NASCAR has another virtual race before the sport gets serious again

Before NASCAR resumes its official season in two weeks at Darlington Raceway, drivers will run 150 virtual laps at Dover International Speedway this Sunday. The sixth race of the eNASCAR Pro Invitational exhibition series goes green just after 1 p.m. on FOX.

Last weekend’s Pro Invitational race at virtual Talladega drew 1.24 million viewers, making it the second most-watched esports event in U.S. television history (after the virtual Texas Motor Speedway race). The hype around Jeff Gordon’s participation at the virtual superspeedway event helped boost those numbers despite a second-to-last place finish for the former four-time Cup Champion.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman finished in first place by inching ahead of Corey LaJoie (second place) and Ryan Preece (third) at the checkered flag at virtual Talladega. Those three drivers will start at the rear of the field this Sunday.

The virtual race at the one-mile oval track will allow one reset and will run with manual cautions. Like last week, there will be a two-lap qualifier that sets the starting grid. The top 10 positions will be inverted from qualifying, meaning the top qualifier starts 10th and the 10th place finisher starts on the pole. LaJoie finished first in qualifying last week, but started on the pole due to a glitch.

“My debut in the Pro Invitational Series,” LaJoie said after the race. “Sat on the pole. Finished second to Alex Bowman in a photo finish. A lot of fun driving the old Schluter Systems Ford Mustang today. Ready to do it in real life.”

That chance will come for LaJoie and other Cup Series drivers in two weeks. Before that, they will have at least one more race of chaotic iRacing fun before things get serious.

“New viewers have tuned in who had never watched a race before,” FOX NASCAR analyst Larry McReynolds said. “We can’t take our eye off what is going on in the country and world right now, but if we can create a distraction for fans, not to mention the industry as a whole, for a few hours a week, it may help folks cope with these challenging times.”

VIRTUAL DOVER: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Race: Finish Line 150

Distance: 150 laps (150 miles)

Where: Virtual Dover International Speedway

When: Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

TV: FOX, FS1, FOX Sports Go app

Worth mentioning: Country music singer Blake Shelton, entertainer David Hasselhoff and Sports Spectrum podcast host, speaker and author Jason Romano will serve as the pre-race dignitaries on Sunday. Shelton will give the command to start engines, Hasselhoff will sing the national anthem and Romano will deliver the invocation via video from their respective homes.

LINEUP FOR THE FINISH LINE 150:

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription