After alargely successful Texas Motor Speedway simulated race, the NASCAR iRacing ProSeries is back at Bristol Motor Speedway at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday, April 5. The previousevent drew in 1.3 million viewers.
NASCAR iRacing Pro Series Bristol Kicks off on April 5
No one hasthought as much, but the NASCAR iRacing has turned out a success with theSunday’s Pro Series Invitational drawing a record 1.3 million viewers.The event was cast on both Fox and FS1, breaking the all-time TV viewership ofan esports event.
Of course, if you do compare these numbers with the 100 million who tuned in to watch the League of Legends Worlds in 2019 those numbers don’t necessarily impress. Nevertheless, the total number of viewers tuning in to watch promises a good start for the esports series, at least until NASCAR is forced to keep racing online.
The next race will be held on April 5 at the Bristol Motor Speedway or at the very least it’s virtual alter ego. Here is the current list of drivers and their odds to succeed.
NASCAR iRacing Odds: Bristol Motor Speedway
Player Odds Timmy Hill+400 Will Byron +400 Garrett Smithley +600 Dale Earnhardt Jr. +800 Ryan Preece +800 Alex Bowman +900 Denny Hamlin +1200 Parker Kligerman +1400 John Hunter Nemechek +1600 Landon Cassill +1600 Matt DiBenedetto +2000 Michael McDowell +2000 Erik Jones +2200 Bubba Wallace Jr. +2500 Clint Bowyer +2500 Chase Elliott +2800 Kyle Larson +2800 Bobby Labonte +3300 Kurt Busch +3300 Kyle Busch +4000 Ross Chastain +4000 Ty Dillon +4000 Austin Cindric +5000 Chris Buescher +5000 Christopher Bell +5000 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +5000 Austin Dillon +6600 Jimmie Johnson +6600
This is a show race, meaning that popular NASCAR wisdom simply won’t apply to this type of event, as the relegated Kurt and Kyle Busch’s odds show. Therefore, making a bet that actually sticks is a bit of a stretch.
Last week, Timmy Hill and Will Byron battled it out in pole position, with Hill finally edging Byron out. Naturally, sportsbooks have piled on recognizing a new reigning champion in the NASCAR iSeries, with Hill now having another opportunity to consolidate his standing and affirm himself as the best driver in the simulator.
Where to Watch the NACAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series
NASCAR may have switched to a simulation race, but the excitement and interest in the event are real. One of the main reasons why is that NASCAR takes a whole lot of mastering even as a simulated competition and driving in a racing simulator puts as much strain on a player as an actual race.
With this said, Fox Sports 1 hasn’t missed out on the opportunity to broadcast the upcoming event from the Bristol Motor Speedway virtual replica on Sunday starting at 1:00 PM ET. The viewership numbers are of course encouraging enough, making for an interesting comparison between generations.
Last week’s race was the second-highest TV rating for a sports program, perhaps not too surprising amid the novel coronavirus outbreak which has suspended all sporting events across the United States and the world.
Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports and Corey Williams are working on a next-level sim-racing rig to edge the competition with the help of better hardware.
Full Schedule for the NASCAR iRacing Pro Series
DateiRacing eventiRacing winnerMarch 22Dixie Vodka 125Denny HamlinMarch 29O’Reilly Auto Parts 125Timmy HillApril 5eNASCAR Coca-ColaTBAApril 19TBATBAApril 26TBATBAMay 3TBATBA
The digital races have brought back from retirement established names such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Bobby Labonte who are quite willing to put those still active drivers to shame phl63 .
In the case of Earnhardt Jr., this may just be the case as he is again given a good shot at clinching victory in the upcoming race.
