At the NASCAR Hall of Fame, four sim racers lined up to compete for the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Trophy and a share of a $500,000 prize pot. Our own Elz Indriani got a chance to talk to the one who won the eNASCAR championship.
After the final round of the eNASCAR playoffs, the top four drivers solidified themselves in contention for the championship. Reigning champion Steven Wilson of the M80 organisation, QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming's Graham Bowlin, Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Zalenski and finally, Williams Esports' Parker White all travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina to compete for the eNASCAR championship.
Taking on the Homestead-Miami track, Wilson and White occupied the second and third-place starting slots, whilst Bowlin and Zalenski had their work cut out. Throughout the race, all four contenders solidified themselves in the top ten, culminating in a final lap scrap involving Wilson, White and Zalenski.
Having stuck behind Wilson for the majority of the race, Parker White led only one lap and the only one that mattered after surviving a questionable tap from Zalenski. The Williams Esports racer became the eNASCAR champion, continuing a run of first time championship winners that began in 2019. Plus, Williams won the team's championship thanks to White and teammate Donovan Strauss.
White may have won one of the top oval series on iRacing but he has also proven handy at road course racing, having finished fifth in last year's Porsche Esports Supercup Contender Series. That resulted in him racing in the main series earlier this year alongside eNASCAR.
Parker White was then able to hold up the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. trophy with the man himself, who White described as his idol. Fun fact, Earnhardt was the first ever winner of an eNASCAR event when the series began back in 2010.
Afterwards, Elz was able to conduct a brief interview with the new champion.
OverTake: I'm here with Parker White, the eNASCAR champion. So, Parker, how do you feel?
"I mean, I don’t really know how I feel yet—it still hasn’t fully set in, but it feels surreal to be sitting here in the Hall of Fame as an eNASCAR champion. I thought I was going to finish fourth there after the second-to-last restart, but I saw the perfect opportunity to go three-wide on the last lap.
Everything went my way. There was no way I could avoid Bobby sending it into turn three, but I was able to hold on, hit the wall, and the wall saved me! I still don't know what to think. To win $100,000 and now I get to go to Phoenix to celebrate the actual NASCAR championship. I’ve got a busy couple of months ahead."
OverTake: Since this race was live from the NASCAR Hall of Fame and we were using public sim rigs, how did you feel racing in that setup? Was there any challenge?
"For me, it was actually very easy to get used to this environment. Sim Seats has done a very good job setting up our rigs. I have one of their rigs at home, so it was quite easy for me to adapt. Just getting on stage today, at first, it took a bit of getting used to hearing the speakers, but when it became race time I was locked in. I did my quickest race run right before the race started.
So I was very confident and I qualified third, which was exactly where I wanted to be. I didn’t think about the setup at all throughout the race. If anything, I felt better knowing there was a live audience here - I didn't feel nervous at all, really. The realisation didn’t hit until going down the backstretch on the last lap that I had a legitimate shot at winning."
OverTake: Do you have any tips for those who want to get into competitive oval racing in iRacing?
"I would say you need to find the right group to race with—you got to find the right team. A lot of this is just building connections. Once I joined NFR (Norse Force Racing), I knew it was the right place for me. I knew I could go all the way with them and I have no aspirations to leave the team at any time. You’ve also got to race the truck a lot, learn how to set it up and find good setups in the C-Open. Once you get that down, you’re set!"
OverTake: Thank you so much for your time, Parker. Once again, congratulations on winning the eNASCAR iRacing Series! I’ll see you at the next College Series event. Are you aiming to win that one as well?
"I hope so! I think I am currently at the top of the leaderboard for the time attack, so I hope to stay there. I won the first round, so hopefully I can keep the momentum and go for back-to-back-to-back wins!"
What did you make of the eNASCAR iRacing Series championship ending? Let us know in the comments down below!
After the final round of the eNASCAR playoffs, the top four drivers solidified themselves in contention for the championship. Reigning champion Steven Wilson of the M80 organisation, QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming's Graham Bowlin, Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Zalenski and finally, Williams Esports' Parker White all travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina to compete for the eNASCAR championship.
Taking on the Homestead-Miami track, Wilson and White occupied the second and third-place starting slots, whilst Bowlin and Zalenski had their work cut out. Throughout the race, all four contenders solidified themselves in the top ten, culminating in a final lap scrap involving Wilson, White and Zalenski.
Having stuck behind Wilson for the majority of the race, Parker White led only one lap and the only one that mattered after surviving a questionable tap from Zalenski. The Williams Esports racer became the eNASCAR champion, continuing a run of first time championship winners that began in 2019. Plus, Williams won the team's championship thanks to White and teammate Donovan Strauss.
White may have won one of the top oval series on iRacing but he has also proven handy at road course racing, having finished fifth in last year's Porsche Esports Supercup Contender Series. That resulted in him racing in the main series earlier this year alongside eNASCAR.
Interviewing The Champ
Stationed onsite was a member of our team, Elz Indriani. As an eNASCAR co-streamer, she livestreamed the event sat immediately behind White's family, who were understandably very animated after he crossed the line.Parker White was then able to hold up the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. trophy with the man himself, who White described as his idol. Fun fact, Earnhardt was the first ever winner of an eNASCAR event when the series began back in 2010.
Afterwards, Elz was able to conduct a brief interview with the new champion.
OverTake: I'm here with Parker White, the eNASCAR champion. So, Parker, how do you feel?
"I mean, I don’t really know how I feel yet—it still hasn’t fully set in, but it feels surreal to be sitting here in the Hall of Fame as an eNASCAR champion. I thought I was going to finish fourth there after the second-to-last restart, but I saw the perfect opportunity to go three-wide on the last lap.
Everything went my way. There was no way I could avoid Bobby sending it into turn three, but I was able to hold on, hit the wall, and the wall saved me! I still don't know what to think. To win $100,000 and now I get to go to Phoenix to celebrate the actual NASCAR championship. I’ve got a busy couple of months ahead."
OverTake: Since this race was live from the NASCAR Hall of Fame and we were using public sim rigs, how did you feel racing in that setup? Was there any challenge?
"For me, it was actually very easy to get used to this environment. Sim Seats has done a very good job setting up our rigs. I have one of their rigs at home, so it was quite easy for me to adapt. Just getting on stage today, at first, it took a bit of getting used to hearing the speakers, but when it became race time I was locked in. I did my quickest race run right before the race started.
So I was very confident and I qualified third, which was exactly where I wanted to be. I didn’t think about the setup at all throughout the race. If anything, I felt better knowing there was a live audience here - I didn't feel nervous at all, really. The realisation didn’t hit until going down the backstretch on the last lap that I had a legitimate shot at winning."
OverTake: Do you have any tips for those who want to get into competitive oval racing in iRacing?
"I would say you need to find the right group to race with—you got to find the right team. A lot of this is just building connections. Once I joined NFR (Norse Force Racing), I knew it was the right place for me. I knew I could go all the way with them and I have no aspirations to leave the team at any time. You’ve also got to race the truck a lot, learn how to set it up and find good setups in the C-Open. Once you get that down, you’re set!"
OverTake: Thank you so much for your time, Parker. Once again, congratulations on winning the eNASCAR iRacing Series! I’ll see you at the next College Series event. Are you aiming to win that one as well?
"I hope so! I think I am currently at the top of the leaderboard for the time attack, so I hope to stay there. I won the first round, so hopefully I can keep the momentum and go for back-to-back-to-back wins!"
What did you make of the eNASCAR iRacing Series championship ending? Let us know in the comments down below!
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