The eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series is nearing its end. The sixth edition of the virtual series takes place today on a digital Dover International Speedway (1 p.m. ET on Fox - where available- FS1 and the Fox Sports App).
Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won the last three races. William Byron won twice and Alex Bowman won last weekend at Talladega.
Here’s the info for today’s race.
(All times are Eastern)
DIGNITARIES: Actor David Hasselhoff will perform the National Anthem, singer Blake Shelton will give the command to start engines and Jason Romano, Sports Spectrum podcast host, speaker and author, will give the invocation.
FORMAT: One hour of practice begins at noon. Qualifying begins at 12:50 p.m. The top 10 qualifiers will be inverted. The top-three finishers from Talladega (Alex Bowman, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece) will start from the back and will not make a qualifying attempt.
RACE: The Finish Line 150 is scheduled to begin at 1:13 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 150 laps (150 miles) around the virtual 1-mile oval.
RULES: Drivers will be allowed one reset to repair damage. Cautions will be determined by race officials. There will be a maximum of three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.
TV: The race can be seen on FOX (where available), FS1 and the Fox Sports App. Coverage begins at 1 p.m.
DRIVERS SCHEDULED TO COMPETE (subject to change):
#1 Kurt Busch
#2 Brad Keselowski
#3 Austin Dillon
#4 Kevin Harvick
#6 Ross Chastain
#8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
#10 Aric Almirola
#11 Denny Hamlin
#12 Ryan Blaney
#13 Ty Dillon
#15 Brennan Poole
#17 Chris Buescher
#18 Kyle Busch
#19 Bobby Labonte
#20 Erik Jones
#21 Matt DiBenedetto
#22 Joey Logano
#24 William Byron
#31 Tyler Reddick
#32 Corey LaJoie
#34 Michael McDowell
#37 Ryan Preece
#38 John Hunter Nemechek
#41 Cole Custer
#48 Jimmie Johnson
#49 Chad Finchum
#51 Garrett Smithley
#52 JJ Yeley
#53 Joey Gase
#66 Timmy Hill
#77 Parker Kligerman
#78 Regan Smith
#88 Alex Bowman
#89 Landon Cassill
#95 Christopher Bell
#96 Daniel Suarez
WHAT DRIVERS ARE SAYING:
Kevin Harvick: “Probably the biggest difference in iRacing is the motion. They’ve done a really good job of developing their racetracks with the signs and cracks and bumps and the different things that go with them, but with iRacing, I have it all turned off on my Busch Light Ford Mustang. You can feel it a little bit in the pedals and the steering wheel, but for me, with the more you turn off on iRacing, the better it is.”
Aric Almirola: “Dover is one of my favorite tracks in real life, but after iRacing last weekend at Talladega in my Smithfield Ford Mustang, I know it’s an entirely different feel. We finished 18th last weekend after knocking some rust off. It’s going to be tough to get up to speed with a lot of these guys with the limited amount of practice I’ll have. Being a homeschool teacher and dad during the week doesn’t free up much time, so the young guys have even more of an advantage on us. I’m looking forward to iRacing at a track like Dover where we’re up on the wheel the entire race. It will be fun for me to try a new track style and, as always, fun for the fans watching again.”
Cole Custer: “Things from real life definitely apply to iRacing, but you also have to learn all the other little things that are unique to iRacing. This time has definitely opened my mind to iRacing. I think in the future I’ll want to try and use it a little more for races coming up in my Haas Tooling Ford Mustang, because it can be a good tool to just knock the rust off before going somewhere. I’m looking forward to Dover because I’ve done well there in the past, but I know there’s going to be things to learn.”
Denny Hamlin: “I’ve had my struggles at Dover in my career. It’s definitely not my best track. But we can win anywhere, including Dover. I’ll try to get some extra practice laps in to see if we can give the ‘Monster’ a good battle.”
Kyle Busch: “I’ve practiced quite a bit and have been able to improve with where I’ve been running and my results, so that’s been fun. However, sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day with qualifying. We don’t have very good qualifying efforts but, once we get going into the race, you can kind of methodically, slowly pick your way along and get yourself more up to the front and run with those top guys. It would be nice to figure out qualifying and start up front and see if we have a shot to race inside the top-three all day and race for the win. Dover is probably another track where it would be nice to start closer to the front and have some track position to start instead of having to claw my way back up toward the front.”
Erik Jones: “Dover has been a tough track for me in real life, so hopefully we can get a solid run in iRacing there. I don’t really know what to expect, but we ran good at Richmond and hopefully we can take some of what we learned there and use it to have a decent run at Dover.
Austin Dillon: There’s a lot of aero stuff that comes into play at Dover because you’re going so fast. You see different lines come into play as the rubber builds up. It’s always fun on a long run when you can run way up by the fence and find speed. Of course, there’s a bit of an unknown heading into a virtual race. I’m looking forward to it.”
Tyler Reddick: “I’ve had some good runs at Dover International Speedway in the past, including a win in the NASCAR Truck Series, but I’m curious to see how virtual Dover plays out over iRacing. So much of being successful at Dover focuses on getting a good balance in your race car in order to handle the loads it takes in the corners there. I’m not sure how much of that will translate virtually, but I’m up for the challenge.”