NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jnr will join the IndyCar iRacing Challenge this weekend as the series races on an oval for the first time.
The addition of 2012 IndyCar champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 Ryan Hunter-Reay will further boost the field to a new high of 31 drivers for its race on the Michigan superspeedway on Saturday.IndyCar confirmed the ‘competition caution’ it introduced for its second iRacing Challenge event at Barber Motorsport Park last week will not be used this weekend. The race is scheduled to run for 85 laps of the high-speed bowl.
A group of IndyCar drivers and other entrants participated in a practice session on the course on Thursday. Several high-speed crashes occured, leading many to predict an incident-packed race.
IndyCar has never raced on the track with its current generation of cars. Its last real-world race at the superspeedway in 2007 was won by Tony Kanaan, who will be on the virtual grid this weekend, and saw Dario Franchitti survive a spectacular high-speed crash when his car was launched into the air.
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Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
10th April 2020, 0:07
The caution competition won’t be used because the oval races in iRacing use cautions and safety cars. And judging by the practice session they did earlier, that SC is gonna be used a lot!
Herheijm (@herheijm)
10th April 2020, 11:51
That practice session was fun for sure. But indeed it seems pack race trigger frequent chaotic situations.
For those interested: check New garden’s channel on YouTube, or Scott McLaughlin on Twitch.
Stephen Higgins
10th April 2020, 12:02
I smell punterino…
kpcart
10th April 2020, 12:26
So far the only 2 virtual races I have watched all the way through have been the 2 indycar races, it really seems like a proper alternative to real racing, and it’s great seeing so many of the realdrivers involved and investing in home Sim setups. When we return to real racing, I foresee Indycar will invest more into eSports and integrate it into their real series. They have done an amazing job, the whole presentation is unbelievable , and some of the drivers have done amazing to adapt so quick, ie Robert Wickens. I’ve loaded iRacing, it is harder than it looks, especially to drive for an hour without spinning.
Don
10th April 2020, 13:35
Agree. It seems IndyCar is making the most of a bad situation and doing a very nice job. It’s interesting watching the “real” drivers racing their cars with sponsors and appropriate liveries. Even utiilizing their lead engineers for race and fuel strategy. Until we get back to real racing, this is the next best thing.
Steve K
10th April 2020, 18:43
Dale Jr. is just good people.