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Roush-Fenway Racing: iRacing #ProInvitationalSeries | Richmond Advance

by MikeApril 17, 2020

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – Advance
Track: Virtual Richmond Raceway (.75-mile)
Teams: No. 6 Oscar Mayer/Nutrien Ag eFord, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank eFord
Drivers: Ross Chastain (No. 6), Chris Buescher (No. 17)
Twitter: @RoushFenway, @Roush6Team, @17RoushTeam
Hashtag: #ProInvitationalSeries

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – Sunday, April 19 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcast Network, FS1, FOX Sports App

ADVANCE NOTES
Event Details
· After taking the traditional Easter weekend off, the #ProInvitationalSeries is back this weekend as the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series take to the ¾-mile virtual Richmond Raceway.
· To date, the series has garnered just under 3.5-million viewers in three events, earning a top rating of 0.81 at virtual Texas, breaking its own record for the most viewed eSports event in U.S. TV history.
· NASCAR and iRacing also made format changes to the series at Bristol two weeks ago, with a Saturday night event that featured drivers from the ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, and other regional series. However, the main event – which features past and present stars of the NASCAR Cup Series – remained unchanged with the exception of a pair of qualifying heat races.
· Heading into Richmond, NASCAR, iRacing and FOX have teamed up to make additional changes to this week’s format, with the field being limited to 26 cars to improve the overall product. With the change, the race will be 150 laps with one allowed reset and a standard qualifying session.

Buescher at Richmond Raceway
· Buescher has eight Cup Series starts all-time at Richmond with a top finish of 17^th (spring 2017). Most recently he finished 22^nd and 31^st in 2019.
· Buescher also has five starts in the Xfinity Series at Richmond with three top-10s, including a best career finish of seventh in 2014.
· Through three weeks in the #ProInvitationalSeries, Buescher has finished 28^th, 18^th and 23^rd, after leading 30 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway just two weeks ago, before getting caught up in a late accident with a glitching car.

Chastain at Richmond Raceway
· Chastain has four Cup Series starts at Richmond Raceway with a best finish of 28^th (spring 2018).
· In Xfinity action, Chastain finished runner-up in the 2018 fall race after starting third in the No. 42 machine. He most-recently earned an 11^th-place run last spring.
· Chastain came out of the gate firing early in the #ProInvitationalSeries, putting his Oscar Mayer eMustang up front at Homestead before going on to finish 14^th. He followed that with runs of 22^nd (Texas) and 16^th (Bristol).

On the eCars
The bright orange and yellow Oscar Mayer Bacon scheme – paired with Nutrien Ag Solutions from Chastain’s NASCAR Xfinity Series entry – will be aboard the No. 6 machine this weekend at Richmond. Fifth Third bank, longtime partner on Roush Fenway’s No. 17 entry, will be riding along with Buescher on the 17 machine.

NASCAR/iRacing History
NASCAR and iRacing have an unprecedented history in the esports space, currently in the 11th season of the longest-running officially sanctioned esports racing series, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. It features 40 of the best sim racers in the world competing for more than $300,000, one of the richest payouts in esports racing competition.

Roush Fenway’s 2020 lineup includes Nathan Lyon, driver of the No. 6 and a native of St. Louis Missouri, and Kollin Keister, driver of the No. 17, who hails from Frostburg, Maryland.

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 – Back to Racing at Richmond

by MikeApril 16, 2020

After a week off for Easter, Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang return to the world of virtual racing with the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Richmond Raceway. (more…)

Denny Hamlin FedEx Racing Express Facts – Virtual Richmond Raceway

by MikeApril 16, 2020April 16, 2020

Denny Hamlin

#11 “Thank you FedEx team members” Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing

Virtual Race Info:

