CONCORD, N.C. -- William Byron gave a little insight to his iRacing strategies after he took home his second eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series victory.
The driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet raised some eyebrows Sunday when he stayed out on the virtual track at Richmond, opting not to use a caution with a few laps left as an opportunity to pit and get fresh tires.
The last time Byron had gone to pit road was on lap 100 in the 150-lap event.
"There wasn’t a whole lot of thought process other than if I pit, everyone behind me does the opposite – at least in the top five," Byron explained on SiriusXM Monday. "We weren’t going to win the race by pitting – we were going to lose the race. We possibly were going to win the race by staying out. That was the thought process behind it."
Byron had second-place competitor Timmy Hill on his bumper when he crossed the finish line. Hill infamously nosed Byron during the iRacing event at Texas Motor Speedway, which caused Byron to finish seventh and allowed Hill to take the checkered flag.
Byron said he had been practicing on his iRacing rig in case he was nosed again.
"Timmy races hard. I think he does a good job. He’s been really consistent, which is tough to do," Byron said. "I know how he races after the Texas deal and I’m sure if he got his chance he could have or would have (bumped me), but luckily we were able to get away."
When live racing resumes, Byron expects iRacing to not be such a focal point because the regular NASCAR circuit is so demanding. He added that the schedule will be even tighter since the organization still is trying to fit all 38 races in a season.
"I think we are doing a good job with the Pro Invitational now, but once we get back, we probably will give it up to the professional iRacing guys," he said.