(Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
By Aaron Bearden

Post-race review and analysis from the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Who Won? 

Alex Bowman. He survived the chaotic crashes and beat Corey LaJoie to the line in a photo finish for his first win on the virtual NASCAR tour.

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Bowman’s birthday surprise

No one was more surprised to see Alex Bowman win Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Talladega Superspeedway than Bowman himself. 

“I’m just surprised that we won an iRace,” Bowman said afterward. “I mean, it’s like ‑‑ it’s pretty wild to me with how good a lot of those guys are and how much experience that they have. 

“But if it was going to happen somewhere, like Talladega is a place where you can kind of be in the right place at the right time and make it happen.” 

Bowman has been one of dozens of NASCAR stars to compete in the weekly iRacing series but has adopted a persona implying that he’s taken it less seriously than others in the field. 

While teammate William Byron dominated and won back-to-back races, Bowman joked about his dog causing crashes, posted a meme from his phone under caution after speeding on pit road and shared his revelation when he discovered that people were shifting at virtual Richmond Raceway. 

The real-life Auto Club Speedway winner had quietly notched a few good finishes along the way – sixth at Homestead-Miami Speedway and fifth at Texas Motor Speedway among them. But his self-deprecating humor and laid-back social personality mixed with quiet races to keep Bowman out of the win discussion heading into Sunday’s virtual pack race. 

Bowman himself admitted to the difficulty of picking up esports.

“It’s been a learning curve for sure, and I’ve kept myself busy in other ways, so probably haven’t put the same amount of time into it as some of the other guys have,” he said. “Probably take it a little more lighthearted than some of the others do, as well, but that’s just kind of my approach to it.” 

Light-hearted or not, a combination of dodged wrecks and a solid race put Bowman in contention heading into the closing laps of Sunday’s GEICO 70. He led the way as the field rode under caution prior to an overtime attempt, getting himself yelled at for driving into the pace car while tweeting in the process. 

The ensuing run to the checkered flag was a dramatic one, and it saw Ty Dillon sent spinning into the inside grass while in contention to win after a lap where numerous others crashed in the background. 

In the end, it came down to Bowman and Corey LaJoie, drag racing to the checkered flag for their first virtual NASCAR victory. 

The victory went to Bowman in a photo finish. 

Hendrick Motorsports’ most recent winner was arguably the most surprising one of the eNASCAR era, following triumphs from experienced sim competitors in Denny Hamlin, Timmy Hill and Byron. 

It took the perfect storm to make it happen – chaos, pack racing and a bit of luck.

“I guess just right place, right time, kind of the normal speedway racing deal,” Bowman said of the run “I felt like the bottom wasn’t the place to be, so kind of let Ty (Dillon) have the bottom on that restart and got up, and just tried to keep the run timed well and knew that most of the time the top was leading there at the start‑finish line. 

“So really just got to thank (Ryan) Preece for pushing me because that’s what made the difference at that point. When you’re that lead car, it’s really the guy behind you making the difference. Glad it worked out.”

Corey LaJoie’s strong first (and only?) run 

Finishing just behind Bowman was LaJoie, who nearly secured a walk-off victory in what could be his only race in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.

LaJoie announced on Motor Racing Network’s “Sunday Money” podcast last Monday that he intended to sell his sim racing rig. But before that time could come, the GoFas Racing ace had to make an appearance in Sunday’s Talladega showdown. 

Much like he managed in the real-life Daytona 500 before being involved in the last-lap crash with Ryan Newman, LaJoie found himself in contention over the course of Sunday’s race. The North Carolinian claimed the pole, found himself in the second row coming off of Turn 4 on the last lap and, after turning Ty Dillon, was positioned with a chance to win the race outright. 

In the end he came up just short, but finished well enough to earn bragging rights in his lone virtual NASCAR start. 

LaJoie arrived in the virtual NASCAR tour weeks after being goaded on to join by initial race winner Denny Hamlin. He was quick to point out his good result to Hamlin on Sunday, quote-tweeting Hamlin’s initial dig with nothing more than the eyeball emoji. 

That set off a playful war of words, images and gifts that ended with a Daytona 500 trophy flex from Hamlin and a Dodgeball gif from LaJoie.

Such has been the fun side of the virtual eNASCAR tour, which has at its peak entertained followers with eventful races, humorous moments and spicy barbs on social media.

LaJoie was among the best at all three on Sunday. But don’t think it’s going to stop him from selling his rig.

Realistic calamity

Sunday’s race took place at a virtual Talladega Superspeedway, but it carried all the chaos of a real-life visit to the gargantuan Alabama facility – save for Talladega Boulevard, at least. 

Nearly four years removed from his final NASCAR Cup Series start, driver-turned-broadcaster Jeff Gordon jumped into a sim rig at the FOX Sports Studios to compete in his first eNASCAR event. The four-time champion drove with a Pepsi scheme that harkened back to his controversial 2004 victory at the real Talladega, and with it brought back the nostalgia of his lengthy career. 

Gordon was part of a notable moment during his debut. appearance, but it had nothing to do with victory lane. The Californian was the biggest victim of the race’s first ‘Big One,’ going airborne and getting lodged into the fence in a Lap 16 crash. 

Various smaller crashes and chaos littered the majority of the race, the most hilarious of them involving Denny Hamlin. The Virginian fell out of the event in unique fashion, stalling and getting kicked out after his daughter turned off his monitor. 

They were followed by another large accident with just three laps remaining when Joey Logano spun up the track and into the outside wall from the middle of the pack. Ryan Blaney was sent flipping through the air as numerous others crashed all across the racing surface. 

With only one fast repair allowed to each driver, the twin crashes knocked some drivers out of contention. Of those that continued on, about half were damaged once more in a last-lap crash. 

It was typical Talladega chaos – without the real-life danger typically associated with it. 

Other Notes

  • Coming off of Turn 4, Ty Dillon seemed poised to score his first virtual NASCAR victory. But he ended up getting turned by Corey LaJoie and being an afterthought in 24th. The result was a heartbreaker, but Dillon still had fun with it.
  • Many lucky drivers get a chance to compete against their childhood heroes. Very few drive directly under them in the first race.  If nothing else, Christopher Bell has a moment to cherish from an unexpected race with Jeff Gordon.
  • Ryan Preece continues to be a dark horse contender during the iRacing era. He was just to Bowman’s right as the leaders streaked across the start-finish line, taking the checkered flag in third. He had a similar narrow loss to Timmy Hill in the second race at virtual Texas Motor Speedway, and a photo-finish defeat to John Hunter Nemechek in one of the heats at Bristol Motor Speedway.
  • At the end of a challenging race, former teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon had a bit of fun crashing each other. Johnson shared the footage after the race.
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Aaron Bearden eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Featured