(Virtual) NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Denny Hamlin won the final race of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, which took place at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday.
The North Wilkesboro 160 was the first “Cup” race at the track in 24 years. This race, however, was a virtual one. It had all the charm of old-school NASCAR and all the intriguing technological advances of sim racing.
Timmy Hill finished second, Tyler Reddick third, Ross Chastain fourth, and Austin Dillon fifth. The two drivers who actually have raced Cup cars at the old short track — Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte — came home 18th and 19th, respectively.
iRacing has been a fantastic substitute for the real racing during the COVID-19 pandemic. NASCAR, iRacing, and Fox Sports collaborated to get the top Cup drivers in virtual races, and it presented simulated events in front of about 1 million fans for the last seven weeks.
There were some controversies, though. Most notably, Kyle Larson’s use of a racial slur that cost him his career — at least, for now. Matt Kenseth will drive the No. 42 car for Chip Ganassi Racing when the sport returns to Darlington Raceway next weekend.
To listen to the thoughts of our John Haverlin and Steven Cusumano, here’s a brief, 15-minute podcast to break down iRacing and the return of NASCAR next weekend.
