NASCAR iRacing returns this weekend at virtual Richmond Raceway

By Jerry BonkowskiApr 15, 2020, 4:40 PM EDT

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UPDATE: NASCAR and iRacing announced Thursday that they will increase the field to 30 drivers for Sunday’s eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series. Two will come from a qualifying race, which has been added (and will be held at 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday – no TV, no streaming) and two provisionals chosen by Fox. Qualifying race will be 25 laps, no yellows and no resets. Qualifying race is open to all Cup drivers. The feature race will be 150 laps.

After an off weekend, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series gets back on track Sunday at virtual Richmond Raceway.

A smaller field of 26 current and former NASCAR Cup drivers – down from fields of 35 drivers at Homestead and Texas and 32 at Bristol — will take to the .750-mile virtual track in the Toyota Owners 150. Drivers not on the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s race include Dale Earnhardt Jr., Landon Cassill, Bobby Labonte, Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell and the suspended Kyle Larson.

Bubba Wallace, who was criticized for prematurely quitting the race at a virtual Bristol Motor Speedway on April 5, is back in the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s race.

There will be one scheduled reset period for repairs during the 150-lap virtual race, which will be televised on FOX, FS1 and the FOX Sports App at 1 p.m. ET. Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Larry McReynolds will call the action, with Cup regular Clint Bowyer serving as in-race contributor.

Due to the smaller car count, there will be no qualifying races or heat races to set the field for the main event.

Denny Hamlin won the first virtual race on March 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, followed by Timmy Hill (March 29 at Texas Motor Speedway) and William Byron (April 5 at Bristol Motor Speedway).

Sunday’s main event will be preceded a day earlier by the second edition of Saturday Night Thunder.

NASCAR Cup drivers not competing in Sunday’s race, as well as drivers from the Xfinity, Trucks and ARCA series, are among those eligible to take part. All drivers will compete in virtual Xfinity Series cars.

The Saturday Night Thunder race will be televised on NASCAR’s YouTube channel and eNASCAR.com/live at 8 p.m. ET.

Here is the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 150:

No.	Driver	Affiliation
1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing
2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing
4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
6	Ross Chastain	Roush Fenway Racing
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske
13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing
14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing
17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing
18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing
21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports
31	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing
37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing
38	John Hunter Nemechek	Front Row Motorsports
43	Bubba Wallace	Richard Petty Motorsports
48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
51	Garrett Smithley	Invitational
66	Timmy Hill	Invitational
77	Parker Kligerman	Invitational
88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports
95	Christopher Bell	Leavine Family Racing

This event is only limited to 26 drivers. Those spots should represent full time Cup drivers. Hope to get back in the #ProInvitationalSeries after Richmond. https://t.co/gfsj0PIHMG

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) April 15, 2020

Less experienced drivers. The 5 least experienced drivers are still in the race Bob! You know better, it is just politics. Unfortunate for our partners that we signed this week to get uninvited after running all the races.

— Michael McDowell (@Mc_Driver) April 15, 2020

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NASCAR Saturday schedule at Sonoma Raceway

By Dustin LongJun 10, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

Cup and Xfinity teams will be on track Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.

Cup teams will practice and qualify for Sunday’s race. Xfinity teams will qualify and race Saturday on the 1.99-mile road course in Northern California.

Sonoma Raceway

Weather

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a high of 75 degrees. Forecast is for mostly cloudy skies, a high of 71 degrees and no chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.

Saturday, June 10

(All times Eastern)

Garage open

12 p.m. – 8 p.m. — Cup Series
1 p.m. — Xfinity Series

Track activity

3 – 4 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (FS1)
5 – 6 p.m. — Cup practice (FS2)
6 – 7 p.m. — Cup qualifying (FS2)
8 p.m. — Xfinity race (79 laps, 156.95 miles; FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Alpha Prime Racing’s road woes don’t keep team from competing

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 8:14 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — Alpha Prime Racing owner Tommy Joe Martins laughs. He can. His Xfinity Series cars all are here at Sonoma Raceway.

At one point last week, it was not certain if his team’s cars would make it to Portland International Raceway.

“It was probably the toughest professional week I’ve had of my NASCAR career,” Martins told NBC Sports on Friday at Sonoma.

MORE: Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

The Alpha Prime Racing team had both its trucks break down and one of its haulers have mechanical issues last week on the way to the Pacific Northwest.

“We basically sent four pieces of equipment on the road and three of them broke,” Martins said.

For a time, the car Sage Karam is driving this weekend at Sonoma was left in a hauler in Kansas City because there wasn’t room in the dually Martins sent. It had room only for the car that was needed at Portland and other equipment. Karam’s car, which was to be a backup at Portland, was left behind.

“It’s a very helpless feeling when you feel like your stuff is stuck on the side of the road,” Martins said.

He still has one truck still in St. Louis and another in Oregon. Martins estimates the mechanical issues will cost his team about $50,000 when everything is totaled.

Trouble started well before the team left its Mooresville, North Carolina, race shop for Portland.

The Xfinity Series race at Charlotte was scheduled to run May 27. Rain forced that event to be rescheduled to May 29. Martins said the team had planned to send its trucks to Portland on May 28. With the race pushed back to the 29th, the travel schedule tightened.

