With a last-lap pass on the final lap of the Dixie Vodka 150 at a virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway, Denny Hamlin claimed a win in the first eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series race on March 22. His win came 0.158 seconds ahead of runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“I’ve raced him on here [iRacing] for two decades,” Earnhardt said. “I thought he’d be hard to beat. I was trying to get a good finish, trying to win the race and trying not to wreck anybody, so I think I probably gave Denny a little more room than I really wanted to, but I had to keep from crashing him or anybody else. We got together off of [turn] four. I thought I might have been able to get a photo finish at the line, but we got together in four, and I about wrecked, there. But it was a fun race. Denny Had better tires, and he was just really, really fast, but it was a good race.”
Timmy Hill, Chase Briscoe, and pole sitter Garrett Smithley finished third through fifth.
“This low budget @iRacing setup was ranked No. 1 overall on ovals,” Hill [@TimmyHillRacing] tweeted. “You make it as expensive as you want it to be.”
Hill’s setup for the race included a basic steering wheel attached to a desk, while Hamlin and others utilized rigs that cost somewhere in the $40,000 range.
“I don’t know. It was a — I don’t know, probably 40, probably in the 40 range, but it has motion and everything in it, which I don’t use that often, but it’s definitely on the high end for sure,” Hamlin said when asked about the value of his setup.
Hill, though, is an accomplished iRacer with 673 wins.
Finishing sixth through 10th in the Dixie Vodka 150 were Alex Bowman, Darrell Wallace Jr., Ryan Preece, Ty Majeski and Erik Jones.
Majeski advanced to the main event after leading all 20 laps of the qualifying race. In the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series, race fields consist of 35 drivers. All Cup Series drivers entered are guaranteed starting positions, while NASCAR Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck series regulars qualify for the remaining positions on the grid.
William Byron led a race-high 28 laps before winding up 34th in the 100-lap race. The yellow flag waved nine times.
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