Happy 2021. Here’s what happened in the NASCAR esports world over the past two weeks. We know who’s racing in the Coca-Cola iRacing Series in 2021. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s trading in his motor oil for PC thermal paste. Kyle Busch is living it up in the NASCAR off-season.
2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series field set
With the six-week winter iRacing Pro Series in the books, it means we now know the 40 drivers who will compete in the 2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. Isaac Gann won the Pro Series championship, comprised of the top 20 iRacing Road to Pro Series drivers plus the bottom 20 Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers; Gann will make his debut as a rookie – one of 11 – at the top level in 2021.
2020 Coca-Cola iRacing Series field on NASCAR.com
Best trophy ever?
Sure, the Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion walked away $100,000 richer after locking up his 2020 title, but how about this prize from Coca-Cola – a custom pair of champion Nike Air Force 1s?
This is a crazy cool gift from the people @CocaColaRacing, wow. Such a cool surprise to get these custom initialed, Champion @Nike Air Force 1's!! pic.twitter.com/lBcISTXVJk
— Nick Ottinger (@NickOttinger) December 24, 2020
Championships come with privileges! @CocaColaRacing thanks for a great first year! 2021 Season is coming quick. https://t.co/qhpII10jax
— Steve Myers (@iRacingMyers) December 24, 2020
Celebrated the 2020 @eNASCARCocaCola championship last night with these guys. ? What an incredible year! Thanks to @iRacing and @nascar for creating a great series. Looking forward to 2021!! pic.twitter.com/WsuVK7jYn8
— William Byron eSports (@WBeSports_) December 24, 2020
PC-builder Dale
It’s no secret Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s been a sim-racing fanatic for decades – but now he’s building his own PC.
IT work is such a fun profession IMO. Chasing technical problems and helping others with their own systems is something I enjoy. I would often get asked what I?d be doing had the driving thing not worked out. IT work of some sort would have been really rewarding for me.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) December 27, 2020
No word on how many times Dale dialed up JR Motorsports Coca-Cola iRacing Series veteran Brad Davies, who also happens to work in the NASCAR team’s IT department.
A tie?
In this just-for-fun race at the new iRacing Superspeedway, iRacing calculated Kyle Busch as the winner – by an impossibly-close 0.000 seconds. We’re going to need a fourth digit on timing and scoring.
The two finishers celebrated their, uh, wins with dueling burnouts.
.@KyleBusch and @Madmaxk celebrate their victory at @iRacing Superspeedway. pic.twitter.com/hOFnpKX7ay
— Seth Eggert (@SethEggert91) December 29, 2020
Starting soon: NASCAR Heat New Year 70
The third race of the NASCAR Heat 5 Winter Heat Series begins its qualifying process on Jan. 11. With a $10,000 prize pool and 14 open entries, it’s sure to be the best race at the virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway this winter.
iRacing Paint Scheme of the Week
Roberto Ramirez designed a paint scheme concept for Chase Briscoe’s NASCAR Xfinity Series car that never actually made it to the track. Instead, it found life on iRacing, where it was just voted Paint of the Year.
Ramirez knows a thing or two about winning race-car designs – he also created the paint scheme Cole Custer drove to his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Kentucky last summer.
Video of the Week
It was a breakout year for iRacing in 2020. The team somehow distilled a year’s worth of happenings into 13 minutes and 46 seconds.