Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch headline NASCAR’s iRacing alternative amid coronavirus outbreak

Some of NASCAR’s biggest stars are competing in a new exhibition eNASCAR series while real-life racing is postponed.

Basically the entire sports world is on hiatus as the result of the novel coronavirus outbreak with the NBA, MLB and NHL among the many sports organizations suspending their seasons. But NASCAR has a way to keep its drivers competing against each other.

Sure, other pro athletes are grinding away at Madden and NBA 2K and FIFA 20 and so many more video games mimicking professional sports. But those video games don’t quite compare with iRacing, NASCAR’s greatest asset in these uncertain times amid a global pandemic.

NASCAR’s season has been postponed through May 3, at least, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the cancellation or postponement of gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. And the governing body is rightly utilizing that asset to offer fans something, anything, in an age without sports.

NASCAR and iRacing, the online racing simulator, announced Tuesday night the creation of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, a multi-week series to fill the temporary racing void with drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin — who owns two cars in the already existing pro iRacing series, including one with a Jumpman paint scheme designed with Michael Jordan’s help. Dale Jr.’s team, JR Motorsports, also has two iRacing cars this season.

(The two organizations already had a partnership for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, which is in its 11th season with some of the best simulation drivers competing for more than $300,000.)

This isn’t the same as, say, NBA players being themselves in 2K. iRacing requires a computer, a steering wheel and pedals, more or less allowing real-world professional racing skills to translate to the virtual track. Several current drivers in NASCAR’s top series have started their careers in iRacing.

Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin and William Byron are among the successful Cup Series drivers who previously raced online.

“I was very good at iRacing back in the day; I sat on the pole and won some really big, prestigious races,” Hamlin told NBC Sports in February. “Now back then, there were like 5,000 people that raced online, and now there’s over a hundred thousand that do iRacing.”

And currently without real-life racing, there are a few more sim drivers joining or returning to the virtual track. In addition to Dale Jr., Busch and Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are expected to participate in this exhibition eNASCAR series.

The first race is set for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway track, where NASCAR was scheduled to compete this weekend before the season was suspended. Remaining race times have not yet been announced, and, according to Autoweek, NASCAR is attempting to get the first race aired on FOX Sports or NBC Sports Network.

NASCAR president Steve Phelps spoke about NASCAR’s reliance on iRacing during the coronavirus pandemic while on a media conference call Tuesday prior to the pro series announcement. He said:

“There are discussions we’re having with FOX about what things we can do, discussions we would have with NBC, things that we can put through our own channels that satisfy our fans. Our fans are obviously thirsty for this content. We want to provide it to them smartly and have interesting content as opposed to just repurposing some of the content that’s already been done.”

“Thirsty” is an understatement. With the season postponed after just four races in 2020, fans are desperate for competition. And as just about every other sport being put on hold in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, some NASCAR fans, inexplicably, argued for competition to carry on, despite the fast-spreading virus and ignoring the severity of the situation.

That group of fans didn’t get its wish because it’s just not safe for those in NASCAR or anyone they may interact with to gather right now. But there is a pretty solid next-best option.

While virtual racing certainly isn’t exactly the same as the real world, it’s close enough, especially compared with the alternatives other pro sports have to offer.

And we got a quick preview of what this exhibition eNASCAR series could be like. Sunday, drivers and others in the industry united for a one-off iRacing event called The Replacements 100 at the virtual Atlanta Motor Speedway, where NASCAR was scheduled to race last weekend.

It included Earnhardt, Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., and Ryan Blaney’s spotter Josh Williams outlasted Byron for the win. As Autoweek reported, the Twitch broadcast peaked at 27,000 viewers.

Diehard racing fans or those with experience online (watching or competing) will surely tune in for NASCAR’s exhibition iRacing series regardless, and big names like Earnhardt, Busch and Hamlin could attract more people who might not be interested otherwise.

Plus, if it comes to fruition, successfully broadcasting these races on national TV would shine a spotlight on the virtual racing, which NASCAR has been trying to promote anyway. And it could just reach a much broader audience and quench that thirst.

With a total of seven Cup Series races postponed at this point — and perhaps more to come — NASCAR has a noticeable and rare advantage over mainstream sports in the gaming world. It’s playing the only real card it had, and while iRacing isn’t quite the same, it’s good enough for now.

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