Race: Toyota Owners Pro Invitational

Date/Time: Sunday, April 19/1 p.m. ET

Race Distance: 150 Laps

Track Length: 0.75 miles

Track Shape: Oval

Banking: 14 degrees

Express Notes:

eNASCAR Bristol Recap: Denny Hamlin clawed his way from the back of the pack to a fourth-place finish in the April 5 eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series event at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, earning a top-five in the “Thank you FedEx team members” Toyota. The event was the third in the iRacing video simulation series and the first featuring heat races before the main event. Hamlin spun and incurred damage during his 50-lap heat race, relegating him to the back of the starting grid. Rolling off 26th for the 150-lap main event, he raced with the damage for much of the day, gradually making his way toward the front. Once he reached the top 10, Hamlin used a fast repair – one of two “resets” allowed – to fix his FedEx Camry and give him a chance to race the leaders. He gained six more positions in the remaining laps but never caught up with the dominant car of William Byron, who led most of the day and won the race.

eNASCAR Richmond Preview: After a top-five finish at virtual Bristol, Hamlin will climb back into his iRacing rig on Sunday at his simulated hometown track of Richmond Raceway. Hamlin will look to add another win to his Pro Invitational Series run, in which he has one win and two top-five finishes through three races.

Hamlin and FedEx Provide Food Bank Donation: Ahead of this weekend’s eNASCAR event in Richmond, Hamlin and FedEx will donate more than 60,000 meals to the Chesterfield, Va., Food Bank. The Chesterfield Food Bank has seen an increase in demand since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and the donation to the community in Hamlin’s hometown will provide much needed support. The 60,000 meals donated will provide food to more than 4,400 Chesterfield families for a week.

FedEx “Thank You” Paint Scheme: For Sunday’s eNASCAR event at virtual Richmond, the #11 car will pay tribute to the 475,000 FedEx team members who are working to deliver shipments around the world safely and securely during the COVID-19 pandemic. A special “Thank You” FedEx paint scheme will recognize all the FedEx team members who are working hard to deliver critical medical supplies and equipment to the healthcare community as well as basic goods to people at home.

Hamlin Conversation – Virtual Richmond:

What led you to making the donation to the Richmond Food Bank?

“Chesterfield will always be my home, so during these unprecedented and difficult times, we wanted to provide assistance to people in the community. I am grateful to FedEx for supporting a community that is so close to my heart. The people of Chesterfield are in my thoughts, and I know we will come through this stronger than before.”

You’ve been to Victory Lane at the real Richmond Raceway. Do you think you can do it virtually?

“Obviously, iRacing isn’t exactly the same as being behind the wheel of our real FedEx Camry, but it’s about as close as you can get using simulations. We’ve got one win already in this iRacing series, so I definitely think we can do it again.”

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	START	FINISH	LAPS	STATUS	LED
Mar. 22	Dixie Vodka 150	Homestead	9	1	100/100	Running	14
Mar. 29	O’Reilly 125	Texas	17	24	125/125	Running	0
Apr. 5	Food City Showdown	Bristol	26	4	150/150	Running	0
*Averages/Totals*			*17.3*	*9.6*	*100%*		14

Speedy Cash Joins John Hunter Nemechek for Pro Invitational Series Event at Virtual Richmond

by MikeApril 16, 2020

NEMECHEK ON VIRTUAL RICHMOND:

“I hope everyone is still staying safe. That’s always the most important thing. But, we can also have this distraction of the NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series and it’s fun to be back this weekend. I came close at Bristol and the feeling is the same as it is in the real car- you want to win.

“We’re back this weekend with Speedy Cash, another great partner of FRM. It’s been fun to see the excitement our partners have when seeing their car in the iRacing platform and then see it on FOX. This is as realistic as we can make it without actually being at the track and in the car. It’s different, but it’s still exciting and I’m racing to win and represent all our partners.

“We are supporting the Ford Apollo project on the car this weekend, too. The Ford Motor Company has really taken a lead in making products for hospitals and those working on the front line of this pandemic. That’s been great to see. We’ll continue to keep doing what we need to do and until then, we’ll have some fun on iRacing.”

Chandler Smith to Compete in Eight Races in the No. 51 JBL Tundra

by WebmasterMarch 4, 2020

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 3, 2020) – Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that Chandler Smith will return to the organization for an eight-race NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series schedule in 2020 with primary sponsorship from JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound. Smith will kickoff his 2020 schedule participating in the first two races of the Triple Truck Challenge, April 18 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and May 1 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

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