Track Specs: 1.5-mile tri-oval / 100 laps
McCandless’ finish: 26th
LaPradd’s finish: 33rd
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 4, 2025) – On a wild night at the virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway, Blake McCandless drove to a 26th-place finish for JR Motorsports in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series event on Tuesday night. Teammate Briar LaPradd took a late-race gamble on old tires and led briefly but was caught up in a crash that left him 33rd at the finish. (Watch the full race.)
LaPradd, hoping to shake off a run of bad luck, qualified his No. 88 Ledford Billiard Supply Chevrolet in 36th and spent the early laps searching for speed in the pack. Constantly battling to improve his position, the Tennessee driver made a strategy call late in the race, staying out on older tires in hopes of gaining track position.
On the green-white-checkered restart, LaPradd got away well despite 50-lap tires and led midway through Turn 1, but couldn’t hold the line midway through Turns 1 and 2. Eventual winner Steven Wilson swept past and LaPradd was swallowed up by cars on fresh tires.
Coming into Turn 3, LaPradd was still on the high side and contact from Dylan Ault at the entrance ended any chance of a better finish and he crossed the line in 38th.
McCandless, who qualified his C4 Energy Camaro 35th for the event, focused on long-run speed and was on his way up the order until a mid-race incident derailed his run. At lap 32, a technical glitch completely changed the handling on his machine, ending the charge toward the upper reaches of the field.
Unfortunately, a mid-race incident damaged his Chevrolet and ended his chances to contend and he crossed the line 26th at the finish.
Next up on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series schedule is a return to Iowa Speedway on June 17, featuring a new build and a short-track battle.
Blake McCandless, driver No. 8 C4 Energy Chevrolet team
“We had a really great long-run car tonight, but whatever happened on lap 32—something totally out of our control—just completely changed how the car drove. We tried to fix it, but it was never right after that. Really frustrating because we had so much promise coming into Kansas. Looking forward to Iowa with the new iRacing physics build. We will regroup and see what we can do to figure out this new build coming out.”
Briar LaPradd, driver No. 88 Ledford Billiard Supply Chevrolet:
“Another tough night for us in the Ledford Billiard Supply Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. We started deep in the field and just did not have the speed to move forward. As the race went on, we decided to stay out on old tires, hoping for a caution or two to help our track position, but they didn’t materialize. Coming to the white flag, we got junked and ended up 38th. We’ll keep our heads up and keep grinding.”