Having started in 2020 partly as a result of the massive disruption to motorsport and sim racing, the 2021 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series returns with a new 10-race schedule.
Initally planned as a one-off event, it quickly moved into an eight race series echoing the NASCAR Cup schedule aside from a final race held at the virtual version of North Wilkesboro. Winners included Denny Hamlin, Timmy Hill, William Byron, Alex Bowman, and Ty Majeski, with Fox broadcasting races to a record audience for sim racing esports events.
The 2021 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series will be held mid-week over 10 rounds, with the first five broadcast on FOX Sports 1 in prime evening slots, with NCB Sports carrying the final five races of the season.
“The success of our eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series was underscored by an industry-wide effort to entertain fans during the early months of the global pandemic,” said Tim Clark, NASCAR senior vice president and chief digital officer. “This year the Pro Invitational will return with a schedule of midweek races that will bridge the gap between our real-world races each weekend.”
“After last year’s Pro Invitational success, we’re proud that our partners at NASCAR, FOX, and the race teams view the series as an integral part of their marketing and fan engagement strategies for 2021,” said Steve Myers, iRacing executive producer. “It’s even more fulfilling that the industry has rallied around our platform not only as the most authentic re-creation of the sport, but also a terrific tool to help grow NASCAR’s audience and generate revenue to strengthen the entire ecosystem.”
“FOX Sports embraced the eNASCAR iRacing Invitational Series in the spring as a way to keep race fans entertained, but we quickly realized it was a product and collaboration that we would continue to explore,” said FOX Sports Executive Producer, EVP/Head of Operations and Production Brad Zager. “The product is best-in-class, it delivers NASCAR to an even broader audience and, let’s face it, it’s a heckuva lot of fun.”
So far, the schedule has been confirmed for the initial run of five races, although there’s still one circuit to be decided. And one change is that the opening round will be run on the new dirt configuration at Bristol Motor Speedway, which should make things interesting.
2021 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Schedule (First 5 races)
- Wednesday, March 24: Bristol – Dirt on FS1 at 8-9:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 21: Talladega on FS1 at 7-8:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 5: Darlington on FS1 at 8-9:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 19: COTA on FS1 at 7-8:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, June 2: Track-TBD on FS1 at 8-9:30 p.m.
Although you’ll only be eligible for the eNASCAR series if you’re a professional racing driver, you can still sign up to iRacing here (and credit your referral to us) to race the same cars and circuits.
And if you’re not sure what’s included in the iRacing subscription and what content costs extra, check out our full official iRacing car list, and iRacing track list. Along with all the latest iRacing news and updates, here.
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