That was a fun GEICO 70 (well, GEICO 74 after overtime) at Talladega Superspeedway, wasn’t it? The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series never disappoints.
Alex Bowman, noted frequent in-race tweeter, pulled off his first-ever Pro Invitational Series victory Sunday, barely edging Corey LaJoie and Ryan Preece at the line in a thrilling overtime finish and a wild last lap.
Bowman didn’t disappoint us, frequently providing updates under caution via Twitter once again, bringing us along the emotional roller coaster that is racing in the final laps at Talladega.
Crew Chief didn’t give me any fuel last time. 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 pic.twitter.com/V28GWwQFIJ
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) April 26, 2020
Might run out of fuel. That’ll be bad. Not pitting though 😂
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) April 26, 2020
I’m scared
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) April 26, 2020
Me rn pic.twitter.com/MwWhueVWFs
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) April 26, 2020
Do I have to get one of those stick on fake tattoos if I win the virtual race?
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) April 26, 2020
From the emotions of nearly running out of fuel to expressing anguish about victory tattoos (still waiting on our concepts from Fontana, by the way), following Bowman’s in-race tweets was about as wild as Ryan Blaney flipping through the (virtual, thankfully) air in the closing laps.
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) April 26, 2020
I’m legitimately confused how this happened
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) April 26, 2020
But maybe it was all just a ploy to wish him a happy birthday.
Yesterday was my birthday and today I won @TalladegaSuperS 🤘🏼
… I think I need a nap now pic.twitter.com/GCv0sKaPxH
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) April 26, 2020
Happy Birthday, Alex. Time to celebrate a victory and another trip around the sun.
TIME TO CELEBRATE! pic.twitter.com/j7up3VWo7A
— Kevin Hamlin (@KevinHamlin) April 26, 2020
Just be careful and heed the warnings of spotter/virtual crew chief Kevin Hamlin.
yes hello 88 team we're definitely not getting as drunk after this win as we did after california that sucked the next two days after
— Kevin Hamlin (@KevinHamlin) April 26, 2020
Speaking of Hamlins, we didn’t hear much from superspeedway ace Denny Hamlin (no relation to Kevin) Sunday, and he revealed why after the race — it involves his daughter Taylor and a TV remote.
I had so many questions about what just happened.. then we found 2nd hand footage at the end. I cannot believe it. pic.twitter.com/BfN1sNAsg8
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 26, 2020
Hamlin may have finished last at Talladega, but he handed an even bigger L to second-place finisher Corey LaJoie.
Congrats on a great dega finish. I bet you couldn’t wait to post. Now if you only didn’t have to use the brake at other tracks. 😉
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 26, 2020
What do you mean? pic.twitter.com/oxUbTf6SIJ
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 26, 2020
Hard to argue with three Daytona 500 trophies. But please, Denny, get a stand for that third Harley J. Earl trophy. It’s making us nervous, balancing in the middle like that.
Talladega was a lot of fun to watch, and it sounds like the drivers had quite a time competing.
Pole sitter and P2 finish in my #ProInvitationalSeries debut. tfti. pic.twitter.com/PmtYkh3Yba
— Corey LaJoie (@CoreyLaJoie) April 26, 2020
P-4!!!! No resets used. Awesome race! We managed it best we could, led some laps. Congrats @AlexBowman88 on the win, thanks for the pushes 👊🏻 Hope ya’ll liked that! Another solid day for our @RickWareRacing @GunBroker @TeamChevy #eSports #ProInvitationalSeries @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/C6to5ncv4y
— Garrett Smithley (@GarrettSmithley) April 26, 2020
P5 finish at Talladega…came from the middle of the pack in the @blueemu1 chevy during the last few laps. Great run, team! pic.twitter.com/uKXmFnR9rH
— landon cassill (@landoncassill) April 26, 2020
That was seriously a lot of fun! Had another good strategy but a little contact got us and then finished P6. Thanks @AxaltaRacing another cool scheme!
— William Byron (@WilliamByron) April 26, 2020
Top-10 finish for our @interstatebatts team at Talladega 👍🏻#ProInvitationalSeries pic.twitter.com/0EVwqXQ2Dv
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) April 26, 2020
#NASCAR | @KevinHarvick talks about his 12th-place finish in today’s @iRacing event at virtual @TalladegaSuperS. pic.twitter.com/GiQyzJ3eSv
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) April 26, 2020
Guys the race is over and time for the #TalladegaTailgate! Quesadillas tonight at our tailgate! @PitBossGrills pic.twitter.com/j3sTy8mu6u
— Timmy Hill (@TimmyHillRacer) April 26, 2020
Well, I learned a lot. And I had fun… especially when I was racing and not wrecking. 😂 Hope you fans enjoyed it! That's what this is all about. #ProInvitationalSeries pic.twitter.com/6uTjayfFof
— Aric Almirola (@Aric_Almirola) April 26, 2020
Well, maybe not everybody had the race they wanted, but that’s just Talladega.
Led the most laps, got in someone else’s wreck at the end. Sounds familiar. https://t.co/qqFVtGqyWq
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) April 26, 2020
I came, I led, I blowed up, I crashed!!!!! @stoolpresidente pic.twitter.com/B2YynfiWTO
— Clint Bowyer (@ClintBowyer) April 26, 2020
Winner stickers are on the way!
Don’t worry @TimmyHillRacer @WilliamByron @AlexBowman88 (and Dogs) I have all your winner stickers, just need to find envelopes and actually leave to go to mail. To be delivered soon! #ProInvitationalSeries pic.twitter.com/YYKFwnQ9vc
— Brandon Igdalsky (@bigdalsky) April 26, 2020
… or, should we address the sticker to relief driver Finn?
This is Finn. He fills in racing cars for @AlexBowman88, but gets blamed for his wrecks. Today, he won.
13/10 would recommend he race again next week. Agree, @dog_rates? pic.twitter.com/zowCntqblM
— eNASCAR (@NASCAR) April 26, 2020