eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Race Preview: Race 6 at Dover

Justin Melillo
Dover Motor Speedway is home to the next race on the schedule. Nick Ottinger enters Tuesday’s race (26th April) as the defending race winner from 2020.
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Race Preview: Race 6 at Dover

Tonight, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will take to the Monster Mile for the sixth race of the 2022 season. Two weeks removed from the first dirt race in series history, the next obstacle will be to conquer the concrete at Dover Motor Speedway.

Back to a normal race schedule, the 40 top oval sim racers on the iRacing service will battle for 120 laps around one of NASCAR’s most unique ovals. Opened in 1969, Dover was originally an asphalt surface, all the way up until 1994. From 1995 and onward, the track is but one of three on the current-day schedule paved with concrete, alongside Bristol and Nashville Superspeedway.

Two weeks ago, at that inaugural dirt race on the usually-concrete Bristol Motor Speedway, Nick Ottinger (William Byron eSports) was victorious after an intense battle with Graham A. Bowlin (Charlotte Phoenix) in the closing laps. As it turns out, Ottinger is also the most recent winner at Dover, dating back to 2020.

DOVER HISTORY

2022 will be the ninth visit in series history to the one mile concrete oval in Dover, Delaware. Dating back to 2011, six drivers have won at the venue in eight races.

The first Dover victory went to Thomas Lewandowski in 2011, with Kevin King scoring the 2012 win from the pole. In 2013, Ottinger scored his first win at the track, and the following season, his current-day backend teammate Michael Conti (JR Motorsports) won from the pole position en route to winning the championship in 2014.

Kenny Humpe was victorious in 2015, but in 2016, the track was not included on the schedule for the first time since its addition. It returned in 2017 in time for Ryan Luza (XSET) to take the victory en route to his championship that season.

Conti became the first multi-time winner at the track when he was victorious in 2018. Again in 2019, the track was off of the schedule. In 2020, Ottinger took the win. The track was also featured in the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series where Ottinger’s owner, William Byron, was able to win.

WHO TO WATCH FOR

The easiest picks will be the drivers who have had success at the track in the past. Ottinger and Conti both have two wins, and both have had stellar seasons to this point. Ottinger leads the current points overall, and Conti leads the playoff grid with two wins on the season.

Luza is another previous winner, and despite his early season woes, he’s been good for 16 previous victories in the series, with at least one per season since he joined and dominated the world in 2017.

Outside of the winners, it’s not too far of a toss to those who’ve been consistently good all season long to this point. Bowlin is destined for a win sooner than later, having nearly won in most of the races so far. Another safe bet would be Steven Wilson (Stewart-Haas Esports), second overall in the points standings with a win already tucked under his belt.

Besides that, in the last trip to the track back in 2020, Dylan Duval (Stewart-Haas Esports) scored a podium finish that day while the defending series champion Keegan Leahy (23XI Racing) rounded out the Top 5. Leahy, in particular, has not had the title defense he’d hoped for so far. I’d expect him and his teammate Mitchell deJong to break through sooner than later as well, barring any further misfortunes.

eNCCiS: Steven Wilson wins first career race at Atlanta

WHERE TO WATCH

The race itself will kickoff at 9:00 p.m. EDT / 2:00 a.m. BST following the pre-race festivities, which kick off a half-hour earlier. The Countdown to Green begins at 8:30 p.m. EDT / 1:30 a.m. BST featuring Camille Salazar Hadaway, Alan Cavanna and Brandon Kettelle. Once the race kicks off, you’ll hear the voices of Evan Posocco, Blake McCandless and James Pike down on pit road.

The broadcast will be available at eNASCAR.com/live or on the iRacing social channels.

Be sure to also check out our Traxion.GG 10 Questions interview with Blake Reynolds, driver of the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Jim Beaver Esports.

POINTS ENTERING RACE #6 – DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY

POSCAR #DRIVERTEAMWINSPOINTST5’sT10’s
18Michael ContiJR Motorsports211733
225Nick OttingerTeam Dillon Esports115244
310Steven WilsonStewart-Haas eSports115033
479Femi OlatunbosunClint Bowyer Racing113512
548Graham A. BowlinCharlotte Phoenix0140 (+27)33
675Matt BussaMode Motorsports0127 (+14)13
715Blake ReynoldsJim Beaver eSports0126 (+13)12
818Bobby ZalenskiJoe Gibbs Racing0119 (+6)01
995Casey KirwanXSET0116 (+3)13
1043Kollin KeisterCharlotte Phoenix0114 (+1)03
23 Mitchell deJong – 11th (-1 point from Top 10)

2022 ENASCAR COCA-COLA IRACING SERIES SCHEDULE

DateRace #TrackLaps
01-Feb-22~Clash~LA Coliseum25/50/120
15-Feb-221Daytona Int’l Speedway80
01-Mar-222Las Vegas Motor Speedway100
15-Mar-223Atlanta Motor Speedway100
29-Mar-224Richmond Raceway130
12-Apr-225Bristol Motor Speedway DIRT25/120
26-Apr-226Dover Motor Speedway120
10-May-227Kansas Speedway100
24-May-228Charlotte Motor Speedway100
31-May-229World Wide Technology Raceway120
21-Jun-2210Nashville Superspeedway100
05-Jul-2211Road America25
19-Jul-2212Pocono Raceway60
16-Aug-2213Watkins Glen Int’l35
30-Aug-2214Darlington Raceway120
13-Sep-22PO1 | 15Bristol Motor Speedway175
27-Sep-22PO2 | 16Talladega Superspeedway70
11-Oct-22PO3 | 17Homestead-Miami Speedway100
25-Oct-22C4F | 18Phoenix Raceway110
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