Sunday, April 7, 2019 – On this day in history, brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch finished 1-2, respectively, in the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway – it was the second of just three times the brothers have finished first or second in the same NASCAR Cup Series event. Kyle has won two out of the three brotherly matchups, with wins at Sonoma (2015) and Bristol (2019) and Kurt’s win was at Kentucky (2019). (more…)
First of all, I hope that you all are healthy and staying home for the most part. I know we started self-isolating before we were warned to, so this has been nearly a month of being stuck at home. But anyway, it’s a small price to pay to keep loved ones from getting sick.
Sunday, April 6, 2003 – On this day in history, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway (2001 Fall, 2002 sweep, 2003 Spring) beating Kevin Harvick to the line by a mere 0.125 second. The win set the record for the most consecutive victories in NASCAR Cup Series history at Talladega Superspeedway. (more…)
A week after a late-race bump-and-run pass ended William Byron’s hope of a win in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, the Hendrick Motorsports driver who cut his teeth in the virtual racing world dominated a crash-filled Food City Showdown at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. (more…)
Sunday, April 5, 1992 – On this day in history, NASCAR Hall of Famer Alan Kulwicki stretched his short track muscles leading 282 of 500 laps and winning from the pole in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. One of just two wins during his famous championship 1992 season (Bristol-1, Michigan-1). (more…)
Singer/Songwriter, Actress and Producer Wilson Performs National Anthem for eNASCAR iRACING Pro Invitational Series Race from Virtual Bristol Motor Speedway
NASCAR Hall of Famer and Longtime FOX NASCAR Analyst Darrell Waltrip, Wife Stevie Give Invocation at 1:00 PM ET on FOX, FS1 and the FOX Sports App
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Singer/songwriter, actress and producer Rita Wilson and NASCAR’s Darrell and Stevie Waltrip serve as prerace dignitaries for Sunday’s FOX NASCAR iRACING event from virtual Bristol Motor Speedway via video from their respective homes.
DOVER, Del. (April 3, 2020) – One of the few certainties in motorsports is that all drivers are eager to add Dover International Speedway’s Monster Trophy to their collections.
Sunday, April 4, 2004 – On this day in history, Elliott Sadler beat Kasey Kahne to the line by just 0.028 second – the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway. Kahne dominated the race leading 148 laps driving for Evernham Motorsports, but Sadler driving for Yates Racing jumped out front with 27 to go and never relinquished the top spot. It was Sadler’s second of three career NASCAR Cup Series wins. (more…)
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – Advance
Track: Virtual Bristol Motor Speedway (.5-mile)
Teams: No. 6 Coca-Cola/Nutrien Ag eFord, No. 17 SunnyD eFord
Drivers: Ross Chastain (No. 6), Chris Buescher (No. 17)
Twitter: @RoushFenway, @Roush6Team, @17RoushTeam
Hashtag: #ProInvitationalSeries
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series – Sunday, April 5 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcast Network, FS1, FOX Sports App
ADVANCE NOTES
Event Details
· With two weeks of the #ProInvitationalSeries in the books, NASCAR and iRacing are making changes to the format beginning this weekend at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR’s Cup stars, both past and present, will continue to participate in Sunday’s main event.
· However, the series now features a Saturday night event, which will include drivers from the ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, and other regional series.
· The lineup for Sunday’s main event – the Food City Showdown (1 p.m. ET, FOX, FS1, FOX Sports App) – will be set after two heat races, and everyone in the heat races will transfer. None of Saturday’s drivers will advance to Sunday’s event.
· Last weekend’s eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series event from the virtual Texas Motor Speedway drew over 1.3 million viewers, breaking the record for eSports TV viewership set by the previous week’s race.
Buescher at Bristol Motor Speedway
· Buescher has nine Cup Series starts all-time at Bristol, with a best finish of fifth (2016). Most recently he finished 17th last summer.
· Buescher also has five starts in the Xfinity Series at ‘The Last Great Colosseum’ with a third-place run (2015) and a seventh-place finish in his first-ever start there in 2013.
Chastain at Bristol Motor Speedway
· Chastain has four Cup Series starts at Bristol dating back two years, with a best finish of 26th last August and in 2018.
· In Xfinity action, Chastain has a top finish of ninth (2018). He also has four Truck starts at the half-mile track with two third-place runs (2012, 2019).
On the eCars
Iconic brand and thirst-quenching favorite SunnyD will be riding along with Chris Buescher and the No. 17 eFord this Sunday at the virtual Bristol. On the No. 6, Roush Fenway partner Coca-Cola, along with Nurtrien Ag Solutions – a partner of Ross Chastain in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – will be aboard the car this weekend.
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.
Virtual Race Info:
Race: Food City Showdown
Date/Time: Sunday, April 5/1 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 150 Laps
Track Length: 0.533 miles
Track Shape: Oval
Banking: 24-28 degrees
eNASCAR Texas Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 24th in Sunday’s iRacing Pro Invitational Series virtual NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway, after a late-race speeding penalty put him back in the running order followed by an on-track incident in the closing laps. Timmy Hill was the race winner. Hamlin qualified 17th and decided to fall to the back of the field at the start to avoid wrecks near the front. With only one “reset” in the race, meaning a new car with no damage, Hamlin felt it was imperative to keep his nose clean early on. He moved up in the order following a pit strategy to stay out during a caution mid-race to take the lead for a restart, but the older tires proved disadvantageous, as he slid back near 20th position. From there, he worked back up near the top 10 before a round of green-flag pit stops. However, Hamlin sped entering pit road and incurred a 40-second penalty, dropping him two laps down.
eNASCAR Bristol Preview: Three weeks into the iRacing series, the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series is virtually traveling to Bristol Motor Speedway for its first event at a short track. Hamlin will look to get the FedEx Freight Toyota to Victory Lane again like he did two weeks ago in virtual Homestead.
FedEx “Thank You” Paint Scheme: For Sunday’s eNASCAR event at virtual Bristol, 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 Bristol:
Will you change your strategy for Bristol, knowing it didn’t pan out for Texas?
“Bristol is a completely different kind of racetrack, so the strategy we used at Texas probably wouldn’t work for a short track like Bristol. I’ll definitely be getting my practice laps in to make sure we get a good finish. The last time we were at the real Bristol Motor Speedway, we went to Victory Lane. So, we’d love to do that virtually, too, for sure. We have a special paint scheme again to thank all the FedEx team members for their hard work during challenging times. We didn’t really get a great finish for them last week, so we want to make it up to them.”
Have you been encouraged by the number of fans who are watching the virtual races on TV?
“It’s been great to see how many fans are watching on TV, following on my Twitch stream and keeping up on social media. Sports fans don’t have a lot to watch right now, so the fact that we can put on a show for them, keep them interested and get them cheering, that’s great for our sport.”
| 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 |
| Averages/Totals | 13 | 12.5 | 100% | 14 | |||
