The 2017 spring race was the first look at the reprofiled, repaved Texas Motor Speedway. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile oval, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 was the seventh race of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Kevin Harvick started on the pole, but things quickly shifted and it looked like it was Ryan Blaney’s race to lose. Blaney, then driving for Wood Brothers Racing, swept the first two stages and led 148 laps on the day but drifted back in the final stage in part from missing his pit stall with 33 laps remaining en route to a 12th-place finish.
The battle for the lead came down to the three cars up front for the remainder of the race – Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson.
The race restarted with 30 to go after a late caution for debris in Turn 3 on Lap 301. Johnson, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion and a six-time winner at Texas entering this race, took the lead from Logano with 17 laps remaining. Johnson held on for his first win of the season and his seventh at the Lone Star State track. The seven-time champion would go on to win two more times in 2017 (at Bristol and at Dover in spring races at both tracks). Those 2017 victories are his most recent points-paying victories on the Cup circuit. This race also marked Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s last top-five finish in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Check out Jimmie Johnson earning his first win of 2017 and make a late pass for the win in this Classic Race Replay of the 2017 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold, the streaming product representing NASCAR’s most significant undertaking in the direct-to-consumer space, is one of 10 sports passes on the NBC network of premium content that currently has free access for fans.
NBC Sports announced Thursday that it was making TrackPass, along with nine other services, free in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, giving fans a wide variety of premium content to consume.
Free access to TrackPass runs through May 1. Fans can learn more about the streaming service here.
Available content includes full-event replays of all races since TrackPass launched in December 2019 and nearly 50 long-form documentaries on NASCAR’s biggest stars, venues, and stories. Condensed replays of every American Flat Track, IMSA WeatherTech, K&N and Modified race from the 2019 season will also be made available shortly.
TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold builds off the foundation set by FansChoice.tv, and the NASCAR and NBC Sports collaborative product becomes the most robust live and on-demand motorsports content offering in the domestic digital marketplace. NASCAR President Steve Phelps and Sam Flood, executive producer and president, production, NBC and NBCSN, first announced the undertaking in late November.
Fans will get more exclusive live motorsports events and an extensive library of archived documentaries and films. The platform will offer exclusive live viewing of a multitude of motorsports, including American Flat Track, select ARCA Menards Series events (including ARCA Menards Series East and West races), NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and tentpole grassroots racing events, as well as NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series practice and qualifying sessions (NBC Sports’ half of the schedule only).
As the 2020 NASCAR season remains on hold with the nation continuing the ongoing fight against coronavirus, it gives drivers, crew chiefs and teams plenty of extra time to either prepare … or sit idly by as their competition puts in the work to get better. Now, NASCAR national series are the big time, but it’s inevitable some will put in longer hours than others and come out the other side of this more prepared for the season to resume.
And when will we find out who has the edge? When we get back to racing at the planned resumption of the season come May at Martinsville Speedway, that is.
NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola and Alex Weaver make their selections for which driver will hit the ground running first when NASCAR gets back to on-track action.
DeCOLA: A driver hitting the ground running after a seemingly endless amount of time to prepare for the next moment we’re back on track, which just happens to tentatively be Martinsville Speedway? Buddy, you might as well hand Jimmie Johnson his 10th grandfather clock now.
On top of his foray into substitute teaching, you have to assume Johnson is undoubtedly using this rare downtime to binge-watch Tiger King on Netflix find ways to further his physical fitness, deepen his relationship and game plan over Zoom with crew chief Cliff Daniels and do whatever else are the things that have led to him becoming a seven-time champion.
The reason for Johnson’s success at NASCAR’s highest level over such a prolonged period stems directly from an unmatched internal drive — the exact kind of drive that gets people off the couch during a period like this and onto the pavement for a brisk 20-mile run. It’s that mental motor that will have Johnson poring over any and all data collected from the Cup Series’ first four races and finding the little things that can be exploited for any sort of edge; the wherewithal to recognize this as an opportunity to better himself and his team, albeit remotely, to come right out swinging whenever we get back to racing.
I don’t think it’s out of the question that when we return … Johnson is instantly elite again, and a title contender.
