eNASCAR Coca-Cola: Bobby Zalenski snipes Talladega win, locks into Championship 4

Talladega Superspeedway provided another new winner for the 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series campaign in the form of a Playoff driver now locked into the Championship 4.

Bobby Zalenski (Joe Gibbs Racing) is our new winner, the only Playoff driver in the field previously without a win, and now he’s the only driver with a win that allows him to race for a title this season.

“Mr. Championship 4” has a nice ring to it. Zalenski is the only driver since the inception of the eNASCAR Playoffs to make what is now his fifth of six Championship 4 ballots. He’s looking for that win, however, and he’ll get yet another crack at it on stage in the NASCAR Hall of Fame on 25th October.

The win itself, the 11th of his career and first at Talladega Superspeedway, came in absolutely dramatic form. Multiple tenths behind the duo of Collin Bowden (eRacr) and Casey Kirwan (XSET) exiting Turn 4, the two in front beat each other’s doors down coming to the line.

Zalenski would capitalize, stealing it from them both, winning by only 0.024 seconds over Bowden. Kirwan wound up third, the highest in the rest of the playoff field.

CONTROLLED CHAOS

The night started off in a chaotic, yet seemingly organized fashion. Graham A. Bowlin (Charlotte Phoenix) took the pole position, but he never did get to lead a single lap.

Instead, Garrett Lowe (Wood Brothers Racing), Ryan Luza (XSET), Kirwan, Kollin Keister (Charlotte Phoenix) and finally Bowden would trade off the lead in the first 10 laps or so.

Logan Clampitt (William Byron Esports), Darik Bourdeau (eRacr), Liam Brotherton (Elliott Sadler Esports), Ray Alfalla (Joe Gibbs Racing), Steven Wilson (Stewart-Haas Esports), Dylan Ault (LETARTE Esports), and Malik Ray (iRacing Motorsports) all found themselves leading at one point or another in the opening stint.

The race was able to make it to green flag pit stops, caution free to that point. Kirwan led the first pack all the way until Cody Byus (Mode Motorsport) made his stop a few laps later, completing the cycle. Only Corey Vincent (Team Dillon Esports) went a lap down during the cycle.

New players were found in Allen Boes (Spacestation Racing), Michael Guest (Jim Beaver Esports), Nick Ottinger (William Byron Esports) and Femi Olatunbosun (Clint Bowyer Esports), but when Kaden Honeycutt (RFK Racing) spun without a caution with 25 to go, the entropy became unpredicatable.

UNCONTROLLED CHAOS

Soon after, Olatunbosun was moved into the wall, but he spectacularly saved it. Laps later, it all came undone as Brotherton, Ault, Olatunbosun and more were collected in the first caution of the night with just over 15 laps to go.

Cautions, or rather, chaos bred even more chaos, which led to more cautions. With the laps running down, the organization found in the first half was thrown out the window – it was go time, and all 40 wanted to go.

Caution no. 2 saw Nickolas Shelton (Clint Bowyer Racing) flip multiple times in the tri-oval ballfield. Olatunbosun and Mitchell deJong were also collected in the fracas. On the next restart, another caution, this time after Wilson had connection issues and the field around him, including Ottinger, Boes and more, were flung all around.

Zalenski, patiently waiting until it was time to go, finally went on the restart with three laps remaining. Off of Turn 4, he was clipped by a spinning Clampitt… and somehow Zalenski managed to keep it from hitting the wall, maintaining his position in the running order in the process.

The final restart came within eNASCAR Overtime. Ray, Guest, Bowden, Kirwan, Zalenski, Keister and Ault had managed to split the Top 7 away from Honeycutt and the rest of the field, eighth on back. Bowden made the move, Kirwan tucked right in behind, and they blew past and into the lead.

Zalenski followed in the draft trail, taking third while the others were swallowed up by the Honeycutt pack. Off of Turn 4, Zalenski looked to be way too far behind. Then Kirwan and Bowden started slamming one another. It was enough that Zalenski was able capitalize and win.

…YOU MAY NEED A CALCULATOR

“Due to an issue with automated race control in the Bristol event, each driver will receive a drop race from within the first three playoff rounds. The worst score from Bristol, Talladega, or Homestead will be dropped for both playoff and non-playoff drivers.”

That’s what was explained in a release by iRacing on Monday night, which means that the points become a little more convoluted with one race left to decide the Championship 4.

Seeing that I didn't read @christopherlion's article and shame on me for that (I wasn't the only one though !) Here's an updated look at points considering a drop will be implemented before the championship 4 is decided in full. Migraine time.#eNASCAR | @iRacing | #LogitechG200 https://t.co/dkCNBX4wB6 pic.twitter.com/zW1QFKli7e

— Justin Melillo (@justinmelillo) September 28, 2022

Zalenski will race for a title no matter what happens in two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The other nine, well, it’s complicated. If all nine drivers finished 32nd through 40th, it would basically stay unchanged from what the current standings are as the finale would become their drop week.

Between Bristol and Talladega though, each of the drivers have a race that they are looking to improve upon to make their way in as either one of two or three possible points entries into the title race.

For the guys around the line separated by one or two points assuming the drop, like Bowlin, Kirwan, Lowe and Wilson, they need to forget their lower finish ever existed and they need to all race straight up. For Conti and Ottinger, a points berth is not out of the question, but they’ll need some help to get there.

As for Bussa, Olatunbosun and deJong, they’ll all likely need a win at Homestead-Miami. A point-in situation isn’t impossible for the trio, but it will be very unlikely given the level of competition.

