Texas eNASCAR iRacing Fantasy Preview
Texas eNASCAR Tier 1 Performers
William Byron – William Byron is an iRacing ringer and I view him as arguably the premiere performer in eNASCAR. I’ve seen Byron in three iRacing races, and he’s looked strong in all of them. In the “Replacement Series” he finish 2nd at Atlanta, 3rd at Kansas (this week) and in eNASCAR at Homestead he led the most laps (28) and looked extremely fast, but a couple of wrecks did him in. If he can avoid trouble, I think William Byron will likely be the driver to beat at Texas. You want to read more useful articles that might interest you? Visit repair daily and be updated.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first Cup and Xfinity series races at Texas, will he win his first eNASCAR race there too? I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he does. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an experienced iRacer who’s been putting in seat time. At Homestead in the first eNASCAR race he finished 2nd and led 14 laps before being passed on the last lap. Earnhardt Jr.’s strength is being good over long runs, and at Texas I think that will come into play. The race will be 25 laps longer and the caution count should be down with drivers having one less Fast Repair. In the “Replacement series” earlier this week at Kansas, Earnhardt Jr. started 25th and raced his way up to 14th before wrecking which marked the end of his race. He looked strong though. In the “Replacement Series” at Atlanta he finished 8th after overcoming a wreck.
Denny Hamlin – Denny Hamlin, the inaugural eNASCAR winner at Homestead will be a driver to be reckoned with at Texas. I will note Hamlin tweeted out that he’s only put in 10% of the time for Texas that he put in for Homestead, but I think that’s just psychological warfare and trying to play down expectations. Hamlin is a true iRacer, so I wouldn’t let that scare you away. You don’t have a rig like that and just be casual. Hamlin isn’t casual with golf, so I don’t think he’ll be casual with something aired on national TV. Last week at Homestead, Hamlin started 9th, was tied for leading the 3rd most laps (14), pulled off the last lap pass for the win and only used 1 estimated “Fast Repair making a 10 second car“.
Garrett Smithley – Garrett Smithley will be a factor in eNASCAR at Texas. He’s an experienced iRacer with 146 wins under his belt and he’s taking eNASCAR very seriously. This week I’ve seen him put in practice time for Texas, and he won a practice race at Texas in which Kyle Busch was involved in on Wednesday. Also earlier this week in the “Replacement Series” at Kansas against a high-level of competition he finished 9th after starting 27th. Seat time is a big factor in this form of racing. In eNASCAR at Homestead, Smithley started on the pole, led the 2nd most laps (24th) and finished 5th.
Timmy Hill – Timmy Hill will be tough to beat at Texas. He’s one of the most experienced iRacers in the eNASCAR field with 673 oval wins under his belt, and last week at Homestead he looked strong. At Homestead, Hill finished 3rd, led 13 laps and I’m pretty certain he didn’t have to use a “Fast Repair.” Briefly in the 2010’s, Hill was ranked as the top oval racer in all of iRacing. Look for Hill to be a contender at Texas.
Parker Kligerman – I really like Parker Kligerman in eNASCAR. I’ve seen him race in a handful of races in iRacing, and in all of them he’s run pretty well. Earlier this week in the “Replacement Series” at Kansas, a similar 1.5 mile track he started 19th and raced his way up to a 4th place finish. I think the level of competition is a little higher in that series. Last week at Homestead in eNASCAR, he started 8th, finished 13th and had to use both of his “Fast Repairs.” I will note I think he was better than his result. He faded on old tires at the end, and he had to overcome two crashes. With 18 laps to go he was running in 3rd. Prior to Kligerman’s first crash on lap 27 he was running in 4th. His 2nd problem happened on lap 38. In one known practice session for Texas, Kligerman was fast.
Ty Majeski – Ty Majeski is a living legend at iRacing and at Homestead he made his 1,200th oval start. In iRacing, Majeski has won 914 races at ovals and has finished in the top five in 1,035 of them. I will note, it sounds like a lot of his wins have likely come racing in “lower series cars”, but I’m not completely certain of that fact. Last week at Homestead, Majeski won the qualifier race, qualified 3rd for the main event and then finished 9th after overcoming likely two “Fast Repairs.” Look for Majeski to be strong on Sunday, but first he needs to race his way in.
