HAMPTON, Ga. – Defending eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion Zack Novak showcased a championship-caliber drive Thursday night in the latest all-star event to hit the iRacing simulation platform.
Novak commanded eTruck Series Night in America powered by FilterTime when it counted, pacing the field for 35 laps en route to the win as the racing world continued to weather the recent storm of no real-world on-track activity.
After starting seventh and falling back early on, it took Novak’s experience with tire management to get his No. 90 JDR Graphics Toyota Tundra to Barr Visuals Victory Lane at the virtual Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Novak wasn’t able to simply take the lead and walk away at the 1.54-mile quad-oval, however, suffering through two disruptions of the closing laps in the form of late cautions that set up subsequent green-white-checkered attempts.
The Clinton, Conn., native was flawless on the jumps, however, powering away from Jake Nichols down the stretch to capture the victory by two car lengths at the finish line.
“I thought those last few restarts would be tough, based off the whole race, but we had a really, really good truck the whole time, surprisingly,” Novak noted in victory lane. “Honestly, I really didn’t expect to be that good; I had to come through the field all the way from the mid-20s. (It was) shades of the other night, really.”
Novak’s reference to “the other night” referred to Tuesday’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he also had ground to make up and ended up in a side-by-side battle for 12th with eventual Thursday runner-up Jake Nichols.
In recent weeks, Novak pointed out over both social media and in driver interviews about his difficulties with the newly-implemented tire model that was introduced to the iRacing service before the start of the 2020 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season.
Thursday night, there were no struggles, however. Instead, there was just victory.
“Honestly, I’ve really struggled these past few months or so getting a grip on this tire model, and we’ve had some decent cars in the Coca-Cola iRacing Series, but overall, definitely not the results I think our team deserves,” Novak noted. “I wanted to come out here and win this, so I’m really, really happy to be able to do that and just prove that we still belong.
“We’re definitely going to be chasing another championship in the top series this year, but outside of the Coke Series, this is a big one to take home and we got it done.”
For his win, Novak was awarded $200, which will go to the charity of his choosing.
Both Novak and Nichols, who was the highest-finishing driver not already locked into the field prior to the Wednesday qualifiers that set the final grid, won tickets to the NASCAR Truck Series/IndyCar weekend at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway in August.
The 100-lap event saw 10 lead changes among nine different drivers, with many of the Coke Series regulars snagging the spotlight.
Michael Conti started from the pole and led the first 12 laps, but faded to 10th at the finish, while four-time Coke Series champion Ray Alfalla completed the podium in third after challenging up front during the middle stages of the 100-lap charity event.
Max Brady and Oliver Cordell were fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Jacob Fisher, Michael Frisch, Eric J. Smith, Tyler Garey and Conti.
Notable big-movers through the field included NASCAR on NBC personality Parker Kligerman, who came from 27th into the top five but ended up a lap down in 30th at the end, while Matt Wishart improved 21 positions to earn hard-charger honors for the night.
Three-time NASCAR Mexico Series champion Ruben Garcia Jr. was also a dark horse to watch, hanging in the top-10 for the majority of the event. He finished 20th.
Thursday night’s event was organized by part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Ryan Vargas, who noted after the race that fans should “expect more eTruck Nights in America” in the future.
It was broadcast by iRacing in conjunction with Podium eSports, and a full replay of the broadcast can be found by clicking here.
The results:
1. Zack Novak, 2. Jake Nichols, 3. Ray Alfalla, 4. Max Brady, 5. Oliver Cordell, 6. Jacob Fisher, 7. Michael Frisch, 8. Eric J. Smith, 9. Tyler Garey, 10. Michael Conti, 11. Carson Hocevar, 12. Colton Salek, 13. Jarrett Liebert, 14. Elliott Henderson, 15. Kyle Riley, 16. John Theodore, 17. Mike Rasimas, 18. Adam Baker, 19. Matt Wishart, 20. Ruben Garcia Jr., 21. Josh Bilicki, 22. Brian Mercurio, 23. Nick Miller, 24. Gary Sexton, 25. Chris DeShong, 26. Reece Baham, 27. Leighton Sibille, 28. Brad Perez, 29. Nick DeGroot, 30. Parker Kligerman, 31. Daylon Barr, 32. Austin Blair, 33. Joey Stone, 34. Connor Hall, 35. Kenny Brady, 36. Chase Cabre, 37. Rajah Caruth, 38. Ryan Truex, 39. Brandon Brown, 40. Christian Eckes, 41. Ty Gibbs, 42. Max McLaughlin, 43. Donovan Strauss.
Lead Changes: 10 among nine drivers
Lap Leaders: Michael Conti 1-12, Donovan Strauss 13-15, Christian Eckes 16-24, Kenny Brady 25-40, Ray Alfalla 41-48, Michael Frisch 49-60, Jake Nichols 61-63, Ray Alfalla 64, Zack Novak 65-82, Eric J. Smith 83-92, Zack Novak 93-109.
Laps Led: Zack Novak 35, Kenny Brady 16, Michael Conti 12, Michael Frisch 12, Eric J. Smith 10, Christian Eckes 9, Ray Alfalla 9, Donovan Strauss 3, Jake Nichols 3.
Caution Flags: Nine for 36 laps
Average Speed: 117.428 mph
Margin of Victory: .223 seconds
Hard Charger: Matt Wishart (+21)