What is traditionally a big NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff racing weekend began early as the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series crowned a champion Thursday night – 17-year-old Zack Novak, of Clinton, Connecticut.
Novak, a home-schooled high school junior, will be honored during another traditionally huge racing weekend, the Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he will be introduced and given his iRacing trophy in pre-race ceremonies prior to the season-finale Ford EcoBoost 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
Novak and another of the iRacing Series’ Championship 4 competitors, Keegan Leahy, of the G2 Esports Channel team, dueled in the waning laps of Thursday’s race on a simulated Homestead track. Novak passed Leahy for good with seven laps remaining in an action-packed 140-lap race. The other two championship-eligible drivers, Bobby Zalenski (representing Joe Gibbs Racing) and Blake Reynolds (of Team Dillon Esports), finished fourth and ninth, respectively.
The series features the country’s elite sim-racers, who compete driving Gen-6 cars on simulated versions of NASCAR tracks.
With the victory, Novak has earned a $40,000 share of a record $100,000 purse as well as tests in a US Legends Series car and a NASCAR Pinty’s Series car.
A day after his victory, Novak said he’s still taking it all in. And still smiling.
“A lot of kids I used to go to school with that I probably hadn’t talked to in a year they’ve been calling and really supportive of it, they said they watched the whole race and they were super interested and congratulated me,’’ Novak said.
And, he said Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted to him Thursday night after the race, “that was pretty cool.’’
The whole experience with NASCAR’s iRacing championship has been a huge positive in Novak’s life. He won the inaugural eNASCAR IGNITE Series Championship last year – an online racing series that competed in Legends cars for competitors age 13-16.
This year he earned four victories – at Daytona, Kansas and Kentucky tracks before scoring his best ever trophy run at Homestead, a venue where he’d previously averaged only a 23.5-place performance. He had seven top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 18 races this season
Novak, who is lifelong racing fan, used to race quarter-midgets but instead found a way to combine his desire to race with his love of NASCAR competition. Although he was the first iRacing driver selected by Roush-Fenway Racing’s team this year, he said he also has liked another Ford organization, Team Penske, which boasts his longtime favorite driver – fellow Connecticut native Joey Logano.
“It’s cool that a kid from Connecticut won the first nationally televised, NASCAR Sanctioned iRacing Championship,’’ Logano said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. “Obviously esports is an emerging market and building in global popularity every day and I’m glad to see NASCAR is part of the discussion, both with iRacing and 704Games in the NASCAR Heat Pro League.”
The big paycheck Novak earned for his work this week will be put to good use. He said he expected to use some money to upgrade and improve his SIM setup and possibly to do some “real-life” races in a Legends car.
“I’ve thought about it slightly, but not too much,’’ he conceded. “I want to use it to set myself up for the next few years, and not go blowing through it way too fast,’’ Novak said. “I’d like to use some of it to help the people that helped me get to this point. I really haven’t planned too much about it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a life-changer, but it is a huge help for my family and I.’
Novak’s family – his father Greg, mother Julie and only sibling, a sister Kelsey, 21 – were seen on the NBCSN television broadcast proudly congratulating him after the victory.
The night of every race, Novak said, his parents gather the family’s two dogs and cat and put them in the master bedroom next to Novak’s room, then hook up a laptop to the family television so they can watch the race live on a big screen. This week’s NBCSN live telecast was hugely popular for the family.
After the championship win Thursday, Greg Novak had homemade cheeseburgers and homemade fries ready for a celebratory family meal.
“We all sat and ate and talked about how the race went and I was still in shock at the point,’’ Novak said. “I ate dinner with my parents then tried to thank as many people as I could.’’
Novak said he’s prepared to invite more than a dozen people to accompany him to the Homestead-Miami finale where he will receive his trophy. And he’s looking forward to seeing where these two milestone victories take him.
“I’ve enjoyed the last 12 hours and am just soaking it all in,’’ Novak said. “I’ve gotten a lot of calls and a lot of support from people who I haven’t talked to in a long time and they truly care.
“That’s the best feeling.’’
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
