Nick Ottinger, the defending eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion who failed to make the 2021 playoffs, earned victory in Tuesday night’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, the penultimate race of the season.
In the process, he was able to pull William Byron eSports teammate Logan Clampitt to a second-place finish, earning a spot in the Championship 4. Ottinger held him off leading up to the checkered flag as playoff driver Bob Bryant applied pressure through the tri-oval toward the start-finish line.
Clampitt earned one of two spots that were up for grabs in the Championship 4 ahead of final race at Texas Motor Speedway. Mitchell deJong earned the final Championship 4 spot in the fight for the $100,000 grand prize at Texas in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota. They join Keegan Leahy and Bobby Zalenski, who earned a berth through victories.
“I was stressing, man,” Clampitt told Steve Letarte on the iRacing broadcast after the race. “It’s such an awkward situation to be in. Big picture was to make the final four. I’m just speechless. I never thought I would be fighting for a championship again. First time since 2017.”
It took all but two laps for the first caution flag to fly when Michael Guest spun in the No. 9, collecting the No. 51 of Ray Alfalla. Both drivers were able to continue. That was the only caution-flag period of the race.
The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series championship finale will take place Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. ET on eNASCAR.com/live.
