eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Power Rankings, Race 5: Talladega

Our expert panel of analysts* breaks down what’s in store at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway Sunday for the fifth race of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.


Rankings were calculated using our patent-pending algorithm** from Pat DeCola, the usual NASCAR.com Power Rankings maven; Steve Luvender, the esports guy; and @nascarcasm — because why not?


*They insisted we call them expert analysts; there’s really only one expert.

**We pretty much just averaged all our individual ratings together to make one mega-rating.

So close

We’re saying so long to "Seven-Time" Jimmie Johnson hasn’t quite wowed us in the virtual world the same way he does on the real track, though he hasn’t yet blamed a crash on Charlie Meatball. Jimmie’s teammate Chase Elliott also fell just short of our top 20, which proves this isn’t just a popularity contest.

Ty Dillon

Rank: 20

Change: -1

PAT DECOLA: We've seen Dillon put together some of his best runs at real-world Talladega, and his sponsor has been known to, well, sponsor the race a time or two. Keep an eye on the Ty Guy this weekend.

Michael McDowell

Rank: 19

Change: -4

STEVE LUVENDER: Michael McDowell may not have qualified into the big show Sunday, but it’s hard to ignore his real-world superspeedway success as we head into Talladega. Plus, a reset in the virtual world means you can flip twice!

Brad Keselowski

Rank: 18

Change: previously not ranked

@NASCARCASM: “Bad Brad” is his nickname on track because he’s aggressive and not afraid to mix it up. He was “Bad Brad” on iRacing because his finishes were somewhat bad. That is up until Sunday when he ran a good clean race at Richmond and earned a top-10 finish. Not bad, Brad.

Alex Bowman

Rank: 17

Change: -5

PAT DECOLA: Bowman was the unfortunate participant in a couple of wrecks not entirely of his doing on Sunday, resulting in a disappointing 22nd-place finish. He'll look to turn things around at Talladega ... a track that has tended to bode well for drivers of the No. 88 Chevrolet historically.

Matt DiBenedetto

Rank: 16

Change: -9

STEVE LUVENDER: After a tussle with Ryan Preece at Richmond, Matty D. really put his neck on the line, but you can bet the giraffe he’ll rebound at Talladega.

Erik Jones

Rank: 15

Change: previously not ranked

@NASCARCASM: After struggling in the early events, Erik avoided trouble and finished 7th on Sunday. His race was clean, which is not the adjective we’d use to describe his current quarantine haircut, but that’s OK. We’re all poofy right now.

Tyler Reddick

Rank: 14

Change: no change

PAT DECOLA: Reddick put together a relatively unremarkable, albeit decent 12th-place finish at virtual Richmond, but we have a feeling the hard-nosed rookie will make some noise at Talladega. Of his six career Cup starts, three of them have come on tracks 2-miles in length or larger -- we have a feeling this small-statured driver will rise to the occasion on big tracks.

Bobby Labonte

Rank: 13

Change: -2

STEVE LUVENDER: Six months ago, Cole Pearn and Martin Truex Jr. nearly won their second NASCAR Cup Series championship together. Today, Cole Pearn is retired and Bobby Labonte’s emerged from retirement to pilot No. 19 in the virtual world. I’m not saying these two happenings are related, but … OK, yes I am.

Ross Chastain

Rank: 12

Change: +6

@NASCARCASM: For a driver known for his make-or-break moves on the track, Ross has been mostly drama-free in the Pro Invitational Series. He overachieves, much like Ross Geller on “Friends.” Over here in reality, there’s no way in hell that a woman like Rachel Green would have anything to do with someone as goofy as Ross Geller. In other news, guess what I binge-watched yesterday.

Bubba Wallace

Rank: 11

Change: previously not ranked

PAT DECOLA: Despite some contact with Clint Bowyer -- again -- early in the race, there weren't a whole lot of rage-worthy incidents for Wallace in Sunday's event ... and the talented iRacer was able to bring home a top 10. Known for putting together some of his best runs on superspeedway tracks, look for Wallace to make some noise at 'Dega.

Garrett Smithley

Rank: 10

Change: -5

STEVE LUVENDER: After a solid run turned sour late at Richmond, Garrett Smithley told Daniel Suarez, who’d made contact with Smithley, to stick to Mario Kart. Can’t say I’m opposed to the idea of the eNASCAR Mario Kart Pro Invitational Series.

John Hunter Nemechek

Rank: 9

Change: -5

@NASCARCASM: He was off from his impressive runner-up finish at Bristol, but we’re still impressed by John Hunter Nemechek and his performance in the Pro Invitational Series thus far. The kid must have racing in his genes or something.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Rank: 8

Change: +1

PAT DECOLA: Junior continues to rack up iRacing top 10s and if there's anything that will feel right in this crazy, mixed-up world at the moment, it'll be Earnhardt winning at Talladega on Sunday. Virtual racing or otherwise, the people are counting on you, Dale -- no pressure.

Kyle Busch

Rank: 7

Change: +6

STEVE LUVENDER: In the iRacing world, Kyle Busch is making gains each week. And so am I, thanks to his sponsor. Yes, I hoarded family-size bags of Peanut M&M’s instead of toilet paper. No, I have no regrets.

Landon Cassill

Rank: 6

Change: +4

@NASCARCASM: To what can we attribute Landon’s prowess on iRacing? Some of it is the innate skills that carry over from being a NASCAR driver. Some of it is a firm understanding of the platform. But most of it is because based on his live Twitch stream, the guy hasn’t left his sim rig since last Monday.

Denny Hamlin

Rank: 5

Change: +1

PAT DECOLA: Hamlin has consistently been the best Cup Series veteran over on the iRacing side of things and, seeing as he's the unquestionable best superspeedway racer in the sport at the moment (see: three of the last five Daytona 500s) we're giving him a pretty good shot to pick up win No. 2 of the Pro Invitational Series on Sunday.

Ryan Preece

Rank: 4

Change: -1

STEVE LUVENDER: We’re not really expecting a Ryan Preece-Matt DiBenedetto draft to the front of the pack Sunday — but really, that’s Preece’s loss. A giraffe neck sounds super useful in close-quarters superspeedway racing.

Parker Kligerman

Rank: 3

Change: +5

@NASCARCASM: The incredibly reliable Parker Kligerman keeps getting more and more reliable. At Bristol, he finished 7th. This past Sunday at Richmond he finished 3rd. He’s slowly but surely working his way to Victory Lane. I’m calling it now – he wins at Talladega. And if he doesn’t, well, so much for all that “reliable” BS – I’ll be disappointed in Parker.

Timmy Hill

Rank: 2

Change: -1

PAT DECOLA: Hill has finished top three in all four races run so far, and certainly would've gotten away with first if it wasn't for that pesky kid, William Byron. We can only hope that the friendliest and most polite rivalry ever carries over to the race track once we get back to firing up real engines.

William Byron

Rank: 1

Change: +1

STEVE LUVENDER: William Byron’s now won twice in the Pro Invitational Series, both in variations of his normal Axalta paint scheme. If we see Byron show up Sunday with the standard orange and blue flames of his usual car, we’ll know the race is over before it even started.