WEAVER: How could you question a driver who is winning on the virtual track, owns an iRacing team and rides his sim rig barefoot isn’t ready to get back to the real track? I have to go with Denny Hamlin.
With a win in the Daytona 500 for the 2020 season, Hamlin is poised for a repeat year of his success in 2019. By this point last season, he already had four top-11 finishes with two of those in the top five. This season, although not as strong of start, Hamlin is still carrying two top-six finishes with one of those being the crown-jewel win.
Hamlin is competitive. Whether it be in pick-up basketball on his home court, a game of golf with Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. or now iRacing, Hamlin likes to win. He has over two decades of sim-racing experience and is now the owner of a team in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. He has done nothing but drive during the off time.
We watched Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart put together a Championship 4 year in 2019 and many of the NASCAR faithful have deemed him an early championship favorite again for 2020.
While repeating a winning feat is not always easy, Hamlin can already cross that one off of his list for 2020 with the Daytona 500. What’s a little downtime other than more time to prepare? Locked, loaded and ready to deliver — Phoenix Raceway, here comes the No. 11.
For anyone watching last Sunday’s inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway, it was obvious which drivers in the talented A-list field of NASCAR competitors were already comfortable, eager and racey in the new-age version of competition.
Denny Hamlin edged Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win on the last lap — both of them top NASCAR competitors with decades of iRacing experience, too. Others such as NASCAR champions Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson were learning the virtual competition as they went. And some names – Timmy Hill and virtual Homestead pole-winner Garrett Smithley – who don’t normally challenge for NASCAR Cup Series wins proved what an extensive iRacing background can mean in this virtual competitive setting. They finished third and fifth, respectively.
All the storylines and intrigue have created a lot of buzz for this week’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 125 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, FS1, FOX Sports App) at virtual Texas Motor Speedway, where the competition level will be undoubtedly raised again.
For 22-year-old NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron, iRacing isn’t just a familiar feel-good place. It was vital in advancing and shaping his real-world career. And the Hendrick Motorsports driver is one of the drivers whose talent and accomplished iRacing record has put a big virtual bullseye on his No. 24 car going forward.
One of the first things Hamlin said after his victory on Sunday was how big it was for him to beat Byron and the others who are largely considered the best at this form of competition. More than once Byron’s name has been raised as setting the bar for excellence.
“I appreciate that,’’ Byron said this week. “I just enjoy it [iRacing]. It’s always been something I’ve been passionate about. It really is how I got started in racing.
“It’s really cool to see the iRacing community now come together and these races are going on as much as they are. I’m pretty excited for it because I think it’s a good chance to shine.
“It’s fun to kind of see the different names in there and kind of be surprised by who’s really good and who’s maybe not as good or not as experienced on it. I think that as the races and leagues go on, it’s just going to get tighter and tighter as far as the fields go in competition.
“I’m just really excited to see where things go in the next couple weeks with it. I think Sunday will be an awesome race and I think a lot more action the more weeks go by.’’
It’s generally understood that these top drivers will practice more and be even better prepared with each eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event. But for Byron, it’s not a crash course. He used iRacing as a sort of real-life homework opportunity to advance his motorsports career, ultimately earning chances to compete in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series full time in 2016, then earning the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship before landing the biggest opportunity of his career – his current job steering the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the Cup Series.
With NASCAR’s competitive break as the country deals with the COVID-19 virus, Byron concedes he’s spending his days putting plenty of laps into his iRacing simulator. But he’d be doing that even if he weren’t participating in NASCAR’s popular new league.
“I’ve put in a lot of time,’’ Byron said. “For me, racing around people is the most important thing to learn. I think it’s important to make laps, but if you’re just making a bunch of laps by yourself it’s not really indicative of what the race is going to be like, so I think that’s what I try to do, really race every night and that’s how I try to learn.
“Typically, it works out pretty well, but there’s things you have to learn like the different intricacies of the set-up and stuff like that. With everyone having the same set-up it just comes down to how your race craft is and just learning the little tricks of qualifying and also pit road and all the little details just like you would in a real car.’’
Interestingly, Byron says that the other racers in this particular Pro Invitational Series race the same way virtually as they do in their real-world cars.