It got worse.

After the Xfinity race started, rain came. With the Coca-Cola 600 scheduled for 3 p.m. ET that day – after being delayed by rain from Sunday – the rest of the Xfinity race was pushed back until after the 600. That further tightened the window on Xfinity teams to make it to Portland.

The Xfinity race ended around 11:30 p.m. ET on May 29. Alpha Prime Racing’s haulers left the shop around 6 a.m. ET on May 30.

The two trucks traveled together until issues in St. Louis.

The truck hauling the Nos. 44 and 45 cars had engine issues in St. Louis. The other truck kept going until it had mechanical issues with its hauler in Kansas City. The air bags on the hauler failed.

So, Alpha Prime Racing had a truck that worked in Kansas City with a hauler that didn’t and a truck that didn’t work in St. Louis with a hauler that did.

The truck in Kansas City went back to St. Louis to attach to the hauler and take those cars and equipment to Portland. Martins then had to find something to haul the stranded equipment in Kansas City and a driver. He eventually did. A dually left North Carolina for Kansas City. Once there, what fit in the dually was taken to Portland and what didn’t, including Karam’s Sonoma car stayed behind.

Yet, more trouble was headed for Martins and his team.

The truck that had gone back from Kansas City to St. Louis to take hauler that worked then broke down about 200 miles from Portland.

“I laugh knowing that we’re on the other side of it,” Martins said Friday of all the issues his team had transporting cars and equipment across the country.

“We’ve started to make plans and corrections for it not happening again,” he said.

That hauler that was left in Kansas City? It was repaired and transported to Sonoma, arriving earlier this week.

“Our guys are troopers,” Martins said. “Both of our (truck) drivers were just awesome about the whole thing. … They went through hell week as far as driving somewhere, fly back and pick something up, drive again and now are going to have to do the same thing getting back.”

When the garage opened Friday at Sonoma, Alpha Prime Racing had all its cars.

“I don’t think we had any major issues here, so that was good,” Martins said.

The focus is back on the track. Karam was 24th on the speed chart in Friday’s practice, leading Alpha Prime Racing’s effort. Dylan Lupton was 32nd. Jeffrey Earnhardt was last among 41 cars.

After Saturday night’s race, the team heads back to North Carolina for a well-earned weekend off.

Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 5:45 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — Kyle Larson posted the fastest lap in Friday’s Xfinity Series practice at Sonoma Raceway.

This is the first time the series has raced at the 1.99-mile road course in Northern California. Teams got 50 minutes of practice Friday.

Larson led the way with a lap of 90.392 mph. He was more than a second faster than the rest of the field.

MORE: Xfinity practice results Sonoma

Sheldon Creed was second on the speed chart with a lap of 89.066 mph. He was followed by AJ Allmendinger (89.052 mph), Cole Custer (89.020) and Ty Gibbs (88.989).

Larson, Allmendinger and Gibbs are among seven Cup drivers are entered in the Xfinity race. Aric Almirola was seventh on the speed chart with a lap of 88.750 mph. Ross Chastain was ninth with a lap of 88.625 mph. Daniel Suarez was 16th with a lap of 88.300 mph. Ty Dillon was 33rd with a lap of 86.828 mph.

Anthony Alfredo will go to a backup car after a crash in practice. He was uninjured in the incident that damaged the right side of his car.

Qualifying is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Saturday. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:20 p.m. ET Saturday.

Anthony Alfredo’s car after a crash in Xfinity practice Friday at Sonoma Raceway. He was uninjured. (Photo: Dustin Long)

Saturday Sonoma Xfinity race: Start time, TV info, weather

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 1:59 PM EDT

The Xfinity Series will compete for the first time at Sonoma Raceway this weekend. This is one of eight road course events on the Xfinity schedule this season.

Seven Cup drivers are scheduled to compete in Saturday’s race, including AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez, who won last year’s Cup race at this track Allmendinger has won 11 of 25 career road course starts in the Xfinity Series.

Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Sonoma Raceway

(All times Eastern)

START: Golden State Warrior Patrick Baldwin Jr. will give the command to start engines at 8:08 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 8:20 p.m.

PRERACE: Xfinity garage opens at 1 p.m. … Qualifying begins at 3 p.m. … Driver introductions begin at 7:35 p.m. … The invocation will be given by Earl Smith, team pastor for the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers, at 8 p.m. … The national anthem will be performed by 9-year-old Isis Mikayle Castillo at 8:01 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 79 laps (156.95 miles) on the 1.99-mile road course.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 20. Stage 2 ends at Lap 45.

STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying begins at 3 p.m. Saturday

TV/RADIO: FS1 will broadcast the race at 8 p.m. ... Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. … Performance Racing Network coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. and can be heard on goprn.com. … SiriusXN NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.

FORECAST: Weather Underground — Mostly cloudy with a high of 72 degrees and a zero percent chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST TIME: This is the first time the Xfinity Series has raced at Sonoma.

Sonoma Raceway

Weather

Saturday, June 10

(All times Eastern)

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MORE: Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

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Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Sonoma Raceway

(All times Eastern)

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