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iRacing gives fans a Sunday afternoon with racing

Screen Shot 2020-03-15 at 3.43.37 PM

Action from virtual Atlanta Motor Speedway on iRacing. Photo: iRacing/Twitch

On a day that NASCAR was to have raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway, before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed that event and halted nearly every sport, there was a race at a virtual Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR announced Friday that it was postponing its races this weekend at Atlanta and next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. So with no real racing, some competitors went to sim racing.

iRacing set up a 100-lap race Sunday afternoon to give fans at least some form of racing to watch online.

MORE: Coronavirus updates from NBC News

“It all kind of came together Friday when we were home,” said T.J. Majors, spotter for Joey Logano, on the Twitch broadcast of the iRacing event, The Replacements 100. “Bryan Cook had the same idea as I did, Boris at JGR, and then Kevin Hamlin put a lot of work into this as well. ... We started adding drivers to the list. A lot of fun. It’s unfortunate circumstances that we’re all home today, but we’re just trying to make the most of it and give people something to do and watch and have some fun.”

Josh Williams, spotter for Ryan Blaney, dominated, winning the event. William Byron was second.

Here is the finishing order:


  1. Josh Williams
  2. William Byron
  3. Steven Steffen
  4. TJ Majors
  5. Parker Kligerman
  6. Tyler Overstreet
  7. Garrett Smithley
  8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  9. Bubba Wallace
  10. Coleman Pressley
  11. Chase Briscoe
  12. Bryan Boris Cook
  13. Justin Haley
  14. John Theodore
  15. Kevin Iannarelli
  16. KC Heschel
  17. Kyle Long
  18. Anthony Pelican
  19. Tyler Truex
  20. Gary Sexton
  21. Anthony Alfredo
  22. Tim Dugger
  23. John Guidone
  24. Harrison Burton
  25. Myatt Snider
  26. Chad Knaus
  27. Ben Rhodes
  28. Matt Noyce
  29. Justin Allgaier
  30. Alex Bowman
  31. Taylor Gray
  32. Jonathan Davis
  33. Kevin Hamlin
  34. Tyler Ankrum
  35. Noah Gragson

As NASCAR entered its first weekend without racing on the track, Bristol Motor Speedway issued a statement Sunday afternoon. Part of the statement read:

“As these uncertain times unfold, we remain in constant contact with health officials, NASCAR and key stakeholders to continue to monitor this pandemic closely. ... We must move forward preparing for our events, even if there’s a chance it might not happen, but know that we’re doing our part to enhance our cleaning efforts, locating additional handwashing for our fan zone areas and providing hand sanitizer around the property.”

Bristol is scheduled to host Cup, Xfinity and ARCA East on April 3-5.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued what it called a guidance Sunday that stated:

“Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities. Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies. These events can be planned not only by organizations and communities but also by individuals.

Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.”