iRacing’s coronavirus run ‘more than just a minor footnote’ as real racing resumes
Before the final race of the Pro Invitational Series at virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway, iRacing executive producer Steve Myers sent a company-wide email to employees.
“I told them that someday down the road, when people get a chance to reflect on 2020 and what happened with sports, I think we’re going to be something more than just a minor footnote,” Myers said.
The simulated racing platform has become a staple on cable television since the sports world shut down two months ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. Through a longtime partnership with NASCAR, iRacing was able to swiftly launch multiple virtual exhibition series on FOX and NBC networks that feature the sport’s top drivers competing on simulator rigs from their individual homes in place of real races.
The Pro Invitational Series, which ran for seven weeks in place of NASCAR’s traditional Sunday races, averaged 1.1 million viewers over its first six races on FOX Sports and FS1. The first six races of the seven-race series, the last of which took place on Saturday, account for the six most-watched esports events in U.S. television history.
“What we did was groundbreaking for sports,” Myers said. “And I think it has potentially helped motorsports in a way that no other sport could take advantage of during this time where the rest of the world is shut down.”
“Like I’ve said before, you don’t want the pandemic to be a reason why your company gets elevated into the spotlight,” Myers continued. “But we’ve worked really hard to be at this point and we capitalized on the moment.”
Myers said that although fans were tuning in because there weren’t other live sporting events to watch, iRacing has helped create new fans for NASCAR and the exposure has generated member growth for iRacing, as well. Myers said the company has added 60,000 customer subscriptions over the last two months, more than it’s added over the course of an entire year since launching in 2004.
“I was impressed with how well the broadcast worked for it being a virtual race,” NASCAR fan John Dulaney said.
Dulaney said he watched the first Pro Invitational race at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway (won by this year’s Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin) and tuned in weekly “for a distraction.”
“It was a little ugly at first as everybody got used to racing around each other,” Dulaney said. “There were a ton of cautions, but at the end of the race when Denny Hamlin and Dale Jr. were going against each other, I still found myself sitting on the edge of my seat.”
The fact that Hamlin and Earnhardt Jr. were competing in the series, in addition to current Cup drivers like Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson, and alongside more experienced NASCAR drivers and iRacers, such as three-time Pro Invitational champion William Bryon, Timmy Hill and Garrett Smithley, helped keep NASCAR’s audience engaged as the sanctioning body worked to resume its official season.
Despite the range of iRacing experience, fans could still tune in to watch their favorite drivers race. The same cannot be said about watching professional basketball players compete on NBA 2K or Major League Soccer players compete on the FIFA video game.
“This was something that other sports don’t have in this time of need,” Harvick said. “It’s been a lot of fun just trying to learn.”
NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte even joined Earnahardt Jr. in stepping out of racing retirement to participate in the virtual series. Labonte said he has been an iRacing member since 2005 and practiced “in waves,” but that the platform’s technology has significantly improved over time.
“It’s a different world,” Labonte said. “I think in today’s environment and how good the platform is, you can really relate to some basics and queuing for when you get to the real track.”
The opportunity to see how practice on iRacing translates to the real track will come next Sunday at Darlington Raceway when NASCAR resumes its official season without fans, without practice and with strict coronavirus protocols in place.
As NASCAR and FOX look ahead to the remainder of the regular season, iRacing will keep chugging away with its virtual series. Although the platform will take a back seat to real racing during primetime in the coming months, industry personnel said they see the last two months as a time that strengthened the ties between NASCAR and iRacing, with more virtual racing series expected during the off season.
“We were able to put NASCAR in front of over a million people,” Myers said. “Maybe not all of those people will tune in to Darlington, but I would venture to say that a vast majority of them will.”
“Because the content was interesting to them and now (NASCAR) has the opportunity to be back as the only sport active for the foreseeable future,” Myers continued. “I think those people are going to transition over and watch those races. That’s something you could argue will redefine NASCAR and motor sports.”
“We’ve used this digital platform to expose racing to people that maybe didn’t have an interest in it, and now, hopefully they do.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
