Tucker Minter drives to third eNASCAR win in four races

Tucker Minter recorded a third eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory in a four-race span, rolling to a dominant win on Tuesday at a virtual Nashville Superspeedway.

Minter equaled the feat of Steven Wilson, who opened the season with three wins in four races.

In a race that was completed without a caution flag, Minter drove the No. 97 Chevrolet from the 16th spot at the start to the checkered flag. He prevailed by 0.606 seconds over Ryan Luza in the No. 12 Toyota.

Bobby Zalenski came in third place in the No. 22 Chevrolet, and Wilson claimed fourth in the No. 77 Chevrolet. Vicente Salas took fifth place in the No. 11 Toyota.

Minter registered his second win in a row and his seventh in three seasons on the circuit.

"It's just hard work," said Minter, a Warrenton, Va., resident. "That's all it comes down to is putting in the laps and practicing, finding that right rhythm to have the speed on the long runs. I'll tell you what, we might have to run this (car) all season at the rate we are going."

Despite his recent success, Minter remains tied for second place with Wilson in the series' Segment 2 standings, each 10 points behind Zalenski.

Looking ahead to the race on June 3 at a virtual Kansas Speedway, Minter said, "Just gotta perform like I have the last two races. It's pretty frustrating if I finish eighth, which was where I was when we took the white flag at Talladega. (If not for that,) I'd probably be in a lot better spot (in the standings) than I am right now.

"That's racing. You can't change it. All I can do perform the best I can and hopefully it works out for me."

Luza, who was the polesitter, ended up with his best finish of the season.

"The second (-place finish) helps us in points a little bit, but realistically, the win is what we need to get to the playoffs," said Luza, a Cypress, Texas, resident. "So it feels bad. ... Even looking back, I don't know what I could have done differently. I feel like I did everything that I would have wanted to do."

--Field Level Media