eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series: All you need to know about the $500k championship
A prize pool worth half a million dollars. $100,000 to the champion alone. The best virtual NASCAR racers and an in-person season finale. Here’s what you need to know about eNASCAR in 2025.
Across 18 championship rounds, and one pre-season exhibition, 40 drivers will fight tooth and body panels for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series title – the official NASCAR competitive sim racing competition.
Each competitor has earned their place in the roster, either by succeeding last season or making their way up the competition ladder, and will aim for a slice of a total $500,000 prize pool.
Each race is broadcast live too, online, and culminates in an in-person finale for the last four title protagonists following 17 preceding races.
What is the eNASCAR iRacing Series?
The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series is a virtual stock car motorsport championship, using the iRacing simulation platform and NASCAR cars and tracks.
Each driver has had to qualify for their right to compete via a set of junior formula or prior season results (for those already in the top series). After 18 rounds, a champion is declared, picking up not just $100,000 but also the eponymous Dale Earnhardt Jr. Cup from the man himself.
Ahead of the 2025 season, we must first look back at last season. The 2024 final was held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte for an in-person showdown.
A full grid participated, but only four drivers could take the crown: Parker White, Bobby Zalenski, Graham Bowlin and 2023 champion Steven Wilson.
It all came down to, remarkably, an over-time final lap.
“Wilson went far too deep into Turn 1, allowing White and Zalenski to slip below him into first and second. The #18 gave it all he had into three and four, but White survived the shoving, and a graze with the wall, to win,” explained Ewan O’Leary in our recent recap of five stand-out sim racing moments of the year.
2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion: Parker White
Image: iRacing – Parker White, 2024 champion
How did the drivers get on the eNASCAR grid for 2025?
Good question – it’s complicated. But, to boil down the process for the sake of brevity, there is a free agency period where registered teams can sign drivers from a selected pool.
The talent pool consisted of 19 of the top 20 points finishers from the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season, plus the 30 drivers in the 2024 eNASCAR Contender iRacing Series – an undercard championship for up-and-coming drivers.
That means 49 drivers could be signed, but only 40 total spots.
Image: iRacing
2025 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver lineup
There are 40 drivers on the eNASCAR grid for the entire season, some returning from last season and also some rookie attendees:
Christopher Hill – #96 – Apex Racing Team / Altus Esports
Cody Byus – #98 – Apex Racing Team / Deadzone Racing
Zack Novak – #2 – Channel 199 Sim Racing Team / Deadzone Racing
Dylan Duval – #199 – Channel 199 Sim Racing Team / Deadzone Racing
Ryan Luza – #12 – fgrACCEL eRacing / Deadzone Racing
Nate Stewart – #5 – Jim Beaver eSports / Deadzone Racing
Kollin Keister – #15 – Jim Beaver eSports / Deadzone Racing
Vicente Salas – #11 – Kanaan Esports / Deadzone Racing
Alexander Russell – #66 – Kanaan Esports / Norse Force Racing
Jimmy Mullis – #29 – Kevin Harvick Inc. Esports / Team Conti
Matt Bussa – #62 – Kevin Harvick Inc. Esports / Team Conti
Colin Bowden – #6 – RFK Racing / Deadzone Racing
Timothy Homes – #17 – RFK Racing / Deadzone Racing
Femi Olatunbosun – #7 – Spire Motorsports / Norse Force Racing
Steven Wilson – #77 – Spire Motorsports / Norse Force Racing
Malik Ray – #1 – Vegas Inferno / Deadzone Racing
Michael Guest – #21 – Vegas Inferno / Deadzone Racing
Donovan Strauss – #51 – Williams Esports / Norse Force Racing
Parker White – #95 – Williams Esports / Norse Force Racing
That’s a stacked grid, with returning champions such as Steven Wilson, Casey Kirwan and Nick Ottinger and some real-world NASCAR team representation. There are also teams from the likes of IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan alongside established sim racing outfits such as BS+Competition, Williams Esports and (new for this season) Apex Racing Team.
How to watch eNASCAR in 2025
Every race of the 2025 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will be broadcast live online, via the eNASCAR website, which embeds an official NASCAR Twitch stream, or via iRacing’s YouTube and Twitch feeds.
2025 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship structure
Following a season-opening exhibition (that does not count to championship points or standings), follow 18 rounds at virtual venues such as Daytona, Charlotte, Talladega, Chicago, and Indianapolis and ending at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
40 points for team and driver are awarded for a race win, down to a measly one point for 36th-40th place.
Towards the end of the year, three playoff rounds (Michigan International Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway) then determine the final ‘championship four’, one of whom will lift the trophy at the season-ending Homestead race.
There is also a teams’ competition, with results that ignore the playoff structure for drivers, and a portion of the prize pool ($40,000) is paid out for this too.
2025 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series schedule
Here are the 18 (plus exhibition) calendar dates for eNASCAR in 2025. Most race broadcasts start at 17:00 PT / 20:00 ET / 01:00 (the next day) GMT.
Exhibition 1/28/25 Daytona International Speedway
1 (S1) 2/11/25 Daytona International Speedway
2 (S1) 2/25/25 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
3 (S1) 3/4/25 Autódromo José Carlos Pace – Interlagos
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