NASCAR, IndyCar: An amazing opportunity for under-the-radar drivers

By Asher Fair | Mar 29, 2020

WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK - MARCH 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (Editors note: This image was computer generated in-game) Sage Karam, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, iRacing, IndyCar (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

The NASCAR and IndyCar iRacing competitions have given several under-the-radar drivers amazing opportunities to showcase their skills against the sport’s best.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic causing seven NASCAR Cup Series races to be postponed, NASCAR opened up the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series so that drivers could still compete against one another in a virtual setting. IndyCar, which delayed the start of the 2020 season due to this pandemic, followed a similar path, opening up the IndyCar iRacing Challenge.

Both iRacing series are set to continue for the next several weeks, with NASCAR’s scheduled to do so until real-life racing resumes and IndyCar’s featuring a total of six scheduled races as of now.

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Real Cup Series action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, May 9 at Martinsville Speedway (fifth race of the season; would have been the 12th) while IndyCar is scheduled to resume on Saturday, May 30 at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park (season opener; would have been the seventh race). Both of these dates remain subject to change.

NASCAR opened the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series up at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway last Sunday and is set to run at virtual Texas Motor Speedway this afternoon. IndyCar opened up the IndyCar iRacing Challenge at virtual Watkins Glen International yesterday afternoon and is set to run at Barber Motorsports Park next Sunday.

These iRacing series have featured many of the top drivers in both series, including several recent champions. Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson even competed in the IndyCar race.

But as somewhat of a silver lining to an otherwise dark and uncertain period of time throughout the world, the big winners of this unique opportunity have been the under-the-radar drivers who otherwise wouldn’t get much attention, as they either don’t compete full-time, don’t compete for top-tier teams or don’t do either.

Why? Because in iRacing, the cars and software setups are equal across the board, so the raw talent from these drivers becomes unmasked. What makes this even more significant is the fact that many driver have described this kind of sim racing as more challenging the real thing.

Sure, the hardware setups differ from driver to driver (from a steering wheel on a desk to Denny Hamlin’s setup), but at the end of the day, everyone is driving the same car, unlike in real life where the likes of Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing, Andretti Autosport, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing win regularly due to superior equipment.

In NASCAR, it was Garrett Smithley who took the pole position at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. He has competed in the Cup Series since the 2018 season and has driven for StarCom Racing, Premium Motorsports, Spire Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing. His best finish in 20 starts is 28th place. He has just one other top 30 finish, and his average finish is 34.0.

But at the virtual four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Homestead, Florida, he led 24 of the 100 laps and placed fifth after leading the field to the green flag.

Yes, this is the same Garrett Smithley who fired back at criticism from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch last September when Busch stated that “Top tier drivers get hired by top tier teams. Try winning… a lot… and u have a better shot of getting hired.”

Of note, Busch finished in 29th place, six laps off the lead lap.

In the same race, Timmy Hill, who has one career top 20 finish in 96 Cup Series starts going back to the 2012 season driving for teams including Rick Ware Racing, NEMCO Motorsports, FAS Lane Racing, Circle Sport, Identity Ventures Racing, Hillman Racing, Team Xtreme Racing, Premium Motorsports, MBM Motorsports and Spire Motorsports, placed third after leading 13 laps.

In real life, his average finish is 35.5.

At a real Homestead-Miami Speedway, Smithley and Hill could bring the same exact same skillsets and probably finish somewhere in the 32nd to 35th place range — and that would be considered a good day. On iRacing, they’re up there at the front challenging the likes of Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for race wins.

On the IndyCar front, nobody had anything for Sage Karam, who has competed in just six races since his part-time deal with Chip Ganassi Racing expired at the end of the 2015 season.

Karam took the pole position at the virtual 11-turn, 3.40-mile (5.472-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Watkins Glen, New York, and he led all but two of the race’s 45 laps, only losing the lead to Will Power when he made his pit stops. He won the race by 3.6174 seconds over Felix Rosenqvist after lapping all but six other drivers.

In real life, his most recent top 18 finish is actually a DNF in the form of a 14th place finish at Pocono Raceway in August of 2015. His average finish is 18.3.

He hasn’t actually finished a race higher than 19th place since he finished in a career-high third at Iowa Speedway in July of that year, one of his three career top 10 finishes in 19 starts. Since 2015, he has only driven for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (four races) and Carlin (two races).

I’ve said for years that the 2013 Indy Lights champion should be in a ride full-time with a top-tier team. By schooling the sport’s best in equal equipment (software) at a time when that’s the most that anybody can possibly do, perhaps he is on the right track to getting another deal. He is, in fact, set for his busiest IndyCar season since 2015 this year with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

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Of course, we all hope that the real-life NASCAR and IndyCar seasons are able to get back in action (or in IndyCar’s case, start up) as soon as possible. But for now, this is a great opportunity for some of the sport’s underappreciated, under-the-radar drivers to showcase what they are capable of when given the same equipment as the perennial championship contenders.

So far, they’ve justified the hype. Be sure to continue to tune in to these iRacing events.

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