NEXT UP: EXPECTED MIAMI VICES

The penultimate race of the 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season is the final race in the Playoff Round of 10. Nine drivers will enter, only three will move on with a chance to race at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to win the 2022 Championship.

Tune in at 8:30 p.m. ET on 11th October to see how the final battle in the 2022 Playoffs plays out. The event will kick off with the Countdown to Green for a half-hour before the main cast starts at 9:00 p.m. ET. The broadcast will be available at eNASCAR.com/live or on the iRacing Social Channels.

RACE #16 – TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY – TOP 10 RESULTS

FIN	STA	CAR #	DRIVER	TEAM	INTERVAL	LED	POINTS
1	27	18	Bobby Zalenski	Joe Gibbs Racing	73 LAPS	1	40
2	34	69	Collin Bowden	eRacr	+0.024 secs	13	35
3	13	95	Casey Kirwan	XSET	+0.058 secs	8	34
4	40	17	Kaden Honeycutt	RFK Racing	+0.383 secs	1	33
5	1	48	Graham A. Bowlin	Charlotte Phoenix	+0.414 secs	0	32
6	29	88	Briar LaPradd	JR Motorsports	+0.436 secs	0	31
7	10	7	Malik Ray	iRacing Motorsports	+0.441 secs	11	30
8	33	20	Donovan Strauss	Williams Esports	+0.449 secs	0	29
9	32	36	Brian Mercurio	LETARTE Esports	+0.494 secs	0	28
10	24	15	Blake Reynolds	Jim Beaver Esports	+0.496 secs	2	27

PLAYOFF STANDINGS AFTER RACE #16 – TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

POS	CAR #	DRIVER	TEAM	WINS	POINTS	T5’s	T10’s
1	18	Bobby Zalenski	Joe Gibbs Racing	1	LOCKED	4	7
2	48	Graham A. Bowlin	Charlotte Phoenix	1	+17	7	7
3	95	Casey Kirwan	XSET	1	+8	6	10
4	8	Michael Conti	JR Motorsports	2	+3	4	6
5	21	Garrett Lowe	Wood Brothers Racing	1	-3	2	5
6	10	Steven Wilson	Stewart-Haas Esports	3	-5	7	10
7	25	Nick Ottinger	William Byron Esports	2	-10	5	8
8	75	Matt Bussa	Mode Motorsports	1	-17	2	8
9	79	Femi Olatunbosun	Clint Bowyer Racing	1	-18	3	6
10	23	Mitchell deJong	23XI Racing	1	-28	3	4

TEAM STANDINGS AFTER RACE #16 – TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

POS	CAR #’s	TEAM	MANUF.	POINTS	BEHIND	TEAM WINS
1	9 | 15	Jim Beaver Esports	FORD	714	LEADER	0
2	4 | 95	XSET	CHEVY	712	-2	2
3	10 | 41	Stewart-Haas Esports	FORD	702	-12	3
4	18 | 51	Joe Gibbs Racing	TOYOTA	648	-66	2
5	24 | 75	Mode Motorsports	FORD	624	-90	1
6	5 | 46	Rise eSports	CHEVY	616	-98	0
7	43 | 48	Charlotte Phoenix	TOYOTA	590	-124	1
8	8 | 88	JR Motorsports	CHEVY	589	-125	2
9	23 | 45	23XI Racing	TOYOTA	583	-131	1
10	19 | 20	Williams Esports	TOYOTA	570	-144	0

RACE #16 – TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY – BOX SCORE:

• Four cautions for 13 laps
• 33 lead changes among 22 drivers (Pole Sitter Graham Bowlin did NOT lead a lap)
• Most laps led: #69 Collin Bowden (13 laps)
• Fastest lap: Lap 41, #97 Logan Clampitt (48.278 seconds)
• Rookie of the race: #69 Collin Bowden (2nd)

2022 ENASCAR COCA-COLA IRACING SERIES SCHEDULE

Date	Race #	Track	Laps
01-Feb-22	~Clash~	LA Coliseum – Casey Kirwan	25/50/120
15-Feb-22	1	Daytona Int’l Speedway – Femi Olatunbosun	80
01-Mar-22	2	Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Michael Conti	100
15-Mar-22	3	Atlanta Motor Speedway – Steven Wilson	100
29-Mar-22	4	Richmond Raceway – Michael Conti	130
12-Apr-22	5	Bristol Motor Speedway DIRT – Nick Ottinger	25/120
26-Apr-22	6	Dover Motor Speedway – Nick Ottinger	120
10-May-22	7	Kansas Speedway – Garrett Lowe	100
24-May-22	8	Charlotte Motor Speedway – Matt Bussa	100
31-May-22	9	World Wide Technology Raceway – Graham A. Bowlin	120
21-Jun-22	10	Nashville Superspeedway – Ray Alfalla	100
05-Jul-22	11	Road America – Steven Wilson	25
19-Jul-22	12	Pocono Raceway – Casey Kirwan	60
02-Aug-22	~All-Star~	Chicago Street Course – Steven Wilson	12-8-16
16-Aug-22	13	Watkins Glen Int’l – Mitchell deJong	45
30-Aug-22	14	Darlington Raceway – Steven Wilson	120
13-Sep-22	PO1 | 15	Bristol Motor Speedway – Ryan Luza	175
27-Sep-22	PO2 | 16	Talladega Superspeedway – Bobby Zalenski	70
11-Oct-22	PO3 | 17	Homestead-Miami Speedway	100
25-Oct-22	C4F | 18	Phoenix Raceway	110