“I think really similar characteristics in terms of how people race, the way they think is very similar on iRacing so I think that’s really unique and cool to see the different mindsets and just fun to race all those guys and kinda see how they operate and think,’’ he said.
Several of those who don’t necessarily consider themselves iRacing experts have been turning in the practice time this week.
“It’s gonna be bigger and better than it’s ever been, we learned a lot,’’ Clint Bowyer said of the upcoming Texas iRacing event.
Byron, who started on the front row and led laps, ultimately finished 34th out of 35 drivers last week after being collected in a late-race accident at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. He acknowledged there are a lot of variables and dynamics that go into the race and recognized that even the most experienced can have their hopes dashed in a split second.
He feels that Hill and Smithley faring so well, however, is a nod to the opportunity that iRacing presents. While Byron and several others – including Hamlin and Earnhardt – have top-of-the-line simulators worth tens of thousands of dollars, Hill and Smithley competed at the same level with a more modest set-up. In their case, a steering wheel attached to a desk, pedals on the floor and a stick shift along with a single monitor to visually navigate the race.
“It’s definitely an equalizer,’’ Byron said. “Honestly, there really is no difference in the equipment you have to work with. Everyone, as long as you have a wheel and pedals and they are responsive and they work how they should and there’s no glitches, honestly you should be able to be competitive with anything.
“That’s what’s really cool. The equipment doesn’t really matter and everyone’s kind of going into an equal playing field.’’
That’s exactly the kind of formula that has made the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series a must-do for competitors and a must-see for fans, old and new alike. For Byron, it’s been a specific opportunity to shine as a highly-accomplished veteran of sorts.
“It’s great, honestly,’’ Byron said. “It’s just good to see all the passion around it and the support. I think it really shows where the sport is going that they could all pitch in and help during this time.
“It’s a tough time for the world in general and I think we can kind of bring a little bit of joy and passion to some race fans over this time and that’s a really cool thing. I think it’s really neat and I think it’s going to put on a great show again this Sunday.’’
And, given the current national restrictions and precautions amid the COVID-19 outbreak, NASCAR has found its way. Competing on an iRacing simulator seems to have temporarily satisfied drivers’ competitive itch while the sport pauses all live on-track action. They’re still behind a wheel; it just happens to be of a virtual car.
“Racers are just different, man,” NASCAR Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer said Thursday on a teleconference. “Racers have always been. To stand the test of time, I can say this about a racer: They’ve always somehow someway been at the race track. When all odds are against them, racers figure it out.”
Now, even as the coronavirus continues to disrupt the 2020 NASCAR calendar, is no different.
The sanctioning body announced two weeks ago (March 16) that all races through May 3 are postponed. A day later (March 17), NASCAR and iRacing revealed the formation of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, an exhibition series meant to feature current and some retired national series drivers. FOX Sports soon jumped onboard (March 19), saying it would air the opener on FS1.
It all came to fruition so quickly, as the makeshift season kicked off last Sunday (March 22) at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We’re all in this together,” Bowyer said. “We’re all quarantined. It’s almost as if the iRacing thing had been built and designed in the past for this very moment. I think it’s a perfect bridge to gap this situation we’re all in.
“It’s entertainment. Is it real? No, it’s not. It’s virtual, but it’s what we have. And I’m telling you right now, it provided entertainment that literally had you jumping up and down and on the edge of your seat at the end of that race.”
Current full-timer Denny Hamlin passed the retired Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the last lap to take the checkered flag. Earnhardt recovered from Hamlin’s slight bump to finish second.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the virtual race drew 903,000 viewers on FS1. On Tuesday, FOX Sports committed to covering the remainder of the season on one of its platforms, including the FOX broadcast network.
“Hell yes, it’s serious,” Bowyer said. “This is a big deal. Did you see the viewership? A million views. I want to win this thing big time for myself, for my partners, for everybody. You want to be the man in front of a million viewership. …
“Everybody is practicing big time. If you question that, all you got to do is get in iRacing and look: Each and every evening or during the day – doesn’t matter what time of day it is – you get on there, log on and there will be people on Texas (Motor Speedway) racing and practicing for this weekend. So, it would be an understatement to think that it’s not serious.”
Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 125 at virtual Texas will air live on FOX, FS1 and the FOX Sports App at 1 p.m. ET. Entry lists should be released before the weekend.
Some things never change.
“I can tell you, there’s not a racer in existence that ever meets the budget,” Bowyer said. “It’s always over budget. It’s whatever it takes to be competitive at the race track and win races at whatever cost.”
When playing NASCAR Fantasy Live, the biggest key is to maximize your uses — especially with the star drivers since you only get 10 over course of the regular season. How do you maximize your uses? Well, you can look at track history, recent performance trends for the season and recent performance trends at a particular track. All that is used in a predictive way along with lap averages and the starting lineup to build a lineup that will score as many points as possible. Some weeks that goes well. Other weeks — looking at you, Daytona — it is not as successful.
So with all those thoughts in mind, we thought we’d examine how drivers are performing points wise against how much they’ve been used. The chart below looks at the ranking of a driver for Fantasy Live points against their ranking via usage with some observations to follow below. For the purposes of the +/- column, the equation is simply: Fantasy use rank minus Fantasy points rank. A (+) plus indicates an underused driver or, as we will call it, an opportunity to take advantage of an underutilized play thus far. A (-) minus indicates an overused driver to date and players need to proceed with caution when the 2020 season resumes. A driver with an even designation would be, in the words of Goldilocks, “just right” with how they have or haven’t been utilized thus far.
Driver
Fantasy pts rank
Fantasy use rank
+/-
Kevin Harvick
1
1
Even
Joey Logano
2
2
Even
Chase Elliott
3
4
+1
Alex Bowman
4
9
+5
Ryan Blaney
5
7
+2
Jimmie Johnson
6
8
+2
Kyle Busch
7
3
-4
Denny Hamlin
8
5
-3
Matt DiBenedetto
9
16
+7
Kyle Larson
10
11
+1
Aric Almirola
11
13
+2
Brad Keselowski
12
10
-2
Clint Bowyer
13
14
+1
Chris Buescher
14
22
+8
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15
15
Even
Martin Truex Jr.
16
6
-10
Kurt Busch
17
12
-5
Bubba Wallace
18
21
+3
William Byron
19
17
-2
Austin Dillon
20
19
-1
Erik Jones
21
18
-3
Ty Dillon
22
27
+5
Corey LaJoie
23
33
+10
Tyler Reddick
24
28
+4
Cole Custer
25
25
Even
Ross Chastain
26
23
-3
John Hunter Nemechek
27
31
+4
Michael McDowell
28
26
-2
Brennan Poole
29
38
+9
Ryan Preece
30
30
Even
Christopher Bell
31
24
-7
Daniel Suarez
34
34
Even
Ryan Newman* (only ran one race so far)
36
20
-16
We promised some takeaways from this compiling of data so here they are. For more early-season takeaways from the first four races and strategies to consider adopting, read my piece from last week on those very topics.
1. Hendrick’s hot start shows in the numbers. Three (Elliott, Bowman and Johnson) of their four drivers are on the plus side of the points against usages chart, meaning there is room to use them more. Further evidence that the start has been strong? Those three are in the top six in Fantasy Live points with Elliott showing speed everywhere, Bowman serving as a major factor on intermediates and Johnson carrying more speed on that track type as well. Byron’s slow start is a little concerning since most had him pegged for a breakout year, but he and crew chief Chad Knaus’ propensity last season to attack the stages for points makes him a driver to consider plugging and playing as opportunities arise when the season resumes.
2. Plot out full uses for this group. The numbers show Harvick, Logano and Elliott to be the top three drivers so far this season in Fantasy Live points and they will be factors all season. Once the revised 2020 schedule is known, Fantasy Live owners should be plotting the 10 races (or fewer depending on how many uses you have already gone through) to play this trio at. For starters, Harvick is a lock for me at Michigan, New Hampshire, Texas*, Atlanta* and Miami*. Logano is a lock for me at Michigan, Chicagoland and Richmond*. Elliott is a lock for me at Dover*, Kansas, Michigan and Watkins Glen. (The * marks a race that was scheduled to be part of the regular season, but has been postponed as of now.) Based on their histories and early returns in 2020, there’s little reason to suspect this trio will not be among the top five Fantasy Live drivers at season’s end. Other drivers will join this group as results dictate (Blaney, Larson, Bowman, Johnson perhaps) and slow starts subside (Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Truex — more below on that group).
