King Of The Hill
Good news, everyone! Week Two of the iRacing Pro Invitational Series was just as much fun as Week One.
This week's action featured jokes, laughs and, of course, a big wreck or two.
If you're curious about which wreck killed Clint Bowyer's race, we've got you covered. At least Greg Biffle was apologetic, but, unfortunately, apologies don't mean much on the track.
But when we weren't wrecking, Timmy Hill was winning.
Although, not by much— it was another close one right down to the line. However, Hill just edged out NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece for the victory.
Say congratulations to NASCAR Cup series driver Timmy Hill. The longtime iRacing driver was relishing that sweet moment – starting with those donuts.
The race might be virtual, but the win couldn't feel more real for Hill and his team. In front of a huge audience and after 10 seasons of racing, he finally clinched a win, and you can bet he was thrilled.
For some drivers who are newer to iRacing, improvement from last week was also a win. It's the little things.
NASCAR Cup Series driver and our “in-race” analyst Bowyer, while not coming in quite at No. 1, finished strong. From using both of his restarts and finishing in a wreck last week to coming in at No. 11, he definitely showed up today.
Just wait for his performance in Week Three...
While our winner of last week's first iRacing Pro Invitational race at Miami Homestead, Denny Hamlin, felt quite the opposite.
The experienced iRacer knew his preparation wasn't anywhere close to what he needed for a top performance today or near how he prepared for Week One.
Maybe ahead of Week Three, he'll spend a few more hours running practice laps and mock races in his decked out rig.
We mean, why wouldn't he want to? It has all the bells and whistles, complete with a full motion setup. He works with a driver-coach spotter for an extra set of eyes during the race, and the pedals are as real as in a normal cockpit.
But not everyone was as fancy, and we're not just talking about rigs. NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt DiBenedetto decided it was skivvies Sunday in his rig.
No pants? No problem for DiBenedetto, who finished today's race at No. 15.
Crew teams, fans, family, friends as well as furry friends, tuned in to watch.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman blamed his struggles from last week on his "good boy" taking the wheel, but this week the whole team came prepared.
2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Suárez stole a page from Bowman's book. His dog Emma got a little too excited in their first ever iRacing event and jumped on the wheel.
Unfortunately, she was not as skilled of a driver as her dad, and Suárez ended up disqualified.
Meanwhile, 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year, Chase Elliot's dog was not about to get involved.
After Elliot's tough qualifying round, he was hoping for a little more help from his best friend. But I guess the saying is true, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Elliot needed some tires, but we learned from Clint Bowyer that virtual pitting isn't as easy as it looks.
You can also ask Bowman, because he seemed to have his fair share of struggles with that as well. They both just could not find the box.
But we were there to to help.
Watch out, Jeff Gordon, our NASCAR analyst Larry McReynolds might be coming for your job. Get yourselves a team that can analyze and spot like ours can.
At least virtual pitting was Bowman and Bowyer's worst problem today.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney and "Rowdy" Kyle Busch had bigger fish to fry, including a huge crash early. We saw spinning, flipping and many cars came to a halt.
Those involved in the wreck sure were thankful for that reset button.
We mentioned the spinning, but how about you test it out yourself? NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Anthony Alfredo was part of the crash, and we got an inside look from his cockpit as the action unfolded.
Strap those seatbelts on tight folks.
That was a doozy! And it just got even more wild from there.
In the final laps, with eight to go, we had the big one with Bowyer and Biffle. That bad boy brought out a yellow, which happened again with three laps to go and sent us into overtime.
Yikes! Things really got crazier, with wrecks on wrecks to bring us home.
Seven-time champion in the NASCAR Cup Series Jimmie Johnson's spotter Earl Barban was honestly all of our reactions in the final laps.
But crazy, suspenseful finishes like that make racing so much more fun!
We weren't the only ones enjoying ourselves – drivers had a ball in Week Two.
They can't wait for Week Three and neither can we.
It sure looks like you fans can't either...