The annual NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway is nearly impossible to prepare for because it’s the lone race on dirt all year.
Note: Nearly.
RELATED: Full race results
There is a way drivers can ready themselves for the high-banked half-mile track in Ohio. That’s via iRacing. And those who logged lots of laps on the racing simulator the week leading into Eldora saw great success at Wednesday night’s Dirt Derby.
A diverse top 10 included first-timers, dirt experts and full-time drivers alike. All of them looked comfortable on the ever-changing dirt, and for good reason. Of the drivers who finished in the top 10, nine had recently logged time on iRacing to prep for the race, according to data provided to NASCAR.com.
Winner Chase Briscoe is known to boot up iRacing frequently and even competed in some of the virtual world championship events. Then there’s Brett Moffitt, who finished fifth in the No. 16 with iRacing as his primary sponsor and spent the lead-up to the race turning virtual laps with fans.
Logan Seavey stole the show, leading 53 laps and is the highest ranked iRacer among all drivers in the field … and a top-10 user on all of iRacing. He was cruising late before falling back on a couple of late restarts.
See below for the nine top-10 finishers and their iRating, which is iRacing’s ranking system that helps determine each racer’s skill level. The higher the better.
Note: Matt Crafton finished fourth at Eldora.
Finishing position | Driver | Oval iRating | Dirt iRating |
1 | Chase Briscoe | 4920 | 3485 |
2 | Grant Enfinger | 1250 | 1250 |
3 | Stewart Friesen | 1402 | 1528 |
5 | Brett Moffitt | 1250 | 1250 |
6 | Noah Gragson | 2124 | 1250 |
7 | John Hunter Nemechek | 1961 | 1350 |
8 | Logan Seavey | 8675 | 3346 |
9 | Justin Haley | 1550 | 1463 |
10 | Nick Hoffman | 1250 | 1250 |