RIDGEWAY, Va. -- To help promote the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, William Byron recently joined students behind the steering wheel to run Martinsville in iRacing, an online simulator used by many professional drivers.
"I love iRacing," Byron said. "I think it's a great platform to learn how to drive and put your skills to the test."
Growing up, Byron became a regular on iRacing and developed into a student of the sport.
He said learning more about the sport itself is a benefit of using the realistic simulator, and it was only fitting that he spent the day racing at Martinsville, the short track where he attended his first Cup Series race as a fan in 2006.
The students were impressed by how hard iRacing turned out to be.
"It's a chance to get young fans to understand racing more," Byron said. "It's been a cool experience."
Take a look at the iRacing session and hear more from Byron in the video above.