NBC eSports Short Track iRacing Challenge Preview – Rockingham
On Monday at 7PM ET, round one of the NBC eSports Short Track iRacing Challenge will commence at Rockingham. Rockingham has a 16 year absence from the Cup circuit, but make no mistake it was one of the best tracks back in the day. Tire wear was high and the last time the series raced here it ended with a photo finish.
The six drivers participating tonight are William Byron, Kyle Busch, Parker Kligerman, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon.
Here’s my rankings for tonight
- William Byron (Tier #1 Talent) – He’s fresh off a dominant win at Bristol and I’ve picked him in every eNASCAR race so far, so why change things? He’s a legitimate iRacing ringer.
- Parker Kligerman (Tier #2 Talent) – I really like Parker Kligerman in eNASCAR and he’s a driver who should consistently be viewed as a sleeper. He puts in the seat time and he takes it seriously. Among the drivers in this race his 10.7 average finish ranks as the best.
- Kyle Busch (Tier 2.5 Talent) – Kyle Busch is on the rise in eNASCAR and he’s shown improvement every week. With less drivers in the field to wreck him I think he’s poised to have a good evening. At Bristol he had a great performance and looked like a top five threat.
- Bubba Wallace (Tier 2.5 Talent) – Bubba Wallace might have sponsorship problems now, but luckily an eNASCAR program can be run on a shoe string budget. I’ve seen Wallace run well in the iRacing “Replacement Series”, I wouldn’t be surprised if he steps up his game tonight and perhaps advances to the Thursday night finale.
- Tyler Reddick (Tier #3 Talent) – Tyler Reddick finished 8th at Bristol which was 20 positions better than his one other eNASCAR start so you have to love that improvement.
- Austin Dillon (Tier #4 Talent) – Austin Dillon is guaranteed his best eNASCAR result at Rockingham because of the six car field. On Sunday’s in the Pro Invitational Series his average finish is 23.7.