NOTE: Drivers in red aren’t locked into the Pro Invitational Yet
Bubba Wallace – Bubba Wallace should be on your fantasy eNASCAR radar at Texas. In the “e43”, I like what I’ve seen from him. Last week at Homestead he started 18th, finished 7th, and I’m pretty certain he didn’t have to use a “Fast Repair.” Earlier this week in the replacement series at Kansas, a similar 1.5 mile track he finished 6th and consistently ran well throughout the race. Overall in iRacing at ovals, Wallace has 29 wins and has finished in the top five 41% percent of the time.
Texas eNASCAR Tier 2 Performers
Alex Bowman – Alex Bowman shouldn’t get overlooked at Texas. Last week at Homestead, Bowman made his first iRacing start and he was pretty successful. That afternoon he started 12th, finished 6th and only had to use one “Fast Repair.” Bowman seems to lack confidence, but I think he’s one of the better eNASCAR drivers.
Chase Elliott – Chase Elliott showed potential in the eNASCAR debut at Homestead. He finished 24th, but he ran better than his result and clearly looked like a top ten driver until he got spun by Bubba Wallace on lap 59. If that incident didn’t happen, I’m sure he would’ve finished very well. In iRacing, Elliott has 256 races under his belt and in those events he’s been to victory lane 36 times and has 107 results in the top 5.
Chase Briscoe – Xfinity series driver, Chase Briscoe had a solid showing in eNASCAR at Homestead. That afternoon he finished 4th and led 7 laps. In iRacing, Briscoe has 1,918 races under his belt and he’s won 299 races and has finished in the top five in 813 of them. Briscoe will have to race his way into the main event, but if he does, I would look for him to run well again.
Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch had a forgettable iRacing debut at Homestead, but I expect a big uptick in performance from him at Texas. He now has a race under his belt, has a new rig at his house, he’s been putting in seat time this week, and his real life spotter, Tony Hirschman will now be spotting for him on Sunday. Busch has tweeted out that he feels Texas is easier for him. On Wednesday when Busch took part in a practice race, he led the most laps and finished 4th.
Ross Chastain – Ross Chastain should be taken seriously in eNASCAR at Texas. In iRacing, Chastain has 537 starts under his belt at ovals and he’s raced his way to victory lane in 67 of them. Last week at Homestead, Chastain showed speed. He finished 14th, but I wouldn’t read into that result too much. He wrecked twice and those setbacks made for a difficult afternoon. At the time of his first wreck on lap 27 he was running in 2nd.
Ryan Preece – Ryan Preece had a solid debut in eNASCAR at Homestead. Last week he started 13th and came home with an 8th place finish. He never did anything flashy, but over the last 34 laps he consistently ran about 11th or better. Overall in iRacing at ovals, Preece has won 17% of the time and has an 8th place average finish. On Sunday, look for him to have another good performance.
Erik Jones – Erik Jones appears to be the only VR headset driver in eNASCAR, and it seemed to work pretty well for him. Jones mentioned that the last time he did iRacing prior to that was during an eclipse so were talking about 2017. Last week at Homestead, Jones started 25th, finished 10th and I’m estimating he only had to use one “Fast Repair.”
Matt DiBenedetto – Matt DiBenedetto should be solid at Texas. Last week at Homestead he started 16th, finished 11th and used an estimated 1 “Fast Repair.” I will note I think he was likely a little better than his result, but he faded back a little at the end. With 18 laps to go he was running in 4th. In iRacing in 311 races, DiBenedetto has 77 wins and has finished in the top five in 204 of them.
Clint Bowyer – Clint Bowyer is having a lot of fun in eNASCAR, and lets hope the good times continue at Texas. Last week at Homestead when he made his eNASCAR iRacing debut he started 11th, finished 16th, but was involved in two wrecks. On Sunday at Texas, drivers will only get one “Fast Repair” so he’ll need to ease on the wrecking.
