Fans and drivers alike got their first taste of what the inaugural Bristol Dirt Race for the NASCAR Cup Series could look like via iRacing on Wednesday night.
What wasn’t surprising was the eventual winner, as iRacing ace William Byron claimed his fourth career win of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.
He made it look easy tonight!
Retweet to congratulate @WilliamByron on another #ProInvitationalSeries victory! pic.twitter.com/0vOjdpNq7m
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 25, 2021
RCR’s Tyler Reddick brought his No. 8 Camaro home second, and JGR’s Christopher Bell, who had a strong performance in his heat, finished third.
The 70-lap feature roster was formulated with three caution-free, 20 lap dashes with the top seven drivers from each heat advancing to Wednesday’s night feature.
James Davison, the eventual winner Byron, and Ryan Preece were the winners of their respective heats in that order, placing them at the front of the field for the final race.
Many big-name drivers including Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, and Kyle Busch failed to make the final feature.
The main event was not nearly as caution-packed as many fans likely assumed. Corey LaJoie found himself involved in a few incidents, with one involving FOX NASCAR in-race reporter Joey Logano.
"It's not ???? bad." ?@CoreyLaJoie | @joeylogano pic.twitter.com/uV3EnqZQWT
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 25, 2021
Just a short time later, fans got a front-row seat to Logano’s evasive maneuver to avoid a big wreck on the backstretch in the closing laps. The Connecticut driver brought his No. 22 Ford home 14th.
Just passing through … @joeylogano finds a way to avoid this #ProInvitationalSeries crash. (?: FS1) pic.twitter.com/3hQ3qApW3k
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 25, 2021
After fans voiced their support for Timmy Hill after being snubbed from the original entry list, Team Penske driver Austin Cindric offered up the No. 2 seat. Hill was able to race his way in from his heat race and lock himself into the main event.
The Maryland driver was involved in a late-race caution but muscled his way home 8th in the final feature. Hill is scored as the best finishing Team Penske driver on the evening, as Ryan Blaney failed to advance to the final event.
The next eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race is set to take place on April 21st at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway. Fellow Hendrick driver Alex Bowman will look to defend his win from Season one of the series.
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