3. The Fantasy Live funk is real with Joe Gibbs Racing. Their entire four-car stable (Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Truex, Jones) as well as an affiliated team (Bell) are all on the negative side on the ledger and those numbers would look worse if it wasn’t for Hamlin’s season-opening last-lap win in the Daytona 500. Truex has been hurt by some pit road issues and bad luck, but as a whole, the points just haven’t been there for the Gibbs camp and Bell. This may become a tiring refrain, but proceed with caution with this camp when the season resumes. For me, all but Truex are in prove-it-to-me mode on the intermediates while Busch and Hamlin are still solid short-track plays as the Phoenix results proved out with the new package. Jones is in a similar spot to Byron’s slow start at Hendrick, but given the speed of that camp, I’m more inclined to go with the driver of the No. 24 over Jones right now. Bell is a complete “avoid” for me for quite a while — frankly speaking, I’d rather be late to the party on that one. If you are inclined to consider a rookie, I’d look at Tyler Reddick over Bell for the foreseeable future.
4. Bullish on two familiar faces in new places. Prior to the start of the season, myself and Jonathan Merryman debated which driver outside the playoffs in 2019 was most likely to jump into the playoff puzzle in 2020. I took Matt DiBenedetto, while Merryman took Chris Buescher. The early returns indicate we both may have been right there. These two drivers have two of the bigger positive totals on the ledger with DiBenedetto at +7 and Buescher at +8. DiBenedetto has been a surprising source of stage points early to provide owners with an added points boost. Buescher has been his steady self as he keeps his car clean and grabs somewhere in the range of 20-24 points a race. DiBenedetto is a driver I plan to be aggressive with when the season resumes to take advantage of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford team’s strong start, while Buescher is a driver to use in the dog days of the season when uses get tighter and you want a driver that maybe doesn’t make your day but doesn’t destroy it either.
5. Sneaky plays for the superspeedways. Looking ahead slightly to the unpredictability of superspeedway races at Talladega and Daytona later in the year, Buescher is a driver who jumps out for a use there since his third-place Daytona 500 finish contributes to his +8 total. Two other full-time drivers on the plus side that pop out due to their Daytona 500 results are Corey LaJoie (+10, finished eighth in the Daytona 500) and John Hunter Nemechek (+4, finished 11th in the Daytona 500). LaJoie has long been as steady as they come on superspeedways. He won’t collect the stage points but he’ll be typically be in the top 15 of late as the checkered flag falls. Nemechek is an intriguing name to keep in mind as well especially given Front Row Motorsports’ solid history at this track type.
IndyCar released a revised 2020 racing schedule Thursday, creating the first planned doubleheader with NASCAR’s national series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over Independence Day weekend.
The Roger Penske-owned sanctioning body rescheduled several races as the world deals with the public-health impact of the COVID-19 virus. Those changes include new dates for the Indianapolis 500, which moves from May 24 to Aug. 23, and its preliminary events.
“For very good reason, this historic pairing will be circled on the calendar of every motorsports fan,” said J. Douglas Boles, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s president. “We appreciate our friends at NASCAR for their flexibility and support in this matter and will work with them on a memorable, exciting weekend of racing action.”
Tony Stewart, an Indiana native, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and the 1997 IndyCar champion, plans to enter the Xfinity Series’ Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard. Matt DiBenedetto tested a Team Penske Xfinity Series car at the Indianapolis road course Jan. 22 in an effort to confirm the track configuration.
While we await a return to the race track, NASCAR.com will be looking back at some of the most iconic races the sport has ever seen. Stay tuned each day as a new race replay is unveiled and our memories are refreshed.
This might be obvious, but let’s be clear: iRacing is not only an exceptional racing simulation, it’s just as much a competition service. It’s a massive multiplayer online racing community. Generally, iRacers are serious about racing; not to gatekeep, but iRacing isn’t a grab-off-the-shelf-and-drive-backward-into-the-other-cars-then-reset-and-do-it-again sort of thing.