Ryan Blaney – Ryan Blaney will be making his eNASCAR debut at Texas. At Homestead, Blaney served as Chase Elliott’s crew chief, but Elliott said “He was in out of the room refilling beers.” Now he’s moving on and will drive on Sunday. Blaney is young and likely has a lot of video game time under his belt which is a plus in my eyes in terms of eNASCAR, but he lacks seat time. His internet isn’t up to par so he’s playing on his spotters rig. A big part of eNASCAR is seat time and comfort, and you can’t exactly say Blaney has that on his side.
Landon Cassill – Landon Cassill will likely be a mid-pack driver at Texas. He’s not an experienced iRacer and only has 43 oval starts under his belt. In those races though he’s won 4 of them and has 25 top fives. Last week at Homestead, Cassill started 10th and finished 12th. I will note one thing I liked about his performance is that I’m pretty certain he didn’t have to use any “Fast Repair.” Attrition might really come into play at Texas with drivers only having one “Fast Repair” available.
Christopher Bell – Christopher Bell didn’t have a good race in the inaugural eNASCAR event held at Homestead. In the race he started 27th, finished 26th and likely had to use both of his “Repair Resets.” I’m pretty disappointed in his performance because that was his 1,027th iRacing start and the level of competition didn’t seem to be too high. Over his combined starts in the virtual world, Bell has 237 wins and has finished in the top five in 556 races. At Texas, look for Bell to be more competitive.
Texas eNASCAR Tier 3 Performers
Joey Logano – I love Joey Logano in the #22, but not the #e22. I think he has a casual approach to this form of racing, and it shows. If there were speed stats available, I’m pretty certain it would show he’s pretty slow. Last week at Homestead he started 19th and finished 15th. What makes his afternoon standout is that I’m estimating he didn’t have to use any “Fast Repairs.” Not having to use any of those and finishing in that position points towards him being slow. On Sunday unless the attrition rate gets high, he’s likely a mid to high-teens driver.
Ryan Truex – Ryan Truex had a quiet eNASCAR debut at Homestead. Last weekend he started 23rd, finished 17th and likely only used 1 “Fast Repairs.” “Performance Wise”, I would say his result reflects how he ran. In iRacing at ovals, Truex has 150 starts under his belt and in 80 of them he’s finished in the top five.
Bobby Labonte – Hall of famer, Bobby Labonte had an OK race at Homestead in his first ever iRacing start. He got a late “shoutout” from the social distanced broadcast booth while running in the top ten, but that was at a selective time after he just used pit strategy which got him there. In the race he started 29th, finished 18th and likely used one “Fast Repair.” Leading into Homestead he was said to have logged 100’s of laps, lets hope he’s put in the work for Texas.
Ty Dillon – Ty Dillon made his overall iRacing debut at Homestead, and it showed. In the race he started 28th and finished 19th. In terms of “Fast Repairs”, I have him written down as using just one. “Performance Wise”, I feel like his result overrates how he ran because that’s about the highest I seen him in the running order.
Justin Allgaier – Justin Alligaier doesn’t have much seat time playing iRacing. At Homestead he made just his 32nd overall start. His overall average finish at ovals in iRacing is 10th, but that’s statistically tied for being the worst (heading into Homestead). Last week at Homestead, Allgaier started 26th, finished 20th and had to use both of his “Fast Repair.” It just wasn’t a great race for him.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t have a good eNASCAR debut at Homestead. He started 33rd, finished 21st, but completed all 100 laps and only used one estimated “Fast Repair.” Stenhouse Jr. was around the mid-teens around the midpoint, but that was essentially the closest he ever got to the front.
Austin Cindric – Austin Cindric will need to race his way into the main event at Texas if he’s going to race on Sunday. In iRacing, Cindric lacks seat time. He’s only been in 11 total oval races and has only finished in the top five once, and who knows what the level of the competition was in that race. Last week at Homestead, Cindric started 15th, finished 22nd and used 1 estimated “Fast Repair.” I’ll note his repair happened extremely early when he wrecked on lap 2.
