By Nicholas Sterling
Tempers flared in NASCAR’s iRacing Pro Invitational Series at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. Bubba Wallace “rage quit,” Daniel Suarez got parked for the second straight week after multiple incidents with Kyle Larson, who, himself, was disqualified, and Clint Bowyer tore up enough virtual cars to fill up a junkyard.
A caution filled race ended with William Byron capturing the win. Byron led 116 of the 150 lap virtual race. NASCAR is in their third race of the virtual season that is taking over for the NASCAR season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Byron dominated the first two races at Homestead and Texas but didn’t have anything to show for it. His racing career began on a computer at age 13, and he’s statistically one of the best drivers in the field when it comes to iRacing.
John Hunter Nemechek used a strong starting position to finish second followed by last week’s winner, Timmy Hill. The virtual races have been a good opportunity for some lesser known guys to get a shot at more screen time.
Landon Cassill has gained a sponsor in Blue-Emu for the iRacing season. The same company left Wallace after he quit Sunday’s race.
The sponsor tweeted about how they were disappointed in Wallace for his actions and would no longer be sponsoring him in real-life.
The iRacing landscape is expanding to a short track mini-series this week.
Monday night will be at Rockingham Speedway, Tuesday night at Lucas Oil Raceway, and Wednesday at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
Each race will consist of six to seven drivers, with a total of 12 drivers across all three races will advance to the main event at Martinsville Speedway Thursday night. All races will be broadcast on NBC at 7 p.m. ET.
