eNASCAR delivers sim racing's biggest night at NASCAR Hall of Fame

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sim racing performed on its grandest stage Tuesday night and delivered an event to remember.

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series held its championship finale at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, in front of a crowd that gathered to watch virtual racing on its real-life counterpart’s hallowed ground — with winner Casey Kirwan taking home an astounding $100,000 championship prize.

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There to present the trophy was none other than NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., iRacing’s executive director and a key sim racing leader who helped design the championship trophy that bears his name to resemble Cup Series trophies of decades past. The moment was a far cry from the 1990s when Earnhardt was racking up high Internet bills while racing online himself before his NASCAR career skyrocketed.

On Tuesday, hors d’oeuvres circulated the main hall as drinks flowed among the spectators while four drivers competed on a stage in front of the championed cars of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

“This is just confirmation and the result of years of trying to be an advocate or an asset to sim racing, and a lot of people working really hard to create something really special,” Earnhardt Jr. told NASCAR.com. “And also, I think we’ve got to be thankful for all the development team, and everybody that creates the software to be able to get it to a point to where [the] NASCAR industry starts to look at it as an asset, starts to look at it as a way to connect to a certain demographic. That’s really what we’re seeing here is the NASCAR industry really embrace it.”

After being welcomed by the Carolina Panthers’ drumline outside the Hall of Fame, fans and spectators encompassed the main corridor of the hall, all in awe of how far iRacing has come. Fans, along with families of the drivers, cheered as Kirwan made the title-winning pass on Bobby Zalenski, bringing an immediate smile to Kirwan’s face though more than 25 laps remained.

TJ Majors, spotter of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford, entered sim racing on the ground floor along with Earnhardt Jr., the driver he previously spotted for. The enthusiasm for virtual competition felt Tuesday night once seemed unfathomable. Suddenly, it’s tangible.

“Man, where was this 20, 25 years ago?” Majors laughed. “I mean, this is awesome, man. It’s $100 grand to win this championship, so I can’t even — that’s life-changing for one of these kids, man. But it’s great to see it. We’ve got a huge trophy over here now that’s … gonna mean something. It’s pretty awesome looking. It’s like an old Cup trophy. I mean, you got a Hall of Famer here giving the command. And this is a big production. So it’s pretty cool to see it grow to this and to see this many real-world drivers involved and real race teams.”

Anthony Alfredo, driver of the No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, helps run the XSET iRacing team that Kirwan competes for and was in attendance to celebrate as the champion co-owner. Alfredo credits the simulation service for his rapid ascension through the stock-car ranks and was struck by the significance of this championship event.

“It’s definitely huge for not just the sim racing industry as a whole but motorsports because I’m one of actually a few drivers now that made the transition from sim to reality, started their career on a computer,” Alfredo said. “So this is just really cool to see guys racing for a world championship tonight, and to be a part of it on the team side with XSET gaming and Casey Kirwan is huge.”

Rajah Caruth is one of the most recent examples of the sim’s success, jumping on iRacing after seeing William Byron’s rise from iRacer to NASCAR Xfinity Series champion — the same Byron who can clinch a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I didn’t grow up going to the race track. I was born in Atlanta, raised in DC, away from racing,” Caruth said. “The only reason why I have any sort of driving ability is really due to the sim. So that shows the legitimacy of the platform.”

Also on hand was Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series. Stewart-Haas eSports competitor Steven Wilson was among the Championship 4 contenders in the iRacing Series, and Smithfield, primary sponsor of both Wilson and Almirola, has taken notice of the value iRacing’s platform can provide.

“They understand the value, and they know that they can reach a younger demographic of the NASCAR fan by being involved in iRacing,” Almirola said. “And it’s a great opportunity to stay engaged with our fans and the consumers of their products and reach that younger demographic.”

Steve Myers, the executive vice president of iRacing, stood gobsmacked at the success of the event as the festivities slowly came to a close, admitting an event like this was something he’d dreamed of exhibiting.

“These guys start getting emotional, their families get emotional and everyone’s crying. Like, I find myself emotional because I know how much work went into it,” Myers said. “Not just them, but everyone put into this. And to see that end result of the champion having that champion moment, there’s no words that I can use to describe that feeling.

“I am immensely proud of what we accomplished tonight, and I think we just got it started. I think this was a huge success. I think absolutely next year, I feel like we have the momentum to make it bigger.”

The sanctioning body and iRacing have worked more closely in recent years on numerous projects, a list that includes mapping the track laid inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as well as the Chicago street course that will debut in reality in 2023.

That partnership continues to grow, and its roots spread to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday night.

“It’s something that, shoot man, 10 years ago, trying to talk to NASCAR people about iRacing, they just couldn’t see the vision,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “So it’s pretty awesome actually to see everybody can’t deny, I guess, the cool factor here and the sheer connection this creates to a younger demographic.”