DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 2, 2020) – “Due to challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic, the debut of the Next Gen car will be delayed until 2022. The decision was made in collaboration with the OEMs and team owners. We will continue to develop the Next Gen car, and a revised testing timeline will be shared when more information is available.” – John Probst, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation
Denny Hamlin
#11 “Thank you FedEx team members” Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing
Virtual Race Info:
Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 125
Date/Time: Sunday, March 29/1 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 125 laps/187.5 miles
Track Shape: Oval
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Banking: 24 degrees
Express Notes:
eNASCAR Homestead Recap: Denny Hamlin took the FedEx Express Toyota to a virtual Victory Lane for the first time Sunday, winning the inaugural eNASCAR Pro Invitational event at a simulated Homestead-Miami Speedway. A barefoot Hamlin, who logged hours of practice time for the work-from-home event, started the race ninth from the seat of his simulator. He led 14 laps during the middle of the race and used a fresh set of virtual tires to surge back to the front in the closing laps. As sports-hungry fans watched the exhibition event unfold live on FS1, Hamlin passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming off Turn 4 of the 1.5-mile virtual oval to take the checkered flag.
eNASCAR Texas Preview: After a successful first week on the iRacing platform, the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series will take a virtual trip to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday for 125 laps around the high-speed, 1.5-mile oval. Hamlin took the FedEx Toyota to Victory Lane at the real Ft. Worth track one year ago and is logging plenty of practice hours in hopes of making a virtual trip to Victory Lane for a second consecutive week.
FedEx “Thank You” Paint Scheme: For Sunday’s eNASCAR event at virtual Texas, 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 Texas:
FedEx has been very involved in COVID-19 relief efforts. You must feel free very proud to run this special paint scheme.
“Absolutely. They’ve got nearly half a million team members around the world who deserve a big ‘thank you’ right now. They’ve been working hard every day to make sure critical shipments are being delivered during a difficult time. It felt good to go out and get a win for them last weekend, and I hope we can do it again this Sunday in this special virtual FedEx Toyota.”
Do you think the participation and the competition level will go up after the first week of iRacing in this invitational series?
“You know, I don’t think you’re going to get everyone every week. That’s going to be a challenge. But you’re also going to have new guys coming in. There’s probably a lot of Cup guys that didn’t participate that saw this and were like, ‘I need to get back in this.’ Jimmie Johnson, I’m sure, is going to put more time in, Joey Logano, those guys. If you put the time in, you can get some of the benefits of running up front and you start to really like it.”
| DATE | EVENT | LOCATION | START | FINISH | LAPS | STATUS | LED |
| Mar. 22 | Dixie Vodka 150 | Homestead | 9 | 1 | 100/100 | Running | 14 |
| Averages/Totals | N/A | 1 | 100% | 14 | |||
(by Bob Pockrass for Fox Sports)
That was fun Sunday. A great distraction.
The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on Sunday, won by Denny Hamlin, was cool to see, a great way to spend a couple hours and to try to forget the nervousness of a country plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)
Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Express Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing
Virtual Race Info:
Race: eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event
Date/Time: Sunday, March 22/1:30 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 100 laps/150 miles
Track Shape: Oval
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Banking: 18-20 degrees
Express Notes:
New Series: With the on-track action of the NASCAR Cup Series postponed for the next several weeks, Denny Hamlin is among the drivers slated to compete in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, a simulation-style eSports program, with the inaugural event on Sunday, March 22, at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hamlin Conversation – Virtual Homestead:
How much will this Sunday’s iRace feel like real racing?
“The simulators are pretty realistic. We’ve all used them to help ourselves improve on some of the tracks and road courses over the years. It will feel just like I’m turning laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway.”
Obviously, a virtual race doesn’t replace on-track racing, but do you feel like this will help boost the mood of race fans?
“We sure hope so. You can’t replace the real thing, but fans will still be able to sit down and watch a race on TV on Sunday afternoon. The cars will all look realistic. I’ll be racing my FedEx Express Toyota, which looks just like the real race car. And even though it’s a virtual race, I’ll still be proud to represent FedEx. They’ve got nearly half a million team members working hard right now to keep critical shipments moving in a challenging time.”
Since I’m working from home, and a little bored as a result, I went out to the NASCAR Media site to see if I could dig up something interesting…. and I came across these official car photos from 2007! That was one of the years we had the “NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series”. Who was driving back then, and who for? Let’s take a look…
Sports in general, and NASCAR in particular, is not exempt from COVID-19 spreading across the globe. Social distancing won’t work when stands are full of people sitting hip to hip. Well, OK, hip to hip isn’t at every track these days.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 16, 2020) – “The health and safety of our fans, industry and the communities in which we race is our most important priority, so in accordance with recent CDC guidance, NASCAR is currently postponing all race events through May 3rd, with plans to return racing in Martinsville. We appreciate the patience of our fans and we look forward to returning to the racetrack. We intend to hold all 36 races this season, with future rescheduling soon to be determined as we continue to monitor this situation closely with public health officials and medical experts. What is important now transcends the world of sports and our focus is on everyone’s safety and well-being as we navigate this challenging time together.”
(NASCAR PR)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 13, 2020) – “NASCAR has decided to postpone the race events at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend. We believe this decision is in the best interest of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, officials and everyone associated with our sport. We will continue to monitor this dynamic situation as we assess future race events.”
The Dixie Vodka 400 race scheduled for Miami-Homestead Speedway may be postponed following new restrictions on mass gatherings in Miami-Dade county aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, known as COVID-19.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 3, 2020) – NASCAR today announced Qwick Wick as the Official Fire Starter of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. (more…)
