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2022 FREE AGENCY RECAP

No matter where you finished in the 2021 eNASCAR CocaCola iRacing Series, you weren’t immune from the possibility of a change to your car for 2022. Perhaps that’s an overstatement for defending series champion Keegan Leahy—he’s merely trading in the number 32 he won the title with for 45, now that 23XI is a two-car team in the real world. But many of last year’s top drivers have found new homes, led by Championship 4 mainstay Bobby Zalenski, who reunites with Joe Gibbs Racing for the first time since 2019 and teams back up with Ray Alfalla in hopes of taking their second teams’ title together in the past three years. The series welcomes new team Charlotte Phoenix to the fray, which added series returnee and 2020 Charlotte winner Kollin Keister and ex-Stewart-Haas eSports driver Graham Bowlin for this season. Steven Wilson departs the rechristened RFK Racing to replace Bowlin at SHR, while series newcomer Kaden Honeycutt joins fellow rookie Parker Retzlaff at RFK in Wilson’s place. Other series veterans who found new homes in the offseason include Blake Reynolds at Jim Beaver eSports, Allen Boes at Spacestation Gaming, Femi Olatunbosun at Clint Bowyer Racing, Blade Whitt at Wood Brothers Racing, and Vicente Salas at Williams eSports. Other than that, many series mainstays elected to renew with their 2021 teams in hopes of another go at the title. That includes Zack Novak and Jimmy Mullis at Rise eSports, the team formerly named after Richmond Raceway. Joining Rise in the renaming department is eRacr, as Parker Kligerman adds Landon Cassill to the management program of his eNASCAR squad. Both eRacr and Letarte eSports will join RFK by taking all-rookie lineups into Daytona, Elliott Sadler eSports’ Liam Brotherton, Williams eSports’ Donovan Strauss, and JR Motorsports’ Briar LaPradd are the remaining rookies. Manufacturer camps may have seen the most change of all, with Chevrolet welcoming XSET, Rise eSports, and Elliott Sadler eSports, and Toyota adding Williams eSports and Spacestation Gaming. But perhaps no change will be more popular than the one that Casey Kirwan made. He’s still running with XSET in their new Chevrolets, but the popular driver will trade in his former number 38 for 95 in homage to Lightning McQueen. Ka-chow!