(Photo credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images)

Christopher Hill's valiant effort to win his way into the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs came up one spot short on Tuesday night as Bobby Zalenski held off the rookie to win at a virtual Pocono Raceway in the final regular-season race.

Already locked into the playoffs by way of his win at a virtual Talladega in April, Zalenski held off Hill to pick up his second win -- and additional playoff points -- and finish the 14-race regular season in third place in the standings.

'It's just lovely to win a race,' said Zalenski, who became the first series driver to win multiples times at Pocono.

'Even when you're really fast and you got everything clicking and everyone's working well, you're just so grateful that it can go your way,' he added, before acknowledging about the win, 'Yeah, it's great momentum for the playoffs. It's an extra five (playoff) points, but I just love winning races, man.'

The top 10 teams in the regular-season standings now advance to the four-race playoffs. All playoff drivers' points are reset to 2,000, with drivers getting an additional five points for each race win in the regular season. After three playoff races, the top four remaining drivers will advance to the Final Round at a virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 7.

A win by any playoff driver over the next three races will lock them into the Final Round. The remaining spot or spots in the Final Round will be determined by points standings among drivers who did not win a playoff race.

With 450 points and six wins -- both tops in the series -- Steven Wilson of Iowa City, Iowa, will begin the playoffs first in the standings. Wilson, who finished fourth at Pocono, won the season championship in 2023 and finished second last season.

'The biggest thing right now is still trying to work on qualifying,' Wilson said when asked of what he believes he needs to most improve upon heading into the playoffs. 'I (qualified) 18th tonight which is not going to be good enough for the playoffs.'

'Once we get into the race, I'm moving forward every time,' he added. 'It's about making life easier, really, just starting up front instead of having to pass all these cars.'

Hill entered the race Tuesday outside the top 15 and with a win his only avenue to the playoffs. As the laps passed, he increased his aggressiveness in an effort to close the gap. However, a brush with the wall coming out of Turn 2 with two laps to go ended his chances.

Hill and his No. 96 Chevrolet finished in second, 0.445 seconds back of Zalenski in the No. 22 Chevy. Zack Novak came in third in the No. 2 Toyota. Wilson finished fourth in the No. 77 Chevy, and the No. 14 Toyota of Seth DeMerchant rounded out the top five.

The No. 6 of Collin Bowden was the top-finishing Ford, coming in 16th, nearly 3.7 seconds back of Zalenski.

The other hard-luck driver was Dylan Ault, who finished 19th in his No. 47 Chevy on Tuesday. Despite sitting 10th in the season standings, he was left out of the playoffs as Kollin Keister, who ended the race 12th in the overall standings, got in by way of his win in the second race of the season, at virtual Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Feb. 25.

Keister actually is the fifth seed in the playoffs thanks to the bonus points from his win. The final five drivers in the playoff field did not win a race and got in by way of points. Among them is 2024 series champion Parker White, who is seeded eighth.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoff qualifiers

Rank. Name, Wins

1. Steven Wilson, 6

2. Tucker Minter, 3

3. Bobby Zalenski, 2

4. Vicente Salas, 2

5. Kollin Keister, 1

6. Zack Novak, 0

7. Casey Kirwan, 0

8. Parker White, 0

9. Dylan Duval, 0

10. Jordy Lopez, 0

Remaining eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series schedule

Aug. 19 -- Michigan International Speedway

Sept. 2 -- Texas Motor Speedway

Sept. 16 -- Phoenix Raceway

Oct. 7 -- Homestead-Miami Speedway

--Field Level Media