Bobby Zalenski earned his second consecutive eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory on Tuesday, capturing the circuit’s first-ever international event at a virtual Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the famed road course in northern Italy.
With his 13th career series win, Zalenski passed Keegan Leahy for sole possession of fifth place on the all-time victories list.
Zalenski’s No. 18 Toyota came in 3.619 seconds ahead of the No. 33 Chevrolet of Tucker Minter.
“I don’t know how much I believe in momentum, but it’s just really great to be this fortunate, have an amazing car two races in a row,” said Zalenski, a Fresno, Calif., resident, who became the first two-time winner this year. “Been able to not put a foot wrong in the race. …
“(I’ll) just keep focusing on trying to just go for wins rather than points. Try to get wins to get bonus points for the playoffs, make it back to the final four and then see if we can get it done.”
Minter, of Warrenton, Va., said of his success on the road course, “I definitely felt like I could run somewhere between seventh to 15th, I felt like I was there on speed on a good day. But to have a race like today, coming home second, it was — I won’t say shocking because you know everybody put in a lot of work this week, but it was really rewarding and a little bit surprising.”
Leahy came in third place in the No. 23 Toyota. Casey Kirwan claimed fourth place in the No. 95 Chevrolet, and Jordy Lopez Jr. rounded out the top five in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
The series resumes action on April 18 at a virtual Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
–Field Level Media