyak Motorsports 70 -2L 0 21.426 1

PLAYOFF STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #8 | RICHMOND RACEWAY

POS NO. DRIVER TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
1 22 Bobby Zalenski ERA eSports Team 176 Adv. 3 2 3 3
2 77 Steven Wilson* Spire Motorsports 255 Adv. 2 0 6 6
3 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 225 Adv. 1 2 3 5
4 95 Parker White Williams F1 Team Gaming 218 Adv. 1 1 2 5
5 99 Garrett Lowe* BS+COMPETITION 182 Adv. 1 0 1 2
6 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 231 Adv. 0 0 6 6
7 40 Connor Yeroschak Letarte Esports 205 +24 0 0 2 6
8 17 Shawn Conklin [R] RFK Racing 203 +22 0 0 1 3
9 20 Wyatt Tinsley Kansas City Pioneers 192 +11 0 0 1 2
10 24 Casey Kirwan Kansas City Pioneers 185 +4 0 1 3 3
—————————————————————PLAYOFF CUTOFF—————————————————————
11 50 Quentin Warman Hyak Motorsports 181 -4 0 1 3 3
12 89 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 180 -5 0 0 1 4
13 8 Zack Novak JR Motorsports 178 -7 0 0 1 3
14 199 Dylan Duval Channel 199 Sim Racing 169 -16 0 0 0 3
15 4 Donovan Strauss Williams F1 Team Gaming 165 -20 0 0 0 1

* = Segment Champion, earns additional five Playoff Points

TEAM STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #8 | RICHMOND RACEWAY

POS NOS. TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
1 7 | 77 Spire Motorsports 419 Ldr. 2 0 7 8
2 25 | 97 William Byron eSports 395 -24 0 0 8 8
3 4 | 95 Williams F1 Team Gaming 383 -36 1 1 2 6
4 20 | 24 Kansas City Pioneers 377 -42 0 1 4 5
5 11 | 66 Kanaan Esports 369 -50 1 3 4 6
6 89 | 99 BS+COMPETITION 362 -57 1 0 2 6
7 36 | 40 Letarte eSports 324 -95 0 0 2 8
8 6 | 17 RFK Racing 305 -114 0 0 1 3
9 8 | 88 JR Motorsports 292 -127 0 0 2 5
10 22 | 34 ERA eSports Team 281 -138 3 2 3 4

SEGMENT #3 STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE NO. 2 OF 3 | RICHMOND RACEWAY

POS NO. DRIVER TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
1 95 Parker White Williams F1 Team Gaming 71 Ldr. 0 0 1 2
2 50 Quentin Warman Hyak Motorsports 70 -1 0 0 1 1
3 97 Tucker Minter William Byron eSports 69 -2 0 0 2 2
4 11 Vicente Salas Kanaan Esports 65 -6 1 1 1 1
5 89 Jordy Lopez BS+COMPETITION 63 -8 0 0 0 2
6 17 Shawn Conklin [R] RFK Racing 62 -9 0 0 1 1
7 22 Bobby Zalenski ERA eSports Team 60 -11 1 0 1 1
8 8 Zack Novak JR Motorsports 59 -12 0 0 0 1
9 24 Casey Kirwan Kansas City Pioneers 56 -15 0 1 1 1
T-10 55 Daniel Faulkingham Rick Ware Racing 55 -16 0 0 0 1
T-10 69 Seth Noell [R] eRacr 55 -16 0 0 0 0

ROOKIE STANDINGS FOLLOWING RACE #8 | RICHMOND RACEWAY

POS NO. DRIVER TEAM POINTS + / – WINS POLES TOP 5’S TOP 10’S
1 17 Shawn Conklin RFK Racing 203 Ldr. 0 0 1 3
2 35 Matthew Morton TC Esports 161 -42 0 0 0 0
3 66 Sebastian Marin Kanaan Esports 144 -59 0 1 1 1
4 33 Kenny Brady Team Dillon Esports 127 -76 0 0 0 1
5 36 Thomas Lloyd Letarte Esports 119 -84 0 0 0 2
6 69 Seth Noell eRacr 104 -99 0 0 0 0
7 6 Dylan Basen RFK Racing 102 -101 0 0 0 0
8 01 Tommy Gossett Vegas Inferno 71 -132 0 0 0 0
9 42 Logan Helton eRacr 48 -155 0 0 0 0

WBe BRACKET CHALLENGE RESULT FOLLOWING ROUND #3 | RICHMOND RACEWAY

Only four drivers remain in the William Byron eSports Bracket Challenge presented by Logitech G. Quentin Warman’s second place result was more than enough to advance him over Casey Kirwan, who finished 16th. The same can be said for Connor Yeroschak, who finished sixth while his opponent, Femi Olatunbosun (Spire Motorsports), finished in 31st.

