eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series
Next Race: North Wilkesboro 160
The Place: Virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway
The Date: Saturday, May 9
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: FOX (where available and subject to change), FS1 and FOX Sports App
Distance: 160 laps
Friday Night Thunder
The Place: Virtual Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Friday, May 8
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
Online: enascar.com/live, NASCAR’s YouTube Channel
Distance: Four heat races – 10 laps each; one LCQ – 15 laps; Main Event – 125 laps
Wrapping up the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series at North Wilkesboro
With one more weekend until NASCAR returns to the real track, drivers and fans are continuing to turn to the virtual world of iRacing to see some of the best racing competition around.
This weekend’s race at the historic virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway wraps up the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to action on May 17 at Darlington Raceway.
NASCAR, iRacing and FOX Sports teamed up to deliver the first-ever eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event, the Dixie Vodka 150, at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway after all national pro sports were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic several weeks back. The event produced a wild finish that saw Denny Hamlin just barely beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the line. Fans responded with an overwhelming reaction setting records in eSports viewership, and as a result FOX Sports committed to covering the remainder of the eNASCAR iRacing season.
The second eNASCAR iRacing event took place at virtual Texas Motor Speedway and again was a success with the fans. Longtime iRacing veteran and rising NASCAR star Timmy Hill won the race with an aggressive move on William Byron to take the win.
The third race of the Pro Invitational Series was at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, where iRacing veteran William Byron showed off his talents dominating the event and taking the checkered flag. Next, the series went to virtual Richmond Raceway, where Byron once again took the checkered flag and won back-to-back races. The virtual race at Talladega Superspeedway was won by Alex Bowman and last weekend’s race at virtual Dover International Speedway was won by Byron. In total Byron leads the series with three wins.
This Saturday, May 9, the series heads to virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway for the series finale the North Wilkesboro 160 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX (where available and subject to change), FS1 and the FOX Sports app.
History of North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro Speedway in Wilkes County, North Carolina, has a wide and renowned history in NASCAR dating back to 1949. The last time the venue hosted a NASCAR national series race was in 1996 when NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon won the NASCAR Cup Series event before the track closed.
The .625-mile short track was built in 1946 and became a North Carolina racing staple while hosting 93 NASCAR Cup Series races. The inaugural race, the 1949 Wilkes 200 on October 16, was won by Bob Flock. The track was known for being one of the fastest short-tracks in racing and in the 1950’s speeds reached up to 73 mph.
The track’s unique layout featured an uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch with 14 degrees of banking in the turns and three degrees of banking on the straightaways.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty led the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at North Wilkesboro Speedway with 15 victories. NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip led the series in poles at North Wilkesboro Speedway with nine.
Last December, Dale Earnhardt Jr. led a group of drivers and NASCAR broadcasters in an effort to clean the track surface at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The cleaning allowed iRacing to scan and map the historic venue.
Among those that helped Earnhardt clean the speedway were Speedway Motorsports Inc. president Marcus Smith, iRacing executive vice president and executive producer Steve Myers, NASCAR Cup Series driver Chris Buescher, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Myatt Snider, NBC Sports’ Rick Allen and Marty Snider, William Byron’s spotter Tab Boyd, and Austin Dillon’s spotter Andy Houston.
This weekend will mark the debut of North Wilkesboro Speedway virtually and will feature 28 drivers, including Earnhardt.
Aric Almirola’s Mother’s Day iRacing paint scheme
In honor of Mother’s Day weekend, Aric Almirola will run a paint scheme that his wife Janice colored using the Stewart-Haas Racing coloring sheets. Janice was coloring with their children a few weeks ago when she told Aric that her coloring page would be a cool paint scheme. So as a surprise, Aric requested that Smithfield and his team run her paint scheme on Mother’s Day weekend. When the No. 10 Ford hits the track on Saturday for the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series North Wilkesboro 160 at virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX, FS1, FOX Sports App), Janice’s blue and pink paint scheme with “Happy Mother’s Day” on the front will be seen by everyone watching. You can check out Aric’s video here.
Friday Night Thunder at virtual Martinsville Speedway
With such a big response from competitors to join the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, NASCAR and iRacing introduced Saturday Night Thunder in the beginning of April to allow drivers from all series to compete on the platform during the real-time racing postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This weekend the event returns, but this time the action will take place on Friday night, at virtual Martinsville Speedway.
The Friday Night Thunder entry list includes drivers from the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
There will be single-car qualifying to set the heat race grids. From there, the format will feature four 10-lap heat races to set the first 24 spots for the main feature.
Then, there will be one 15-lap last chance qualifier to fill out the six remaining spots in the 30-car field.
The event will be live streamed at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, May 8, on enascar.com/live, and on NASCAR’s YouTube channel.
The main event will be a 125-lap feature that will allow for one reset, with manual cautions and three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.
The format will be as follows (all times ET):
7 p.m.: One-hour practice session
8 p.m.: Stream starts on eNASCAR.com/NASCAR YouTube Channel
8:05 p.m.: Three-minute, two-lap single-car qualifying session. Sets the starting grid for the heats.
8:08 p.m.:
- Heat 1 starts. All heats will be 10 laps with no cautions and one reset. There will be four heats and 26 cars will advance.
- Heats will set the starting grid for main race with a field of 26 cars.
- Heats will be followed by a 15-lap last chance qualifier with six drivers advancing to the main event (30-car field).
- Main event will be 125 laps with manual cautions and one reset. There will also be three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.
Saturday’s run of show and race format
Saturday’s North Wilkesboro 160 will wrap up the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series as NASCAR is set to resume racing next weekend at Darlington Raceway. This weekend’s iRacing event will feature a two-lap, single-car qualifying session with the top 10 inverted to set the grid for the main feature event.
The main race will be a total of 160 laps with double-file restarts and lapped cars will go to the rear. There will be three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish, if necessary. The field will consist of a 28-driver entry list. The top-three finishers from Dover (William Byron, Christopher Bell and Timmy Hill) will be relegated to the back of the starting lineup and will not make a qualifying attempt.
Drivers will be allowed one reset this week at virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway with manual cautions. If a car is damaged, drivers must drive back to their pit stall and come to a complete stop. This will automatically apply the fast repair and give the driver a new car.
The below times are approximate and subject to change:
2 p.m. – Practice session goes live
2:50 p.m. – Qualifying (Two laps, single-car with top 10 inverted)
3:00 p.m. – FOX, FS1, FOX Sports App broadcast begins
3:13 p.m. – Green flag (160 laps)