Category: eSports

Jim Beaver eSports’ Malik Ray had a chance to secure his first career win and a spot in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs on Tuesday night. Lying between him and that pair of accomplishments was one of his best friends, Michael Guest, who was in pursuit of the same goal. Instead, Ray opted to keep his word to a close friend. It was a decision that went against the grain of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, and likely cost him a spot in the playoffs.

Ray’s night had been a tumultuous one. He started from the rear of the field after serving a penalty that prevented him from setting a qualifying lap. His simulator crashed while under caution, sending him a lap down. He inadvertently took tires in a frantic effort to rejoin the race. He charged through the field to lead the race then dropped back on strategy before finding himself behind Guest and Nick Ottinger battling for the win on the final lap.

Going into the final turn, Matt Bussa, Ottinger’s William Byron eSports teammate, charged into the fray, delivering a monumental shove into the rear of Ottinger and sending the former champion sliding through the corner. Moments before that, Ray, with a similar run of momentum, elected to fall in line behind his friend Guest, watching his chances of a playoff slip into the distance.

Two races before last night’s regular-season finale, Jimmy Mullis moved Garrett Lowe coming to the finish at Nashville Superspeedway to get his playoff spot. In the next race, Lowe used a similar move on Donovan Strauss to get his ticket to the postseason.

Lowe freely admitted to his aggression towards Strauss after the race and added that his attitude towards that kind of racing had changed since Nashville.

“I was going to have to move him; I did,” Lowe said. “Obviously I’m not too upset about it. I wouldn’t have liked to have been moved myself, but at the end of the day I did what I had to do so I think they understand that.”

Ray could have joined the list of individuals who punched their ticket to the playoffs with a forceful move, but as Guest explained, he remained truthful to what he told his friend.

“Me and him have said to each other for a long time that if we’re in that second position, we’re not going to be the people that full throttle someone for the win,” Guest said after the race.

“I had the chance to do that last year to get in the playoffs, and I didn’t so I’m really thankful that Malik [Ray] didn’t end up doing that to me tonight and raced out clean. Same with Ottinger, he could’ve done the exact same thing, I know [Ottinger] still made it [into the playoffs] but I do really appreciate the guys that race clean up front and don’t wreck for the wins.”

Despite finishing second, Ray was in a position to make the playoffs on points but a large wreck further in the pack granted Mullis the positions and points he needed to qualify in. It left Ray as the first man out of the postseason.

“I could’ve just had no regard and tried to drive through Michael [Conti] like how other people were doing but I’m just not going to race like that, and I showed that going into Turn 3,” Ray said. “I didn’t make contact with anyone. I’ll just take the P2 and move on.”

Ray’s team owner, off-road racer Jim Beaver, expressed his frustration with the system in a social media post after the race.

I’ve been saying for 2 years the @eNASCARGG @iRacing rules need to change in regards to the playoffs. @MalikRayTTV had the 2nd most Top 5’s of any driver this season, is currently 5th in points, didn’t punt anyone last lap ever and settled for 2nd multiple times, and now is on…

— Jim Beaver (@JimBeaver15) August 2, 2023

Michael Conti, a former series champion and an often-vocal critic of its driving standards and competition level, placed the blame for the chaotic 2023 regular season on the drivers.

“We need to look at ourselves and figure out how we can do better,” Conti said. “Because from where I sat, that was not very good on many accounts, and I’ll leave it there. I think we’ve gone backward over the last couple of years. I think you can place some blame on the box that we’re in and everything, but that only goes so far. Ultimately, it’s us. We’ve got the steering wheel, we’ve got the pedals we make the decisions, and the decision-making is just questionable at best.

“I hope these guys figure it out for the playoff races and get it together, because the people watching this series deserve more than what they got tonight. The people that put a lot of time into this to prep cars and perform their best week in and week out deserve better than to get run over a half a dozen times just for no fault of their own.”

Ray doesn’t see his approach to driving changing in the coming weeks. He also doesn’t believe he would’ve driven the race any differently had he already been locked into the playoffs.

“In hindsight, like playoffs or not, regardless if I was locked in or not, I still would have raced the same in that scenario,” he said.

“It doesn’t change how I race, it doesn’t change how I drive, you know what I’m saying? I’m not just going to be driving through people that are already in the playoffs because I’m mad or whatever. It’s not going to change anything. I’m obviously upset, but as far as it changing how I drive or how I feel, it’s not going to change anything.”

Guest commended the effort that Ray has put into this season. It’s an increased effort that is clearly paying off as Ray’s 2023 season has shown to be the best of his five-year eNASCAR career.