Michael McDowell – Michael McDowell made his 101st iRacing start at Homestead and it didn’t go smoothly for him. In the race he started 32nd, finished 23rd and used an estimated 1 “Fast Repair.” I’ll note his race wasn’t incident free and with 23 laps to go while he was running in the low double digits he spun. I’ll note he used pit strategy to get that high in the running order and just prior to that he was running around 22nd.
Brad Keselowski – Keep your eNASCAR expectations low for Brad Keselowski at Texas. At Homestead, he was slow. Last week he started 30th, finished 25th and he wasn’t involved in any on track incidents. I have a feeling he’s not taking it as seriously as many of his other competitors. That said, in the fable of the tortoise vs. the hare, the tortoise won. I don’t think Keselowski will win, but being slow like him could help avoid wrecking and with one less “Fast Repair”, he might just sneak in a good result.
Austin Dillon – Austin Dillon made his iRacing debut at Texas and came home with a 27th place finish which made him the last driver on the lead lap. I will note he was likely better than his result, but with 5 laps to go while he was running around 13th he had an incident with Ryan Truex which killed his afternoon. For most of the race, “Performance Wise” I think Dillon looked about 20th place good.
Chris Buescher – Chris Buescher made his iRacing oval debut at Homestead, and he was far from competitive. In the race he started 21st, finished 28th and finished one lap down. I’ll note I didn’t see him involved in any accidents so I have some competitive concerns regarding him heading into Texas.
John Hunter Nemechek – John Hunter Nemechek has a fair amount of iRacing experience. He has 289 starts under his belt at ovals and he’s been to victory lane 29 times and has finished in the top five 97 times. At Homestead, Nemechek didn’t have a race to brag about. In the race he started 22nd, finished 30th and failed to complete 7 laps.
Kyle Larson – I hope Kyle Larson has been putting in seat time on his iRacing rig for Texas, because things didn’t go smoothly for him at Homestead. At Homestead he started 14th, finished 33rd and failed to complete 14 laps. I will note, Larson didn’t run that well, and he didn’t have an incident free race. On lap 38 when he was back to the low-twenties (started 14th) he wrecked. With 26 laps to go Larson was up to 8th after using pit strategy following a caution, but then shortly after that something had to have happened to him (didn’t wreck, at least not shown doing so) which caused him to finish 14 laps down.
Kurt Busch – Kurt Busch, the elder statesmen in Cup made his iRacing debut at Homestead and finished last. Busch only completed 46 laps and by my count he only wrecked once, so I’m wondering if he “Raged Quit”, because that’s a very real thing in video games or perhaps he got into the wall hard off camera.
Greg Biffle – Greg Biffle will be making his eNASCAR debut at Texas and he’s already locked in the main event. I don’t know how much simulator time he’s been putting in, but last year in the Truck Series when he raced at Texas after a 15 year absence in the series he raced his way to victory lane. On Friday night he tweeted he’s already faster then Jimmie Johnson so at least we know he can’t be horrible.
Daniel Suarez – Daniel Suarez will be making his eNASCAR debut. Is he good? I don’t know, as far as I can tell I’m not certain he’s ever done an iRacing event before. He didn’t participate last week, so I would assume taking part in this is something he’s kind of getting pushed into by his sponsor. Hopefully his Amigos will have something to celebrate on Sunday, but I would fade him.
Tyler Reddick – Tyler Reddick will be making his eNASCAR debut at Texas. I hope he wants to be there and has been putting in seat time and his debut isn’t spurred on by his sponsor wanting TV time. In terms of his simulator prowess, I have no clue how adept he is. Its probably wise just to assume it’s minimal.
Jimmie Johnson – Homestead was brutal to Jimmie Johnson. He missed the first 4 laps because he wasn’t connected, and by lap 20 he was involved in two wrecks! With only one “Fast Repair” at Texas, he’s likely poised to have a short afternoon. When the race reached its conclusion at Homestead he finished 31st. With Johnson doing the Indy-NASCAR double this weekend, it’s hard to say he’s properly focused for eNASCAR at Texas.
