On Monday (15th August), the leadership team at Monday Night Racing announced that the conclusion to their fifth season will once again end with a live, in-person event to crown the season’s overall champion.
Once again, it will take place at the home of Charlotte Phoenix, at the Carolina Esports Hub in North Carolina. The finale is scheduled to run iRacing’s NASCAR Camping World Series Trucks at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway on 29th August 2022.
Monday Night Racing, as you may recall, is a semi-professional iRacing league that hosts races on Monday nights for sim racers that work in the motorsports industry, from race car drivers to crew guys to media members and other selected industry members in between.
Famous participants over the last few seasons include the likes of NASCAR champions such as Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Bobby Labonte, Australian Supercars sensation Shane van Gisbergen, NHRA champion driver/owner Ron Capps and top level IndyCar competitors like Will Power and Conor Daly.
Only two races remain to set the Championship 4, including tonight’s IndyCar race at Auto Club Speedway and next week’s Round of 7 finale at the legacy Atlanta Motor Speedway in the NASCAR NEXT Gen vehicles.
Six drivers have already been eliminated in the prior Rounds of 13 and 10, including former MNR champion and NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor Will Rodgers. That leaves seven drivers remaining in the chase for a Championship 4 spot.
All four of the drivers who competed last season are still in the running, including the defending MNR Series champion Adam Cabot, Alpha Prime Racing’s assistant general manager David Schildhouse, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Ryan Vargas and Brandonbilt Motorsports’ technical director Collin Fern.
They’ll have to outrank the likes of NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Anthony Alfredo, NASCAR Next alumnus James Bickford, and the Monday Night Racing Road To Glory champion Presley Sorah in these last two races of the Round of 7.
If any one of the seven remaining drivers win this week or next week, they’ll advance to the title race. Otherwise, the highest of those without a win in the points will race for a title as well.
The Championship 4 will race on the Carolina Esports Hub main stage while other MNR drivers in attendance, such as Ford Martin, DJ Cummings and Matt Stallknecht will race on either the other provided Next Level Racing rigs or on their own equipment to the side of the stage.
Our very own Justin Melillo will also be there with his own portable Next Level Racing setup. Melillo will have a Traxion.GG livery and will be racing for a 14th place finish in the final standings, the highest of all drivers who didn’t advance to the playoffs this season.
The Season 5 champion will claim the Bob Jenkins Memorial Cup, named in honor of the legendary broadcaster and MNR friend, the late Bob Jenkins. Tickets to the live event are on sale now for $15, and seating is limited. Tickets will not be sold at the door and can only be purchased online.
“We’re super excited to bring back our live and in-person championship event at the Carolina Esports Hub in downtown Charlotte,” said Ford Martin, Co-Founder of Monday Night Racing.
“This past February was a major success and we look forward to an even bigger event on August 29. We encourage anyone who is a supporter of not just iRacing, but esports as well to come out and support this event as we look to grow simulated stock car racing.”
The Monday Night Racing Season 4 Live Championship Finale in February, also at the Carolina Esports Hub, was simulcast live on Podium Esports and attracted an audience in excess of 30,000 unique viewers. The event will once again be live on Podium Esports and on Eric Estepp’s YouTube channel for those who can’t be there.
MNR Drivers scheduled to be in attendance:
- Current MNR Playoff competitor James Bickford
- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Corey Heim
- DJ Cummings
- Ford Martin
- Matt Stallknecht
- Justin Melillo
- Gary Sexton
- Nick Olsen
- All Four Championship 4 drivers ON STAGE!
- More MNR drivers still TBA
Season 5 finale – Schedule of events (all times EDT):
- 6:00 pm | Carolina Esports Hub – Doors Open
- 7:00 pm | Pre-Race Show
- 7:15 pm | MNR Season 6 schedule reveal
- 7:45 pm | Driver Introductions
- 8:00 pm | Invocation
- 8:05 pm | National Anthem
- 8:10 pm | Pole Qualifying
- 8:15 pm | Race Start