“I’m really proud of Malik and the way he has put so much effort into this year. He also deserves a playoff spot, I hate that I took it from him but I’m happy that I got in at the same time,” Guest said.

Among the drivers who will also be competing for the title this season are reigning champion Casey Kirwan, three-time winner Bobby Zalenski who will be shooting for his sixth Championship Four appearance but his first title, and series rookies Tucker Minter and Jordy Lopez representing Team Dillon eSports, the only team with both drivers in the playoffs.

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series postseason begins in two weeks from the virtual Michigan International Speedway. Ten drivers will be compressed down to four after three races with the champion crowned after the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on September 26.

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series crunch has begun. There’s one spot left in the playoffs with one race left. Drivers have been more aggressive than ever in pursuit of the golden ticket, a win that could get them a shot at a championship. While some knock on the door of the playoffs, others have had their expectations and goals humbled with their eyes now aimed toward survival rather than titles.

This year has been a tale of rookies against veterans. Former champions Michael Conti and Nick Ottinger, the latter being locked in on points after going winless thus far, currently lead Jordy Lopez and Tucker Minter, a pair of rookies from Team Dillon eSports. Reigning champion Casey Kirwan completes the rookie sandwich in fifth and locked in with his two wins.

One of the more interesting stories involves Malik Ray. The Jim Beaver eSports driver is well beyond rookie status but has not reached the upper echelon of eNASCAR with his best finish in the standings being eighteenth four years ago. Back-to-back-to-back years of relegation concluded with him barely eking his way into the 2023 season last winter.

This year, however, he’s driving like a different person. Ray is firmly in the playoff picture with five top 10 finishes and an additional two top 10s combined with an average finish of 15th, which is tied for fifth-best in the series. He’ll need things to fall his way at Pocono tomorrow night. It’s a track that he enjoys, though, as it emphasizes the need for drivers to hit their lines at each corner of the unique triangle.

One way for Ray to make the playoffs is for him to find his first career win – easier said than done in such a competitive field, but he’s closer than ever in his five-year eNASCAR career. If he can’t find victory lane, he’ll need help. Graham Bowlin, also winless, is 24 points ahead of Ray while Parker White, Michael Cosey Jr., and Matt Bussa are within five points of Ray.

All of them will be hoping for no new winners unless it’s them in victory lane. A new winner, provided they are in the top 20 in points, would take the last unclaimed spot. Bowlin, with his 24-point lead on Ray and others is the best-positioned should there be a repeat winner. In that case, Bowlin would need a decent enough finish, likely no worse than 20 spots behind the top finisher in the contingency of Ray, White, Cosey Jr, and Bussa who lurk on the edge of the top 10.

The one spot that is open in the playoffs could become two, however. Jimmy Mullis is provisionally in the playoff with his race win but he’s 19^th in the point standings, a poor finish from him at Pocono could see him drop below 20^th and lose his ticket to the playoffs, opening up a world of possibilities for drivers on the bubble.

While others fret with calculators in hand, Conti, Ottinger, Lopez, Minter, Kirwan, Bobby Zalenski, Steven Wilson, and Garrett Lowe are locked into the playoffs.

Drivers on the bubble of the top 20 are making similar calculations, but with far different goals. One of those is Williams eSports’ Donovan Strauss, who is on a streak of top 20 finishes.

“The biggest thing is coming together as a team and were clicking as a whole and when everyone is clicking, you’re going to click,” Strauss said.

The Georgia native confessed to wrecking himself out of a top 10 finish at Gateway and vowed to change the course of his season after the incident.

“After the Gateway race where I wrecked myself in eighth or ninth, I decided I was going to make this happen,” he said. “I’m going to get back into the top 20. I’m going to avoid relegation one way or another. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m going to do it. The climb has started.”

He’s not the only one making that climb, however. Tyler Garey currently sits in the coveted 20th place in the standings, just one point clear of Wyatt Tinsley and five points ahead of Dylan Ault. Veteran drivers are also facing the likelihood of relegation including 2019 series champion Zack Novak.

“Me and Kaden [Honeycutt] had a battle out there, to say the least, my answer to that is just that I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do,” Novak said after last week’s race.

“It’s getting down to the end of the season, I’m in a battle for the top 20 in points, I was significantly faster in that instance. You’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do for track position, I think that’s been made clear throughout this entire season and the last couple of seasons as well.”

Tomorrow night at the virtual Pocono will determine the playoff grid but the four races that follow will decide who takes home the title, and which 20 drivers will have a busy winter earning their spot back in the series.