NASCAR returning to historic North Wilkesboro for iRacing finale. Here’s how to watch
Despite its futuristic format, NASCAR fans will get a taste of history during Saturday’s final iRacing event of the Pro Invitational Series at virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway. The renowned racetrack, which last hosted a NASCAR Cup event in 1996 before closing, will debut as an iRacing venue this Saturday at 3 p.m.
Every crack and crevice of the speedway where NASCAR races took place for nearly 50 years has been perfectly replicated for sim racing through a project led by Dale Earnhardt Jr. In December, Earnhardt led a crew that included iRacing executive producer Steve Myers and Speedway Motorsports Inc. president Marcus Smith in cleaning and scanning the track’s surface to be used for iRacing. The project was documented in a short film released earlier this week by Earnhardt Jr.’s company, Dirty Mo Media.
“There have been a lot of people that have kind of documented the decay of the racetrack over the years and what shape it’s been in,” Earnhardt said. “...There’s not a lot of opportunities to really go back in the past and recreate something to specs, and this is a rare chance for us to do that.”
Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, who won the last Cup race at North Wilkesboro in ‘96, are among NASCAR’s veterans expected to compete on the 0.625-mile virtual speedway in a lineup of 28 drivers this weekend. The virtual North Wilkesboro site was originally scheduled to be released on iRacing’s platform on June 2, but Myers said the timing to debut the track this weekend felt right since it will be the final race of the series before NASCAR drivers return to real racing at Darlington Raceway next Sunday.
“How many opportunities do you get in life to bring back a track that will never be raced again and let all these stars race each other on live television?” Myers said. “It seemed like it was a perfect opportunity to debut it.”
Although veteran drivers might have an advantage on the real North Wilkesboro Speedway, the regular sim racers, such as three-time Pro Invitational champion William Byron and former Pro Invitational champion Timmy Hill, will likely continue to dominate the final event.
Byron, who won last week’s race at virtual Dover, and Hill, who finished in third place, will start at the back of the grid along with second-place finisher Christopher Bell. Drivers will be allowed one reset this week with manual cautions.
“It doesn’t give anybody an advantage that’s been on (real North Wilkesboro),” said NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte, who will compete this weekend. “It’s a tricky little track with the way it’s built up the back straightaway, down the front straightaway. The corners are kind of odd in both ends.”
The track is unique in that it features an uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch with 14 degrees of banking in the turns, and three degrees of banking on the straightaways.
“It’s pretty tight,” Labonte said. “But it’s gonna be awesome no matter what. I know it’s gonna be fun, and I’m sure it’ll be some great racing.”
eNASCAR AT VIRTUAL NORTH WILKESBORO: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Race: North Wilkesboro 160
Distance: 160 laps
Where: Virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
TV: FOX, FS1, FOX Sports Go app
Worth mentioning: NFL player J.J. Watt, country music artist Chase Rice and wife of Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith, Cassi Mitchell Smith, will serve as the pre-race dignitaries this Saturday via video from their respective homes. Houston Texans defensive end Watt will give the command to start engines. Rice, a former NASCAR pit crew member, will perform the national anthem, and Smith will offer the invocation.
