A virtual trip to sweet home Alabama is on tap for the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, with William Byron aiming to continue his hot streak at treacherous Talladega Superspeedway.
Byron has won the last two races on the invitational iRacing circuit, created with real-world racing on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will bring his No. 24 Chevrolet to the virtual 2.66-mile high banks for Sunday's GEICO 70 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, FS1, FOX Sports App).
"I mean, it's going to be a tough race," Byron said after last Sunday's triumph at virtual Richmond Raceway. "I think virtually you're going to see a lot of aggression and things of that nature."
RELATED: Byron pads streak | Getting started with iRacing
In a twist this week, Byron will start at the rear of the field. New for Talladega is an inversion of 10 cars, and specifically the top three finishers from Richmond starting at the tail end of the field, with the winner -- Byron -- starting last.
The event is the fifth race in the series for current and former NASCAR Cup Series standouts. Byron is the only multiple race winner; Denny Hamlin and Timmy Hill have each won once.
Qualifying for Sunday's race will consist of single-car runs of two laps apiece. The race will be 70 laps, with manual cautions, one reset and a maximum of three green-white-checkered finish attempts. A field of 40 cars is expected.
The weekend will also include a preliminary tilt with Saturday Night Thunder for drivers from other NASCAR series. That race is set to start at 8 p.m. ET, broadcast on
eNASCAR.com/live and streamed live on
NASCAR’s YouTube Channel.
Qualifying for Saturday Night Thunder will consist of two-lap, single-car runs to set the grid for the two heat races. Each heat race will be 10 laps long with 20 cars transferring to the feature event for a total of 40 cars in the feature. The feature will be 150 miles or 57 laps, with one reset, manual cautions and a maximum of three green-white-checkered finish attempts.
Here are the preliminary entry lists for both events, which are subject to change.
Jeff Gordon announced that he plans to take part in Sunday's race:
eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series at Talladega
| # |
Name |
Team |
| 1 |
Kurt Busch |
Ganassi |
| 2 |
Brad Keselowski |
Penske |
| 3 |
Austin Dillon |
RCR |
| 4 |
Kevin Harvick |
SHR |
| 6 |
Ross Chastain |
Roush |
| 8 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr |
Invitation |
| 9 |
Chase Elliott |
HMS |
| 10 |
Aric Armirola |
SHR |
| 11 |
Denny Hamlin |
JGR |
| 12 |
Ryan Blaney |
Penske |
| 13 |
Ty Dillon |
Germain |
| 14 |
Clint Bowyer |
SHR |
| 15 |
Brennan Poole |
Premium |
| 17 |
Chris Buescher |
Roush |
| 18 |
Kyle Busch |
JGR |
| 19 |
Bobby Labonte |
Invitation |
| 20 |
Erik Jones |
JGR |
| 21 |
Matt DiBennedetto |
Wood Bros. |
| 22 |
Joey Logano |
Penske |
| 24 |
William Byron |
HMS |
| 24 |
Jeff Gordon |
HMS |
| 31 |
Tyler Reddick |
RCR |
| 32 |
Corey LaJoie |
GoFas |
| 34 |
Michael McDowell |
Front Row |
| 37 |
Ryan Preece |
JTG |
| 38 |
John Hunter Nemechek |
Front Row |
| 41 |
Cole Custer |
SHR |
| 47 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
JTG |
| 48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
HMS |
| 49 |
Chad Finchum |
MBM |
| 51 |
Garrett Smithley |
Invitation |
| 52 |
JJ Yeley |
Rick Ware |
| 53 |
Joey Gase |
Rick Ware |
| 66 |
Timmy Hill |
Invitation |
| 77 |
Parker Kligerman |
Invitation |
| 88 |
Alex Bowman |
HMS |
| 89 |
Landon Cassill |
Invitation |
| 95 |
Christopher Bell |
LFR |
| 96 |
Daniel Suarez |
Gaunt Bros. |
Saturday Night Thunder
| NAME |
CAR # |
| Alex Labbe |
90 |
| Angela Ruch |
OO |
| Anthony Alfredo |
33 |
| Austin Cindric |
22 |
| Bayley Currey |
74 |
| Blake Koch |
57 |
| Brandon Brown |
68 |
| Brett Moffitt |
23 |
| Chase Briscoe |
98 |
| Chase Cabre |
4 |
| Christian Eckes |
81 |
| CJ Mclaughlin |
39 |
| Derek Kraus |
19 |
| Donny Lia |
O7 |
| Drew Dollar |
O15 |
| Gus Dean |
56 |
| Harrison Burton |
20 |
| Jeb Burton |
8 |
| Jeffrey Earnhardt |
50 |
| Jesse Iwuji |
36 |
| Joe Graf Jr. |
80 |
| Josh Berry |
88 |
| Josh Bilicki |
99 |
| Josh Williams |
92 |
| Justin Allgaier |
7 |
| Justin Haley |
10 |
| Kaz Grala |
29 |
| Kyle Weatherman |
54 |
| Landon Huffman |
75 |
| Logan Seavey |
67 |
| Matt Mills |
5 |
| Myatt Snider |
93 |
| Noah Gragson |
9 |
| Ruben Garcia |
27 |
| Ryan Ellis |
78 |
| Ryan Truex |
40 |
| Ryan Vargas |
51 |
| Scott Stenzel |
63 |
| Spencer Boyd |
0 2 |
| Stephen Leicht |
25 |
| Stewart Friesen |
52 |
| Thad Moffitt |
46 |
| Todd Gilliland |
38 |
| Ty Majeski |
45 |
| Ty Gibbs |
18 |
| Tyler Ankrum |
26 |
| Will Rodgers |
55 |
| Raphael Lessard |
|
| Tommy Joe Martin |
44 |