You’ll be connected to the Internet at all times. You’re racing against real people who are also trying to prove themselves or experience the thrill of racing. You’ll make friends and enemies. Maybe you’ll make a name for yourself.
There are more than 100,000 active subscribers on iRacing from all over the world and racing all disciplines of cars. While there are dozens of NASCAR stars competing, there are also Formula 1 drivers, dirt-racing phenoms, open-wheel standouts, rallycross daredevils and just about any other type of racer you can think of.
iRacing exists only on the PC platform. That means no consoles and no mobile devices; you’ll need a computer. Most computers built within the past couple of years, particularly those labeled “gaming computers,” should fit the bill just fine.
iRacing’s System Requirements page is a good reference for your computer’s technical specifications. For the most part, iRacing can handle a decent range of PCs, but the tighter your budget, the fewer graphical treats like advanced shadows, reflections, and trackside objects you’ll see.
You’ll also need a racing wheel and pedals, just like a real race car — imagine that! The Logitech G29 is the go-to entry-level wheel-and-pedals combination. It’s got all the bells and whistles and it’s quite reliable. It’s available online and in big box stores, and probably the best bang for the buck. Other popular wheel-and-pedal manufacturers include Thrustmaster and Fanatec, and there are dozens more at higher price points. For most racers, though, the Logitech is a fine wheel.
While you’ll definitely, definitely want to race with a steering wheel and pedals, technically, you can race with a traditional Xbox or PlayStation controller. You’ll probably have a very tough time, however. iRacing is not a forgiving sim, and you’ll want precise inputs from your steering, throttle and brake.
Adaptive controls are also available for drivers with physical challenges.
In terms of equipment, yes, there’s a bit of an investment and quite a bit of range.
Ty Majeski is the highest-ranked oval iRacer in the world, and he races on a single-screen laptop with an off-the-shelf Logitech wheel and a miniature table fan.
Doing some final @iRacing testing for @amsupdates this weekend…I have never been so I’m extremely thankful to have iRacing as a tool to shorten my learning curve. Oh and by the way they’re on the truck this weekend 👀👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/wxGTJJtKfn
Both the Majeski and Hamlin setups put you on the same virtual track and competing for the same races. What happens in the virtual world is up to the driver’s skill.
You’ll also need a high-speed Internet connection. A WiFi hotspot from your phone won’t cut it. The better your connection speed, the more reliable and predictable cars will appear on the screen. When you’re racing close-quarters, this is important.
If you’ve got a headset and microphone, you can also communicate with fellow racers or teammates, though it’s not a requirement.
When you join iRacing, you’re required to use your real name — no screen names or anonymity here. Because of that, there’s built-in accountability: you only get one reputation tied to your name.
This level of accountability also means you can’t just crash into people intentionally without repercussions. iRacing takes competition issues very seriously — it’s a necessity for the merit of the service — and you might find yourself taking a vacation involuntarily if you’re a menace.
Generally speaking, the iRacing Sporting Code isn’t too lenient, but that’s a good thing if you want quality racing.
You can race anytime you want.
Official iRacing series races are scheduled to occur at designated times around the clock. Good news if you live in Australia, work night shifts, or can’t fall asleep!
You can’t just hop in a Cup car.
One of the fun parts about iRacing is, like real-world racing, you’ve got to work your way up the ranks. Everybody starts their virtual careers as equal-footed rookies in entry-level cars.
Once you prove you can race street stocks or legends cars safely, your license level advances from the Rookie level to the next step, Class D — late models if you’re going the NASCAR route. Then, repeat the process for Class C (Gander Trucks), Class B (Xfinity Series cars), and finally Class A (NASCAR Cup Series cars).
The license progression process is time-consuming and takes a lot of work, like any racing career. Battling your way through the ranks is a challenge, but that’s the fun of it all.
The iRacing license-class system prioritizes safety before speed. There’s a whole other rating for speed, called iRating, but it’s a lot to explain in an introduction to iRacing.
