The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Faux NASCAR racing better than no racing
The ENASCAR iracing Pro Invitational Series, which started as a goodwill gesture for competition-hungry race fans, is beginning to morph into Sunday afternoon must-see TV. Desperate for sports programing, Fox Sports did a trial run March 22 with a race from a virtual Homestead-miami Speedway. The event got enough interest on the Fox Sports 1 cable network that the decision makers forged ahead on a second race from virtual Texas and broadcast it on the Fox network proper. The numbers got bigger thanks in part to the growing “stay at home” movement caused by the spread of COVID-19. Race 3 was Sunday from virtual Bristol and Fox upped its game, offering single-car time trials, a pair of qualifying races and the 150-lap main event. Unlike previous virtual races, the entire field was filled with drivers who had NASCAR Cup Series experience, including retired Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte. William Byron, who has extensive iracing experience, took the win, followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Timmy Hill, Denny Hamlin and Matt Dibenedetto. “I thought we had a pretty solid race,” Byron said. There was plenty of action, including Kyle Larson’s disqualification for rough driving (we don’t know if NASCAR has a virtual garage hauler where drivers are scolded for their actions). Five other drivers in the 32-car field were listed on the race report as being “disconnected” from the iracing platform. The winning driver was asked by NASCAR public relations to participate in a post-race national teleconference with racing media. During that interview Byron talked about saving his tires and race strategy and thanked his eteam and sponsor. “Was really proud of how we kind of did things, and thankful for Nick Ottinger, who kind of helps me on my Esports team, and AXALTA for letting us run this cool paint scheme,” Byron said. “It looks awesome. Hopefully we can it run it sometime in the real Cup car. I had a lot of fun.” In the new reality, drivers are making sure to throw in sponsor mentions and adorn their gaming stations with sponsor product. Fox has certain drivers on camera from their remote driving stations. Ty Dillon, who is sponsored by GEICO, had a stuffed green gecko at his side. Another driver had a jar of Blue-emu near his console. Even in-studio driver Clint Bowyer slipped in a mention of one of his sponsors, Smithfield. This is turning into big business. Drivers are treating these Pro Invitational Series events like real racing. “It’s for fun, so I get that part of it,” Byron said. “But like I said, I treat it — for me mentally, I try to treat it as a race when the race is going on.” President Donald Trump had a conference call with America’s professional league representatives, including NASCAR president Steve Phelps, on April 4. “They want to get back,” Trump said. “They’ve got to get back. They can’t do this. Their sports weren’t designed for it. The whole concept of our nation wasn’t designed for it. We have to get back. We want to get back soon.” Later in that same press conference Trump hinted that live sports in stadiums, arenas and race tracks probably won’t happen until August. NASCAR was the first league to broadcast a virtual sporting event. Now others are joining in the virtual reality game, such as Indycar, which has run two races from gaming consoles. With a captured audience, ENASCAR racing has positioned itself to grow in popularity through the summer and drivers are starting to take this faux racing seriously. “You’ve got to race,” Byron said. “It’s race craft, and I feel like race craft is the same no matter what you’re racing; whether it’s on a computer or at the dirt track or at an asphalt race, it’s the same.”