Most last-place finishes come with a story, something to explain the reason behind the unraveling. Sunday’s tale from Denny Hamlin is a new one.
The three-time Daytona 500 winner’s hopes for an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series victory at virtual Talladega Superspeedway were foiled Sunday when his 7-year-old daughter, Taylor, accidentally powered off his monitor during the GEICO 70. Hamlin was later disconnected from the server and his No. 11 Toyota was scored 39th in the 39-car rundown.
Hamlin explained the unusual DNF in a post-race video on social media. The tail end of the video shows the moment of truth, with Taylor saying “uh, oh” as she scurried off with the fateful remote control.
https://twitter.com/dennyhamlin/status/1254478127155347457?s=20
Hamlin’s foray into virtual racing hasn’t been all bad. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the first race in the iRacing Pro Invitational, edging out Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.