NASCAR live racing will return on May 17 at Darlington Raceway. Until then we will cover the results and upcoming scheduled iRacing Series events at virtual versions of familiar NASCAR tracks.
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series
The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series was organized for NASCAR Cup, XFINITY and Truck Series drivers to compete in after its 2020 seasons were put on hold due to the pandemic. It started as a one-time virtual event on March 21 but turned into a weekly series.[[ad:athena]]
Completed:
Mar. 21 - Dixie Vodka 150 at virtual Homestead-Miam. Winner: Denny Hamlin
Mar. 29 - O’Reilly Auto Parts 125 at Texas Motor Speedway. Winner: Timmy Hill
Apr. 5 - Food City Showdown at Bristol Motor Speedway. Winner: William Byron
Apr. 19 - Toyota Owners 150 at Richmond Raceway. Winner: William Byron
Apr. 26 - GEICO 70 at Talladega Superspeedway. Winner: Alex Bowman
May 3 - at Dover International Speedway.
- Winner: With just seven laps to go at virtual Dover in today’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Finish Line 150 William Byron regained the lead from Timmy Hill and went on to win the 150-lap event. This was Byron’s 3rd victory in the last four iRacing events. Hill, who had worn tires, was passed by Christopher Bell with about five laps to go. Bell and Hill were followed by Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Garrett Smithley and Aric Almirola.
Upcoming:
May 9 - will be the final iRacing Pro Invitational Series event since live racing will return the following week. This will be the first iRacing event ever played at the yet to be released simulated game featuring the iconic North Wilkesboro Speedway. Dale Earnhardt Jr. led a group of drivers and broadcasters who cleaned the track surface last December, allowing iRacing to scan and map the historic track. The venue last hosted NASCAR’s top division in 1996 with Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon prevailing in the final race. Gordon hinted in today’s broadcast that he will probably enter the final iRacing race.
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iRacing Saturday Night Thunder
The iRacing Saturday Night Thunder was formed as a spin-off of the iRacing Pro Invitational Series. It used virtual ARCA Menards Series cars at Bristol for it’s inaugural race. The event was open to Xfinity, Gander Truck Series, NASCAR Peak Mexico Series, Pinty’s Series, Whelen Euro Series and ARCA drivers.
Completed:
Apr. 4 inaugural event at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. Winner: Logan Seavey
Apr. 18 at Richmond Raceway. Winner: Josh Berry
Apr. 25 at Talladega Superspeedway. Winner: Landon Huffman
May 2 at Dover International Speedway:
- Winner: Anthony Alfredo won the eNASCAR iRacing Saturday Night Thunder 125-lap race at virtual Dover International Speedway. He took the lead for the final time from Alex Labbe coming to six laps to go and went on to take the checkered flag. Raphael Lessard, Chase Cabre and last week’s winner Landon Huffman rounded out the top five.
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IceBox Pickup Throwdown iRacing Truck Series
The IceBox Pickup Throwdown iRacing Truck Series, developed by Jordan Anderson of Anderson Racing and Tim Self of AM Racing, began on April 23 at virtual Texas Motor Speedway. This is a five-week series featuring real-world NASCAR XFINITY Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series as well as IndyCar Series drivers competing in iRacing’s Class C trucks. All races of the series are broadcasted live Thursday nights on Eric Estepp’s YouTube channel and at twitch.tv/podiumesports.
Completed:
Round 1: April 23 at Texas Motor Speedway. Winner: Christian Eckes
Round 2: April 30 Rich Mar Florist 100 at Kansas Speedway:
- Winner: IndyCar Series driver Santino Ferrucci won Thursday night’s IceBox Pickup Throwdown iRacing Truck Series Rich Mar Florist 100 at the virtual Kansas Speedway. Gander Truck Series regular Stewart Friesen was the runner-up, crossing the finish line, 0.188 seconds behind Ferrucci. Josh Bilicki, Christian Eckes and Ryan Vargas made up the rest of the top-five.
Remaining:
Round 3: May 7 FireDisc 100 at Michigan International Speedway
Round 4: May 14 Bommarito.com 100 at World Wide Technology Raceway
Round 5: May 21 (Championship) IceBox 100 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
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NASCAR Roots iRacing League
The NASCAR Roots iRacing League is a four-race, Monday night series formed by the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) and is open to NWMT drivers as well as drivers from the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR’s international series (Pinty’s in Canada, Whelen Euro). NASCAR Modified Tour virtual cars are used in this series. The races will be streamed live on NASCAR Roots’ channels on Facebook, Twitter and Twitch.
Completed:
Round 1: April 20 at Florida’s New Myrna Speedway. Winner: Parker Retzlaff
Round 2: April 27 at Southern National Raceway Park (NC). Winner: Parker Retzlaff
Remaining:
Round 3: May 4 at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
Round 4: May 11 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway
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The Replacements iRacing Series
Originally a one-off event on March 15th, The Replacements 100 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, won by Josh Williams, was successful enough to be followed by more of the same. The Replacements, an eight-race biweekly iRacing series alternating between NASCAR Cup cars and street stocks, was established by NASCAR spotters Kevin Hamlin and TJ Majors. A variety of NASCAR drivers and team members will participate.
Completed:
Round 1: March 24, NASCAR Cup cars, at Kansas Speedway. Winner: Josh Berry
Round 2: April 7, Street Stock cars at Myrtle Beach Speedway. Winner: Ty Majeski
Round 3: April 21, NASCAR Cup cars at Talladega Superspeedway.
- Winner: Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chief Digital Officer, was running second to Team Penske’s Jordan Erickson. Erickson had the preferred inside line, until he ran out of fuel entering Overtime. Cook found himself ahead of fellow Toyota Racing Driver Parker Kligerman. TJ Majors and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were to their outside but had no help behind and faded. Kligerman pushed Cook until the checkered flag was insight. In a photo finish, Cook edged out his fellow TRD driver by 0.050 seconds to win.
Remaining:
Round 4: May 5
Round 5: May 19
Round 6: June 2
Round 7: June 16
Round 8: June 30
