NASCAR iRacing Is No Substitute for Real Deal

by Julian Spivey
NASCAR, its drivers and Fox Sports tried admirably on Sunday, March 22 to give racing fans something worthwhile to help spend their Sunday without real auto racing, but ultimately it was no substitute for the real deal.
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Drivers, Fox Sports and iRacing, racing’s number one race simulation, came together relatively quickly to broadcast the Pro Invitational Series in which 35 drivers from NASCAR’s three national series came together to race virtually from Homestead-Miami Speedway, the race track in which NASCAR would’ve been running this weekend had Covid-19 not turned our entire world upside down.

The racing simulation was a success for Fox Sports, with the race at one point during the roughly 90-minute broadcast, becoming the number one trending topic on Twitter. It’ll be interesting to see Nielsen ratings on this event, which was seemingly the only live competitive “sports” event on television at the time.

The caution-filled event saw drivers from those who compete frequently in iRacing to more novice drivers in the same field. Ultimately the race came down to a side-by-side battle between Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin and retired Cup Series superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win with Hamlin coming out the victor on fresher tires (yes, iRacing includes somewhat realistic tire wear). The event was Hamlin’s 31st career iRacing victory. Among the unrealistic aspects of the simulation was the fact that cars involved in crashes could reset multiple times to essentially have new cars.

Many within the sport – drivers, officials, press and fans – seemed to really enjoy the moment, but I was left feeling that it was not really worth my time. I’ve never been one to have interest in esports. I realize esports take real-world talent to be successful at, but it just doesn’t have the feel of real-world athletics to me. There’s no word as of now if NASCAR drivers, Fox Sports and iRacing plan to continue this Pro Invitational Series, but it’s just not a good substitute for the real thing for me personally. I have a feeling many who watched the event would have differing opinions. I’m sure they won’t prefer it to actual cars racing around a track but might find it a worthwhile way of spending Sunday afternoons during the season’s hiatus.

There’s no doubt a ton of good came from this event today with Denny Hamlin pledging $100 for each lap he led in the sim to benefit families affected by Covid-19 in the Homestead-Miami area and $5000 if he won the event, which he ultimately did. I didn’t get an exact number on the amount of laps Hamlin led, but it would result in at least a few more hundred dollars donated.

The aspect of the event that bugs me the most is something former NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula 1 driver Max Papis tweeted. He said: “If u r watching @NASCARONFOX now u r watching the FUTURE this will be racing in less than 10 years in my opinion.”

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​God, I sure hope not. As I said earlier, this is definitely something that takes a lot of talent and I don’t want to shortchange that at all, but us racing fans need real drivers in real cars racing around real tracks. That’s what the sport of auto racing is and I hope it’s not too much longer before we can see it once again.