The two other battles, however, came down to one spot in both cases, both involving William Byron eSports drivers. Tucker Minter was on the losing end of his battle over Parker White, as White wound up fourth to Minter’s fifth. A little further back, Shawn Conklin held the advantage nearly the entire race, but Christopher Hill managed to get 14th over Conklin’s 15th place finish to advance to the Semifinals.

POINTS SITUATION WITH ONE REGULAR SEASON RACE TO GO AT DAYTONA

Six drivers are locked into the 2026 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series playoffs. That list includes Bobby Zalenski, Steven Wilson, Vicente Salas, Parker White, Garrett Lowe, and Tucker Minter. All but Minter are in due to a win on the season. Minter is 46 points ahead of 10th in the standings, which is to account for any potential new winners in the final race of the Regular Season at Daytona. The maximum number of points that can be earned over a driver without a win being in the conversation is 34 points, so that more than satisfies that criteria.

Connor Yeroschak, Shawn Conklin, Wyatt Tinsley, and Casey Kirwan all currently hold the final four spots on the Playoff grid entering Daytona. Kirwan is four points ahead of Quentin Warman, five ahead of Jordy Lopez (BS+COMPETITION), and seven ahead of Zack Novak (JR Motorsports). Dylan Duval, Donovan Strauss (Williams F1 Team Gaming), Christopher Hill, Femi Olatunbosun, and Matthew Morton (TC Esports) can all point their way in mathematically. Daniel Faulkingham (Rick Ware Racing) in 19th is 37 points back, but the only way he could break into the top-10 is by getting a full 40 points, which would just be a win-and-in condition anyway.

From Faulkingham down to Michael Cosey Jr in 26th are eight drivers that could win and get into the Playoffs still. Easy enough for Faulkingham and Sebastian Marin (Kanaan Esports), who already have the points to exist in the top-20. For Seth DeMerchant (fgrAccel eRacing), Kenny Brady, Thomas Lloyd, Malik Ray (JR Motorsports), and Cody Byus (Apex Racing Team), they will need some help besides a win to get them over the top-20 threshold. The only way that Cosey Jr gets in with a win is if Marin only scores one point and the others in front of him also don’t jump ahead of him in the points. Everyone from Seth Noell in 27th on down has been officially eliminated from Playoff contention.

Spire Motorsports continues to lead the Team Championship, but their lead has dwindled to just 24 points over William Byron eSports with five races to go. As for the Segment standings, Parker White could add another five Playoff Points to his total entering the Playoffs if he can hold on at Daytona, but it’s a razor thin margin of a single point lead that he holds over Quentin Warman, and Tucker Minter is right there as well, two points back.

While Conklin is fighting for a Playoff berth in his rookie campaign, he’s also leading the Rookie of the Year battle by 42 points over Matthew Morton with five races to go. Sebastian Marin and Kenny Brady are also within two races of Conklin in terms of points, while everyone else is at least three races back. The Team Championship and the Rookie of the Year contest will continue through the playoffs, and their points will not be affected by any Playoff point reshuffling at the start of the 10th race of the season.

NEXT RACE: REGULAR SEASON, SEGMENT 3 CONCLUDE AT DAYTONA

Following Richmond, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Championship Series will race next at Daytona International Speedway in two weeks time to wrap up the 2026 Regular Season. Daytona will be the final place where a driver inside the top-20 in the standings can secure a place in the 2026 eNASCAR Playoffs. Win and you’re in, or at least be one of the top drivers without a win on points as the eNASCAR Playoff field takes 10.

Last season, Steven Wilson opened the season with his first Daytona win in the series. Can Wilson steal the final win condition to get into the fight for the championship, or will someone else turn their season around and make the 2026 eNASCAR Playoffs?

The action from Daytona starts on August 18th 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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