iRacing Replaces Atlanta NASCAR Race with Sim Race

On a day that NASCAR was to have raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway, before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed that event and halted nearly every sport, there was a race at a virtual Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR announced Friday that it was postponing its races this weekend at Atlanta and next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. So with no real racing, some competitors went to sim racing.

iRacing set up a 100-lap race Sunday afternoon to give fans at least some form of racing to watch online.

“It all kind of came together Friday when we were home,” said T.J. Majors, spotter for Joey Logano, on the Twitch broadcast of the iRacing event, The Replacements 100. “Bryan Cook had the same idea as I did, Boris at JGR, and then Kevin Hamlin put a lot of work into this as well. … We started adding drivers to the list. A lot of fun. It’s unfortunate circumstances that we’re all home today, but we’re just trying to make the most of it and give people something to do and watch and have some fun.”

Josh Williams, spotter for Ryan Blaney, dominated, winning the event. William Byron was second.

Here is the finishing order:

1. Josh Williams (Ryan Blaney’s spotter)
2. William Byron
3. Steven Steffen (Twitch streamer)
4. TJ Majors  (Joey Logano’s spotter)
5. Parker Kligerman
6. Tyler Overstreet (Joe Gibbs Racing / Martin Truex, Jr. public relations)
7. Garrett Smithley
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9. Bubba Wallace
10. Coleman Pressley (Brad Keselowski’s spotter)
11. Chase Briscoe
12. Bryan Boris Cook
13. Justin Haley
14. John Theodore
15. Kevin Iannarelli
16. KC Heschel
17. Kyle Long
18. Anthony Pelican
19. Tyler Truex
20. Gary Sexton
21. Anthony Alfredo
22. Tim Dugger
23. John Guidone
24. Harrison Burton
25. Myatt Snider
26. Chad Knaus
27. Ben Rhodes
28. Matt Noyce
29. Justin Allgaier
30. Alex Bowman
31. Taylor Gray
32. Jonathan Davis
33. Kevin Hamlin
34. Tyler Ankrum
35. Noah Gragson

As NASCAR entered its first weekend without racing on the track, Bristol Motor Speedway issued a statement Sunday afternoon. Part of the statement read:

“As these uncertain times unfold, we remain in constant contact with health officials, NASCAR and key stakeholders to continue to monitor this pandemic closely. … We must move forward preparing for our events, even if there’s a chance it might not happen, but know that we’re doing our part to enhance our cleaning efforts, locating additional handwashing for our fan zone areas and providing hand sanitizer around the property.”

Bristol is scheduled to host Cup, Xfinity and ARCA East on April 3-5.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued what it called a guidance Sunday that stated:

“Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities. Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies. These events can be planned not only by organizations and communities but also by individuals.

Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.”