And, of course, there’s the esports part of iRacing. The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series offers a $300,000 purse and plenty of starpower, but it’s reserved for the best of the best.
Of course, if you really want to jump into a Cup car, iRacing offers unofficial races that don’t affect your license or rankings (though the Sporting Code is always in effect, so no funny business).
Hosted races — that is, user-created races — run around the clock with any car and track combination imaginable. If you’re bored, looking to sharpen your skills, or looking for something a little more relaxing, take a look at iRacing’s Hosted Racing section.
Private racing leagues are also quite popular on iRacing, where you can race under a custom set of rules at a designated time each week against a field of the same field of drivers.
You’re also able to partake in private testing in any car or track combination you have.
Speaking of cars and tracks …
You have to pay for content.
iRacing offers dozens of scary-accurate cars and laser-scanned race tracks of all different types. A base membership to iRacing includes about 20 cars and tracks, but if you want to get serious, you’ll need to pay for access to additional cars and tracks as your license progresses (or you just want to try cool new stuff).
The cost adds up, but the quality is well worth the price. You also unlock discounts with the more content you have.
When you start iRacing, it’s hard to stop. From hearing the perfectly tuned engine noises to watching the shadows and reflections pass over the cars to seeing the virtual sun set while you work on setting up the perfect pass, it’s a blast.
Me tryin to sneak in bed at 2am after running said laps on my sim rig https://t.co/5Ckm22qlWE
It can get frustrating when a car spins out in front of you and you get collected with no place to go. You’ll feel like a rockstar every time you take a checkered flag. Yes, you’ll lose track of time and probably stay on the computer way longer than you should. No, your boss probably won’t like “I was too busy iRacing last night” as an excuse when work piles up.
For a limited time, iRacing is offering 50% off for new memberships. Sign up at iRacing.com.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Even with NASCAR’s regular schedule on hold, the Roush Fenway Racing team has found a way to provide the thrill of competition by pitting its long list of drivers against one another in a March Madness-style bracket of fun, intrigue and suspense called #RoushMadness.
The idea is to have fans decide on social media the “greatest driver” in Roush Fenway Racing history and includes a “Who’s Who” list of all 58 names who have started a NASCAR race for the team – from competitors who only raced a single time under the RFR banner like USAC star Kevin Swindell and IndyCar’s Conor Daly to former competitors such as Kenny Wallace, Greg Biffle and NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, and current drivers Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher.
Just looking at the list of drivers is a stark reminder of the storied history of Roush Fenway Racing. Narrowing down the roster to a single favorite may be almost as hard as it was competing against some of these great talents. And it’s all been a good outlet as the country continues to deal with the COVID-19 virus pandemic that has postponed sports competition for now.
Daly, a 28-year old open-wheel star, advanced farther in the contest than he says he imagined. He made only a single NASCAR Xfinity Series start for Roush – starting 15th and finishing 31st on the iconic Road America road course race in 2018. But Daly earned what the Roush Fenway team considers the “tournament upset” to date. Daly was a No. 15 seed and defeated the No. 2 seed, Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner – who raced in both the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series with Roush – by a margin of 10 votes.
Daly ultimately lost to the team’s No. 7 seed Newman in the next round. But he was humbled to be included in the contest and said he hopes fans had as much fun with it as he did.
“It’s pretty cool to be honest,” Daly said. “I thought it was a really creative idea but also, I never even expected to be a part of something like that. I thought it was super cool and an honor to be in a bracket with so many talented guys and legends of the sport as well.
“I was only a one-race guy, but would have loved to do more. I really enjoyed my time with Roush. It was fun.”
Buescher, the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion who currently drives the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, said he also had a lot of fun with the project and was happy to find a way to engage with fans. He advanced to the Round of 16, defeating Brian Ickler and Erik Darnell, but ultimately fell to Carl Edwards.
“How are they going to put me on same side of the bracket as Carl Edwards, that’s what I want to know,” Buescher joked.
“It’s been neat,” he continued. “I’m not a big sports fan outside of racing so I was joking that I’d only filled out two [March Madness basketball] brackets in my life, the first in Xfinity days when they had me fill out a bracket and I just picked the ones with the coolest names. I ended up getting knocked out the first three games.
