NASCAR
What Does the Future Hold for iRacing with NASCAR’s Resumption?
Real-life NASCAR racing will return in less than two weeks. While everyone is eager for cars to hit the track again, how will the restart affect iRacing? The online virtual racing simulation has provided a well-needed getaway for drivers and fans alike during this hiatus. Between the Pro Invitational Series, Saturday Night Thunder, and countless other leagues, iRacing has provided more racing action than ever before. With the chaos that is the new NASCAR schedule though, how will iRacing fit into future racing plans?
Byron’s Take on iRacing Moving Forward
William Byron, winner of three of the six Pro Invitational races, gave his thoughts on a possible off season iRacing series. “I mean, I don’t think anything required would be a good idea. If you love to iRace, I think it’s a good idea to have a series of some sort in the off time. I already do that myself with iRacing. I already race in the off-season to get better.
Whether there’s a series or not, I feel like I would still use it regardless. It is cool to have gatherings of some of the guys that are racing on Sundays and being able to kind of mix it up like we are.”
Byron has lit up the Pro Invitational Series like nobody else. In six starts, Byron has three wins, five top-10s, and 403 laps led. The man whose racing career started on a computer has blown away the virtual competition.
Bowman’s Altering Opinion of iRacing
Byron’s teammate, Alex Bowman, has an opposing belief on how he will use iRacing once NASCAR resumes. “I think it has its place, and there are things it’s useful for, but I think we have tools like our Chevy simulator and things like that that can create some other great things, as well. We used it a little bit before, and I’ll continue doing that, but probably won’t change how much I used it. It’ll probably be about the same going back.”
Bowman won the Pro Invitational event at Talladega Superspeedway two weeks ago. Bowman and Byron have both combined four-straight iRacing wins for Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman is much less of a frequent iRacer than Byron, but his ability to learn quickly and having Byron as a teammate certainly paid off.
Alfredo Avid about iRacing
Anthony Alfredo, winner of the Saturday Night Thunder event at Dover last week, also gave his thoughts. “I would love (iRacing to continue with the pros). I don’t know if all of them will continue to do it though. Everyone is going to be very busy, especially with the schedule having multiple races a week. However I know there’s plenty of guys who would love to be a part of it, including myself. Hopefully we can make it a regular occurrence. Even if it’s not weekly, maybe once a month or a couple times a year or so, that’d be awesome. An off season series could absolutely be arranged.”
Much like Byron’s well-known origin story, Alfredo can trace his racing roots to iRacing as well. In his own words, Alfredo “grew up as a huge gamer. I’m very passionate about the eSports and sim racing industry as a whole. When I started racing, sim racing and iRacing was a perfect bridge between those two industries. To have the opportunity to compete at a high level in eSports and provide entertainment for fans through these competitive events has been very cool and exciting for myself because of what it means to me. It’s also great for our industry and the motorsports industry.
What is Next for iRacing?
One facet of NASCAR on iRacing will remain past this break in the action. The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series is still going strong. The best iRacing drivers are only six races into their 20-race campaign. Their next event will be from Charlotte on May 12 on eNASCAR.com.
Will this weekend’s events at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro be the final iRacing events for NASCAR’s best drivers? That is likely not the case, as iRacing has seen an unprecedented explosion in popularity amidst this COVID-19 pandemic. With the hectic racing schedule coming up though, these drivers will sacrifice sim time for racing several times per week. However, the future does look bright for iRacing, as millions of new fans tuned into the virtual racing broadcasts. Be sure to stay tuned for any iRacing pro events to come.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on YouTube and Twitter.
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter.
Photo credit to NASCARMedia
