2025-26 eNASCAR College iRacing Series | Great Lakes Gauntlet | Week 1 Tournament Preview

The fourth eNASCAR College iRacing Series Tournament, powered by the PlayVS College League, kicks off on Wednesday night on the virtual Irish Hills of Michigan International Speedway. Titled the Great Lakes Gauntlet, 120 collegiate competitors are set to run the aforementioned gauntlet, with the First and Second rounds of the Tournament showcasing all 120 drivers and their schools, with only 39 drivers advancing to Week 2, which will include the Semifinals and Final Round.

From January 27th to February 6th, nearly 220 eligible collegiate iRacers took to the official Time Attack in hopes of qualifying for the fourth eNASCAR College iRacing Series Tournament. These students collectively put down nearly 15,000 laps around the two-mile oval in Brooklyn, Michigan. Sacramento State’s Dylan Ault laid down the fastest lap in the official Time Attack with a time of 39.826 seconds.

The first week of the fourth Tournament of the season, the first tournament in the Spring Semester, will stream live on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across all of iRacing’s social media channels.

ENTRY LIST

The 120 qualified drivers are listed in the article here.

LAST TOURNAMENT

The University of Calgary’s Connor Yeroschak has had one of the greatest starts in any professional sim racing eSport series, following November’s Harvest Cup at Iowa Speedway where he collected his second Tournament victory. Yeroschak had already previously scored a second in the opening Tournament at Charlotte, then won in dramatic fashion in Tournament 2 at Daytona. Yeroschak was nearly unstoppable around the 7/8-mile oval, and leads the standings by a fair amount entering the second half of the year.

LAST SEASON

Last season’s eNASCAR College iRacing Series visit to Michigan International Speedway can only be classified as an instant classic. Nearly the entire field looked to have a chance during the final sequence, but it was Home Field Advantage in any case for the University of Michigan’s Matthew Zwack, who opted for four fresh tires and just barely sniped the University of Iowa’s Steven Wilson at the line for the win.

TRACK INFO

Breaking ground in September of 1967, and opening just over a year later, Michigan International Speedway currently exists on the NASCAR schedule as one of the fastest ovals in the United States. The 2-mile, D-shaped venue hosts both NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series events every season, as well as the ARCA Menards Series, and has welcomed many other top-level series over the past half-century.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The eNASCAR College iRacing Series powered by PlayVS College League gives college students from the United States and Canada the opportunity to compete for their share of $60,000 in scholarships. Using the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series vehicles, 120 drivers qualify for each Tournament by registering and posting their fastest lap times in the Time Attack through the iRacing UI. With hundreds of colleges and universities represented in each Time Attack, drivers are competing not only against the greater iRacing community, but also their own classmates, for a spot on the newly-minted bracket.

Week 1 of the Great Lakes Gauntlet starts on Wednesday, February 11th, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Week 2 will take place one week later, on Wednesday, February 18th. The next Tournament is the Old Dominion Classic at Martinsville Speedway. Time Attacks open on February 24th and run until March 5th.

2025-26 COLLEGE SERIES SCHEDULE
2025-26 COLLEGE SERIES FORMAT

For more information on the eNASCAR College iRacing Series, visit https://pcl.gg/pages/enascar.
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.