“I took a similar approach to this bracket,” he conceded. “It was a mix of people. I took Billy Johnson pretty far into it, basing that on road racing. Naturally, I brought myself all the way to the end because I’m hopeful like that. I think I had Stanton Barrett beating out Carl Edwards just so I wouldn’t have to go against Carl Edwards. But here we are.”
Aside from the competition element of the game, Buescher said he was impressed with the long list of names who had driven for his boss.
Brian Ickler, for example, who made five Xfinity Series starts for Roush (earning a top-10 finish at Daytona) in 2010 competed. Barrett drove 15 races of the 2003 season for Roush, winning the pole position in back-to-back weeks at Las Vegas and Darlington, and earning four of his seven career top 10s while driving for the team.
“There’s a ton of names on there I hadn’t heard of in a long time and some I hadn’t heard of at all,” Buescher said. “I had not really realized how many people had driven there. But it’s really neat. It got people buzzing on social media a little bit and keeping their mind off things – a good distraction through all of this.”
Fans have certainly been participating. Roush Fenway Racing says that since it began the contest on social media, the posts have garnered more than two million impressions, more than 100,000 engagements in the contest and garnered more than 40,000 votes through the opening two rounds of #RoushMadness competition. Not only does it say a lot about the team, but it’s promising for the team’s sponsors – SunnyD, Fastenal, Acronis, Oscar Mayer, Castrol and Fifth Third – that have been worked into the tournament in the absence of having race cars to carry their brand.
And now the contest has entered the “Elite Eight” – pairing some of the team’s most famous competitors in the contest. The No. 1 seed, NASCAR Hall of Famer Martin, faces current driver Newman – ironically both drivers of the team’s No. 6 Ford. Roush’s former series champion driver Kenseth – another No. 1 seed – faces FOX Sports television analyst Jeff Burton in the other side of that bracket.
Greg Biffle, who won the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championships for Roush, faces David Ragan. And longtime Roush driver and a No. 1 seed Carl Edwards faces No. 3 seeded Jamie McMurray in the other side of that bracket.
Martin said he’s certainly been watching this Roush competition and humbly suggests he’s just happy to have advanced to this point along with so many drivers he genuinely admires.
“You know me, if I was voting I would be voting for someone else, there have been some absolute greats at Roush Fenway Racing that have accomplished more than I ever accomplished and are my favorite people in the world,” Martin said this week. “That’s a huge compliment in itself [to be a part of the contest].”
If he were to pick the true champion in it all, Martin would certainly be selecting Roush. His former team owner is still someone he admires greatly and someone who he credits for not only providing him the professional chance of a lifetime, but the chance to capitalize on it.
For Martin, the “Roush Madness” bracket is part fun and engaging and part opportunity to remind people of the amazing organization that Jack Roush built from the ground up – hiring talented people and believing in their potential before they were big names. He includes himself in that category as well as all the others remaining in the bracket. From driver to crew chief to crewman, Martin points out that Roush’s entire bracket features raw talent that prevailed thanks to the unwavering belief and support of an owner with a key eye and genius mind.
“What’s important to your story is that nobody in NASCAR has done as much for the little guy as Jack Roush has – period,” Martin said.
“Jack Roush should be in the Hall of Fame for that alone. What he did. Jack was not the guy to go buy it, he built it. He looked at people and said, ‘That guy wanted it like I want it.’ And that’s important to me.
“That is a Hall of Fame contribution above and beyond anyone else in NASCAR history to this point, in my opinion.”
As for which driver will prevail in the team’s compelling contest, there are no losers here.
“The fact I had to go against Ryan Newman in the second round was wild, I mean I was like, I’m voting for Ryan here, that guy definitely deserves to be in the Final Four without a doubt or the final match-up,” Daly said emphatically.
Kevin Harvick started on the pole, but things quickly shifted and it looked like it was Ryan Blaney’s race to lose. Blaney, then driving for Wood Brothers Racing, swept the first two stages and led 148 laps on the day but drifted back in the final stage in part from missing his pit stall with 33 laps remaining en route to a 12th-place finish.
