Fox Sports will air the first race of the online eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series on Sunday.
The FOX NASCAR iRacing event will take the place of the canceled Homestead-Miami NASCAR Cup race as NASCAR has postponed its season through at least May 3 in an effort to help control the spread of the coronavirus. In response to the postponements, several Cup, Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck series drivers jumped at the opportunity to take part in the simulation-style eSports program iRacing organized.
It has led to a multi-week series, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday on the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. The event can be viewed on FS1 and the FOX Sports App with the 90-minute program set to feature drivers Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher.
Chastain will run Sunday’s race from his iRacing rig at his home, while Buescher will use a customized rig from Roush Fenway’s campus in Concord, N.C. Both Buescher and Chastain will run their respective partner colors, as Buescher will carry longtime No. 17 team sponsor Fastenal aboard his Ford Mustang, with Chastain and the No. 6 car running the bright orange-and-yellow Oscar Mayer scheme.
NEWS: @NASCARonFOX to deliver inaugural eNASCAR iRacing #ProInvitationalSeries race live this Sunday on @FS1.
Details: https://t.co/rgLDdqyw4Z pic.twitter.com/BMOEgIpxqM
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 19, 2020
Both drivers have had some success at Homestead-Miami Speedway ahead of Sunday’s virtual event.
Buescher has six career NASCAR starts at Homestead-Miami, including four in the Cup Series. His best finish came in the season finale last year when he drove the No. 37 machine to a 16th-place finish. In two Xfinity races at the 1.5-mile track, Buescher earned finishes of fifth (in 2014) and 11th (2015) in the No. 60 for Jack Roush.
Chastain will enter Sunday’s action with 13 career NASCAR starts on the 1.5-mile Homestead pavement, including two in the Cup Series. In Xfinity Series action, his best finish of 14th (2014) came in the No. 10 car while his best career result at Homestead came in the Truck Series last season, where he drove the No. 45 entry to a fourth-place run.
Furthermore, the eNASCAR iRacing series is expected to feature some of the best drivers in the industry like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell. Roush Fenway’s 2020 lineup includes St. Louis, Miss. native Nathan Lyon, driver of the No. 6, and Frostburg, Md. native Kollin Keister, driver of the No. 17.
