FedEx Racing Express Facts – Virtual North Wilkesboro

Virtual Race Info:
Race: North Wilkesboro 160
Date/Time: Saturday, May 9/3 p.m. ET
Distance: 160 Laps
Track Length: 0.625 mile
Track Shape: Oval
Banking: 14 degrees

Express Notes:eNASCAR Dover Recap: Denny Hamlin earned a top-10 eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series finish at virtual Dover International Speedway, recovering from a late-race tangle that forced him to pit road for repairs. Hamlin’s #11 FedEx “Delivering Strength” Toyota was the fastest car in qualifying, but a top-10 inversion for the start of the race placed him in 10th for the green flag. The car was quick, and tire strategy put Hamlin out front to lead nine laps early in the 150-lap event. As the race progressed, Hamlin’s virtual Camry showed good long-run speed, but frequent cautions kept stalling out his attempts to drive back to the front. Then on Lap 135, the #38 of John Hunter Nemechek pushed Hamlin up into the wall in what appeared to be payback for a bump-and-run pass by Hamlin on Nemechek several laps earlier. Nemechek was subsequently removed from the race. After using his “quick repair” reset on pit road, Hamlin returned to the track in 16th and then powered his way up to sixth for the checkered flag. William Byron won the race for his third victory in the Pro Invitational Series.

eNASCAR North Wilkesboro Preview: The Pro Invitational Series will wrap up on Saturday, May 9, at virtual North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway – a track that has not hosted a real NASCAR Cup Series race since 1996. Drivers will then leave their simulators behind to go back to the track on May 17, when Cup Series racing resumes at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

FedEx “Delivering Strength” Paint Scheme: The #11 FedEx Toyota will sport a special paint scheme for the North Wilkesboro eNASCAR race, carrying the message “Delivering Strength” on the hood and #fedexstrong on the back of the car. FedEx wishes to draw attention to not just its 475,000 FedEx team members, but all the organizations FedEx is working with during the COVID-19 crisis, including nonprofit organizations, the healthcare community and FedEx customers.

Hamlin Conversation – Virtual North Wilkesboro:

What will it be like iRacing at North Wilkesboro, a track that the Cup Series hasn’t raced on in your career?

“It’s certainly going to be interesting. Hats off to Dale Jr. for taking the initiative to get the track cleaned up and scanned by iRacing so that we could do it. Obviously, I’ll need to run plenty of practice laps leading up to Saturday to get a good feel for it. But it’s a short track, which is right in our wheelhouse.”

What impact do you think the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series has had while the Cup Series races have been postponed?

“It’s been great for our sport. We’ve given fans races to watch, plus gotten some new eyes watching our sport who maybe had never watched a race before. We’ve been providing live competition on national TV in a way that other sports couldn’t. We’ve also gotten some well-deserved attention for FedEx team members and other organizations they work with for continuing to deliver during these challenging times.”