NASCAR launches iRacing Pro Invitational Series after postponing meatspace races

COVID-19 has hit sports pretty hard, including Nascar. The organization announced last week that all real world race events through the third of May are postponed. Said races are currently set to be rescheduled with the hope that all thirty-six races of the season will still take place. However, in the mean time, NASCAR has partnered with iRacing in order to bring a substitute to NASCAR fans, announcing the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. Ben Kenndy, NASCAR's vice president of racing development stated the following:

Until we have cars back on track, the entire NASCAR community has aligned to provide our passionate fans with a unique, fun and competitive experience on race day. Our long-time partners at iRacing offer an incredible product, and we are excited to see how many of our best drivers will stack up in the virtual domain of competitive racing.

eNASCAR goes back to 2010 with the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, which is currently on its eleventh season. This new Pro Invitational Series draws competitors from the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. The first race of the series was held yesterday at a virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway and televised by FOX Sports on the FS1 channel. FOX NASCAR broadcasters Jeff Gordon, Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds provided commentary. The race came down to the wire in the final lap, with Denny Hamlin managing to take the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. right at the end. The event generated excitement and all sorts of fun shenanigans on Twitter, which is recapped here.

The available schedule does not list another race in the Pro Invitational Series, though yesterday's race is set to be rebroadcast this Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. That said, the eNASCAR Twitter account has hinted that another race will take place at iRacing's virtual Texas Motor Speedway, which is the next track on the CUP Series schedule. The fan response to yesterday's virtual race seems to be positive overall, so we'll hopefully see another virtual race soon.

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