Keegan Leahy outright dominated Pocono Raceway two weeks ago to claim his third victory of 2018, leading 85 of 100 laps, and moving to second in points behind Ray Alfalla. As a result, Leahy moved up three spots in our driver rankings as the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series gets ready to race at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Texas Motor Speedway.
1: Ray Alfalla (–)
Ray Alfalla is something of a Texas expert (Texpert?), boasting two wins and five podium finishes, although his 18th-place finish in 2017 was the first time in his eight career races there that he didn’t lead laps.
2: Keegan Leahy (+3)
Canada’s Keegan Leahy has had a breakout season, tying for the series lead with three victories in 2018. While Leahy won at Kansas — like Texas a 1.5-mile track — all of his non-top-10 finishes this season have come at 1.5-milers — 27th at Chicagoland, 30th at Charlotte and 36th at Las Vegas.
3: Ryan Luza (-1)
The 2017 champ heads home to Texas Tuesday, where he led 73 laps last year, though he finished deep in the field. Expect him to rebound and continue his impressive streak of top-10 finishes that dates back to March.
4: Bobby Zalenski (-1)
Pocono was a disaster for Bobby Zalenski, but he has a comfortable margin in points to remain in the top eight with two races before the playoffs. Slip Angle Motorsports is solid at 1.5-mile tracks, so expect a satisfactory run Tuesday.
5: Michael Conti (-1)
Last year’s Texas polesitter is coming off back-to-back ninth-place finishes. While a win has eluded him, he’s showed speed in previous races.
6: Zack Novak (–)
After a hot-and-cold start to the season, Zack Novak has finally landed in a rhythm, scoring three consecutive top-10 finishes. He’ll need a bit of luck in the next two races to make up ground in the points in the playoffs — and his lone start in Texas was a 22nd-place finish last year.
7: Nickolas Shelton (NR)
We dropped Nick Shelton from our Power Rankings last week after a spell of mediocre finishes made us wonder if his Charlotte victory was just a flash in the pan — but he showed promise at Pocono, starting in the top five and finishing sixth. Plus, we’re heading to a 1.5-mile track, where Shelton has claimed three podium finishes this year. Sorry we underestimated you, Nick.
8: Nick Ottinger (–)
Unlike his teammate Matt Bussa, Nick Ottinger has shown consistency lately, scoring three eighth-place finishes in the last four races (so it’s only appropriate we rank him eighth). The 2013 Texas winner will need a bit more speed to compete with the playoffs ahead.
9: Christian Challiner (NR)
Great Britain’s Christian Challiner showed he belongs in the playoff conversation after scoring the pole at Pocono, leading laps, and finishing second behind Keegan Leahy. Challiner’s only other start at Texas ended in disaster, however — a 38th-place finish last year.
10: Matt Bussa (-3)
Matt Bussa finished outside the top 20 in consecutive races following Pocono, and has never scored a top-10 finish at Texas in five starts. He’ll need a miracle — and quickly — to salvage his season.