iRacing has brought North Wilkesboro, one of NASCAR’s historical tracks, into the virtual world for the Pro Invitational drivers after being recently scanned.
Denny Hamlin would find victory lane at virtual North Wilkesboro after making an aggressive move on Ross Chastain within the final laps.
“We’ve had a thing over the last few years of winning very important races,” Hamlin said. “It’s pretty awesome to be able to have success, be competitive, and race for wins whether it be real life or virtual.”
Cole Custer led the field down to the green, but Ryan Preece would immediately move down to the inside line to try and take the top spot.
The No. 37 would try for the first two laps, but Custer would fend him off.
On Lap 5 the first caution would fly when Hamlin would turn John Hunter Nemechek off Turn 2. Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. would get collected in the carnage.
Custer would lead, but Preece would take the first position immediately, Garrett Smithley would follow behind in second.
Chastain would march his way to the third position. On Lap 31 another caution would fly when Timmy Hill would get spun around, collecting several drivers.
Preece and Chastain would be door to door on the restart, while Custer would spin off of Turn 2 to bring out another yellow flag.
The No. 37 would lead once again on the restart, but shortly afterwards more trouble would plague the field, bunching the field up once again.
Pit stops would change the order up drastically, and Christopher Bell would lead the way with Earnhardt Jr. following behind.
Nemechek would spin in Turn 1 fighting for position, but no yellow would fly. For Parker Kligerman, he would get front end damage after colliding with Kyle Busch as they both were avoiding Smithley’s No. 51.
Bell would continue to lead the way, but the remainder of the Top 5 would find issues as Landon Cassill would hit the Turn 3 curb, hitting Austin Dillon. A multi-car pileup would ignite, with Hill’s car hitting the pit wall.
The No. 95 would continue to lead on the restart. Preece would nearly spin off Turn 4, but would hold onto his racecar.
Chastain would move up towards the runner up spot, Hamlin would also reel in the No. 6 and follow in tow.
With 63 to go, Hamlin would pass Chastain into Turn 3 to take the runner up spot. As the field would get into a run, Hamlin’s car would come to life as he would pass Bell to take over the lead.
Bobby Labonte would bring out the next caution, as his Interstate Battieries Toyota would get loose off of Turn 2, sliding him into the path of Austin Dillon. The long green flag run would come to an end, and Hamlin’s lead would evaporate.
Chastain would beat the field off pit road, putting the No. 6 in the top spot. As the race went green with 27 to go, Chastain would have a good restart and would try and hold off Hill.
The middle of the pack would get chaotic as a huge domino effect would ensue on the frontstretch, creating another big pileup.
Chastain would lead with 16 laps to go with Hill on his outside. Martin Truex Jr. would crash in Turn 3, but no yellow would fly.
Hamlin would pressure the No 6, and Chastain would get pushed out of the way with 9 to go. The No. 6 would try and regain some lost ground, but would collide with Cassill and the two would nearly spin out.
Hill would try and chase down Hamlin, but would run out of time as the No. 11 would cruise to victory lane at North Wilkesboro.
Race Results:
- Denny Hamlin
- Timmy Hill
- Tyler Reddick
- Ross Chastain
- Austin Dillon
- Garrett Smithley
- Brennan Poole
- Parker Kligerman
- Kevin Harvick
- Landon Cassill
- JJ Yeley
- Clint Bowyer
- Jon Wood
- Christopher Bell
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Cole Custer
- Joey Gase
- Jeff Gordon
- Bobby Labonte
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Chris Buescher
- Erik Jones
- Kyle Busch – Disconnected
- John Hunter Nemechek – Disconnected
- Corey LaJoie – Disconnected
- Aric Almriola – Disconnected
- Ryan Preece – Disconnected
- Michael McDowell – Disconnected
- Ty Dillon – Disqualified
