In eight races at Darlington Raceway, Erik Jones has never finished worse than eighth-place and I’m guessing that luck also crosses over into the digital realm too, as Jones claimed his first victory in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event at Darlington Raceway on Wednesday Night.
With two laps to go, Jones made a bold three-wide pass for the lead on Anthony Alfredo and Timmy Hill entering turn one, which allowed the No. 43 Chevrolet to scurry away from the rest of the field and claim the first-ever iRacing victory with NASCAR’s newly-unveiled NextGen Car – which will make its on-track debut in February 2022.
NASCAR Officially Unveils NextGen Car, Debut Marked for February 2022
Alfredo finished in the runner-up spot, with early leader Dale Earnhardt Jr in third. Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott both scored top-five finishes, despite the race turning chaotic in the final 10 laps. Kurt Busch, James Davison, Brad Keselowski, Jesse Iwuji and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-10.
eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational winners, Timmy Hill and William Byron combined to lead the majority of the event, but were both relegated to finishes outside the top-10 after multiple late-race incidents. Both drivers started in the first two rows on the second-to-last restart, when Byron was collected in a huge accident in turn two., eventually finishing the race in 25th.
Hill led the field to the restart with three to go, but became the scapegoat of Erik Jones’ three-wide pass for the win, with the No. 66 Toyota Camry slamming the outside wall, finishing 11th.
