CONCORD, N.C. -- Bristol Motor Speedway notoriously isn't an easy track to navigate, despite being one of the smaller tracks on the NASCAR circuit. With drivers heading to Bristol virtually this Sunday for the third installment of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, William Byron expects there to be a struggle from the iRacing rigs.
"I would say my weakest tracks on there (the game) are my weakest tracks in real life. Bristol’s not one of my best tracks, so I think it shows up there, I would say," Byron said on "Door Bumper Clear" this week.
"You got to get loose to a loose end … That’s one of the hardest things about iRacing is going in the corner and kind of keeping your hands straight like you would in the real car, but you don’t really feel that you’re loose end, so you go ahead and turn the wheel and all of a sudden you’re sideways. That’s tough, especially for Bristol. I feel like guys are going to have to learn that."
Bryon said he understands it's hard to get used to iRacing compared to a real track, since drivers don't have that edge-of-your-seat sensation and adrenaline rush that comes with racing inside an actual car.
Another aspect Bryon said comes into play is using your eyesight to work with the rig. Some setups are designed to move and drivers can feel a similar feeling of shifting in the simulator that they would on the track, but Byron said that wasn't necessary to be successful in iRacing.
"For me, I just use it with my vision. Denny (Hamlin) has got that rig that basically moves … it has lateral movement. I guess it gives you that sensation," Byron said. "I’ve tried a couple of those, and obviously they’re super expensive, but I don’t think you’re ever going to get the feel that you would have in your car. I use the steering wheel in there to know where I’m at with that and you can visually see that. Once you get used to the front of your car, you kind of adapt over time."
So what's the best piece of advice Byron can give to the new iRacing drivers as they gear up for Bristol? Practice, practice, practice and keeping in mind that many of the aspects drivers have to deal with at the track will still be there in the simulator.
"You know how you come off the corner at Bristol and if you get a little tight and if that guy comes off the wall at all, you’ll come together? I think there’s going to be some of that," Byron said of going two wide at the track. "The guy on the top is coming with a big run and guy in the middle is trying to run his line and the closing rate is really fast. I think there’s going to be a lot of that."
Tune in this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 to see Byron and the rest of the field go iRacing at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway.