Drivers, Start Your Simulators! JRM Joins NASCAR iRacing Series

JRM, along with several other NASCAR teams, announced today it will join the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series as a full-time competitor.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 17, 2019) – JR Motorsports has long been an avid supporter of sim racing, thanks to the enthusiastic participation of team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. Today, it was announced that the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship-winning organization will join the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series as a full-time competitor.

In its 10th season, the eNASCAR iRacing Series will feature a prize pool totaling $100,000 for 2019, which has attracted several professional eSports and NASCAR teams, including those from some of JRM’s biggest rivals, such as Joe Gibbs Racing, the Wood Brothers Racing team and one owned by Clint Bowyer.

“I have been sim racing for more than 20 years now, so it goes without saying that I am excited to see NASCAR and iRacing working to further legitimize sim racing as a true eSport,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Expanding the eNASCAR Peak Antifreeze iRacing Series to include teams like ours is a huge step forward. JRM has worked behind the scenes with iRacing for years on the technical side of the product as well as having an unofficial entry in the series going back to its inception in 2009. We are looking forward to JR Motorsports’ continued collaboration with iRacing to help promote the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series in 2019 and beyond.”

Indeed, sim racing is a valued part of the makeup of JR Motorsports, which has won the last two NXS championship with rookie drivers William Byron and Tyler Reddick. Earnhardt Jr. won the initial series race back in 2009, and many of the team’s longest-tenured employees have been sim racers from the beginning of the genre.

The participating teams will compete in a driver’s draft on Jan. 30, where they select drivers to represent them in the 2019 season for the only officially sanctioned NASCAR eSports series.

“The 2019 season is a watershed moment for the series with the addition of these new teams as well as the significant increase in the prize pool to $100,000, said Tony Gardner, president of iRacing.com. “To have teams made up of both motorsport and eSports team competing in the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series has been a longtime goal of ours. Sim racing has a unique place in the eSports world. It is the only eSport that has a direct correlation to the skills needed in the motor-racing world, but without the traditional barriers, so it only makes sense to have teams involved.”

This season will include multi-channel broadcasting on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and NASCAR.com, as well as cash prizes for each race along with the championship and the appointment of a NASCAR race director.

JR Motorsports has also announced its participation in the eNASCAR Heat Pro League with several NASCAR teams. JRM is the lone representative from the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

The series kicks off on Feb. 12 at Daytona International Speedway, with drivers in virtual replicas of the NASCAR Cup Series cars and precise digital facsimiles of the most iconic NASCAR tracks raced in the real-world series. Races are Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET. All 18 rounds of the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series will be broadcast live on the iRacing eSports Network as well as on www.iRacing.com and www.nascar.com.

eNASCAR iRacing Series schedule:

Round 1: Daytona International Speedway Feb. 12

Round 2: Las Vegas Motor Speedway Feb. 26

Round 3: Auto Club Speedway March 12

Round 4: Texas Motor Speedway March 26

Round 5: Richmond Raceway April 9

Round 6: Talladega Superspeedway April 23

Round 7: Kansas Speedway May 7

Round 8: Charlotte Motor Speedway May 21

Round 9: Sonoma Raceway June 11

Round 10: Chicagoland Speedway June 25

Round 11: Kentucky Speedway July 9

Round 12: Pocono Raceway July 23

Round 13: Michigan International Speedway Aug, 6

Round 14: Bristol Motor Speedway Aug. 20

Playoffs

Round 15: Darlington Raceway Aug. 27

Round 16: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sept. 10

Round 17: Charlotte Motor Speedway – Roval Sept. 24

Round 18: Homestead-Miami Oct. 8