CONCORD, N.C. -- Despite multiple cautions, William Byron was the winner of Sunday's virtual race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 22-year-old driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet led for 116 laps before he took the checkered flag. The victory at Bristol marks his 309th iRacing win.
"Some things are different, but a lot (are) simpler and this is one of the racetracks that I've always enjoyed coming to in the Cup car and all the cars that I've ran there," Byron said of the preparation to race at Bristol. "Working on this track a little bit during the offseason was helpful and it's fun to have a little bit of pressure on iRacing because I normally do it to learn and try and get better. To be able to run it in front of a good group of guys and a lot of different names is really cool."
Byron started on pole after he finished first in one of the 50-lap heats prior to the third eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event of the season.
All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers were in the first 50-lap heat. Aside from Byron's first-place finish in the heat, Alex Bowman finished fourth, Jimmie Johnson finished 13th and Chase Elliott finished 14th.
This laid out their starting positions for the race, which saw Bowman place 14th, Johnson 21st and Elliott finish in 30th.
Below is a closer look at how Sunday’s iRacing event unfolded for the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 30th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Elliott started in 27th place and was caught up in the second caution of the race on lap 11. The incident slowed him down, but Elliott was able to get past the accident. He was in 22nd after the third restart when he pitted for fresh tires.
- He had to reset during the 33rd lap when he brought out a caution after a driver bounced off the wall and slammed into him.
- Elliott was virtually towed off of pit road after that incident and served as a hold for the rest of the race. He placed 30th.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 1st
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After starting in the pole position, Byron jetted to the outside quickly and was unaffected by the first several cautions of the race.
- He led the field for the first 73 laps before he decided to go to pit road. He was in seventh place when the field restarted.
- Byron started sneaking up the field and was in fifth with 63 laps to go, then was in fourth with 58 laps left. Soon he and teammate Alex Bowman were fighting for third place, but Byron beat Bowman out for the position. Three laps later he was in second place, where he remained when the ninth caution came out.
- Byron restarted in second and was quick to regain the lead with 43 laps to go. He maintained the lead the rest of the race and earned his first iRacing win of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series season.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 21st
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Johnson rolled off the grid in 19th and managed to avoid getting caught up in the first three accidents of the race. He slid up to 15th, but got caught up in a caution on lap 18 and fell back to 20th.
- He was ensnared in the fifth caution of the race on lap 44 and had to reset. Johnson fired back up in 19th place.
- He started in 13th after the sixth caution of the race came out on lap 51, but decided to pit at the halfway point of the race while the seventh caution was out. He restarted in 11th after the eighth incident of the race.
- Johnson decided to pit for fresh tires with 50 laps left in the race to try and work his way up the field. He was in 15th when the 10th caution came out and restarted in 10th with 32 laps to go.
- Johnson slipped back after he decided to pit again and was in 22nd with 15 laps left. He moved up one spot to finish in 21st.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NOCO/CHEVY GOODS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 14th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After starting in seventh, Bowman moved up to fourth when a caution came out in the second lap. He fell back to fifth after a battle for fourth on lap 30.
- Bowman was within the top five until he was wrapped up in an accident on lap 51 and had to restart in 20th place after using a reset.
- He jumped up to fifth after he opted not to pit during the seventh caution. He was in third place for the eight restart of the race.
- Soon he was battling teammate William Byron for third place with less than 60 laps left, but Byron won out. When the ninth caution came out on lap 100, Bowman was in fourth place.
- By the time the 10th caution came out, Bowman was in 14th with 35 laps to go due to running on older tires. A couple more cautions marred the race, but it didn’t affect Bowman’s position. He finished the race in the same position.