{"id":29259,"date":"2020-03-29T17:20:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T22:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=29259"},"modified":"2020-04-05T15:04:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T20:04:24","slug":"timmy-hill-wins-enascar-iracing-race-at-virtual-texas-motor-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/29\/timmy-hill-wins-enascar-iracing-race-at-virtual-texas-motor-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Timmy Hill wins eNASCAR iRacing race at virtual Texas Motor Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

Timmy Hill gave the afternoon\u2019s dominant car, driven by William Byron, the virtual \u201cbump-and-run\u201d with three laps remaining to take the race lead and then ultimately held off fellow NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ryan Preece and Garrett Smithley for the victory in Sunday\u2019s O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts 125, the second event in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Timmy Hill does a burnout at virtual Texas Motor Speedway after taking home the victory.<\/p><\/div>\n

Byron, who drives the famed No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, led a dominating 80 laps but Hill\u2019s move with three laps of regulation was good enough to flush Byron back into the pack. A caution came out and Hill then had to hold off fellow iRacing regulars Preece and Smithley on a green-white-checkered restart. Byron ended up seventh.<\/p>\n

It was the 27-year old Maryland native\u2019s 674th iRacing victory, but Hill acknowledged it was among the most important of his career. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn’t be more excited,” Hill said \u201cVery exciting times for us because we just don’t get the recognition on a normal basis. To be on an even playing field is excellent. To be on this platform, the Cup platform, is exciting. The amount of folks that reached out to me has just been tremendous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last lap was just one I will definitely remember for a while.”<\/p>\n

Hill said he had already participated in his usual victory celebration \u2013 his wife gave him a hug and big glass of milk to drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cDowned that right away and hugged her,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had quite a bit of friends that were in my channel throughout the race that were spotting me, crew chiefing me throughout the race. I kind of got to chat with them. I am not surrounded by all my loved ones right now because everybody is trying to be safe.  But I got a lot of phone calls, messages. I feel like the hero today.”<\/p>\n

Although Hill, who has 1,677 iRacing starts, essentially paces the field in iRacing virtual experience, in the real world, he competes for a smaller, low-budget team. He qualified for his first NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 only this February driving the No. 66 for Motorsports Business Management and finished 27th \u2013 his best showing in the four races NASCAR held before putting the regular season on hold as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The opportunity to continue to compete \u2013 albeit virtually – against many of the same NASCAR Cup Series drivers \u2013 plus a group of drivers from other NASCAR series that qualified for Sunday\u2019s race \u2013 has been a significant achievement for Hill – a sort of virtual victory for the real life underdog.<\/p>\n

For example, Hill is competing in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series with a 12-year old steering wheel attached to a desk with only a single viewing monitor to conduct his race \u2013 a stark difference from last week\u2019s inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational winner, Denny Hamlin who estimates he spent nearly $40,000 on his elaborate simulator set-up which is high-end all the way \u2013 from its high tech race seat to the three monitors and pedal system.<\/p>\n

Hill, on the other hand, estimates his wheel cost him $300, it\u2019s mounted to a $75 desk he got at a local office store. He sits in a $100 chair coordinating his race on a gaming computer that cost him about $1,400 by his estimate. But, he noted, it\u2019s his primary laptop computer and he doesn\u2019t just use it for iRacing but for everything \u2013 from running his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Series team to filling out a personal tax return.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me personally the iRacing platform, it’s kind of an equalizer in effect that the cars that we’re driving on there, I’m in the same cars as everybody,” Hill explained. \u201cMost weekends, I’m not in that situation. I’m in a situation where I’m racing on 15 lap tires, have a motor that’s 200 horsepower down, got a car that’s probably five years old. I’m really kind of behind the eight ball as soon as we show up at the racetrack at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo come into the server where everybody has the same cars, in this case even the same setup, everybody is on the same exact playing field, basically the driver conquers all in this situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had more experience coming into it because I’ve been on the service quite a bit longer. I knew that would be to my advantage. At the end of the day, these guys are all competitors, they’re all turning hundreds of laps. They’re all doing the best they can.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me to actually beat these guys on a level playing field, it really feels good for my driving talents. I look forward to the competition as it gets better in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Certainly this second week of competition featured an even more robust level of performance \u2013 from fewer multi-car incidents, to fantastic racing up front. Byron, who famously helped earn his NASCAR opportunities through his excellence in iRacing won the pole position and showed the way for much of the race, which featured 10 leaders and 16 lead changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLed most laps, got moved out of the way. We\u2019ll get him back next time! Thanks,” Byron said of his afternoon on Twitter following the race.<\/p>\n

Hill acknowledged that Byron may not have been too thrilled with the \u201cbump-and-run\u201d pass for the win, but that it was his only opportunity for victory \u2013 something he hoped the 22-year old Byron would understand in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the etiquette is similar to real life; basically you race people how they race you,” Hill said of the Byron incident at the end of the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this situation, we’ve never really raced each other. In real life we’re on two completely different levels of competition. So this is a unique situation where we were kind of competing for the win in the closing laps. I think that kind of changes the element and style of racing. For me it was a situation where I don’t get the chance to win much on this big of a platform. I told myself, If I have a chance to win any race, NASCAR, short track level, if it came down to it, that’s what I would do. It doesn’t change because it was iRacing. That’s what I would do in real life.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing forward, I’m sure William isn’t happy about it. I’m sure he’ll do the same back to me. Reverting back to what I said before, you race others how they race you. I’ll probably get a lot of abuse going forward. I’ll have to accept that. But that’s in the future. I’m kind of living in the present and happy to get the win.”<\/p>\n

The win \u2013 on a nationally-televised NASCAR event \u2013 could be a game-changer for Hill; possibly attracting more sponsorship to either the Gander Truck team he owns or perhaps his NASCAR Cup Series car. The implications go beyond the virtual dashboard.<\/p>\n

“For me personally, I’ve been in this sport for 10 years, don’t get talked about much. I feel like I can get the job done given an opportunity. I’m trying to showcase that as many times as I can.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really feel that I can drive at a high-level in tough equipment given that opportunity,” Hill continued. \u201cI don’t know if that will come from this, but you never know. I kind of hold hope for that. We’ll kind of see.”<\/p>\n

One thing for sure, Hill will receive an iconic memento of his work.<\/p>\n

As he was completing the winner\u2019s press conference via conference call after the event, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage offered a real \u2013 not virtual \u2013 winner\u2019s cowboy hat \u2013 the traditional celebration in the Fort Worth Victory Lane.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcellent,” Hill said, when informed of the news.<\/p>\n

It was indeed an excellent day for Hill.<\/p>\n

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Race Number 2 Race Results: March 29, 2020                                                     <\/b><\/p>\n

Texas Motor Speedway                                                                 <\/b><\/p>\n

Total Race Length: 130 laps<\/b><\/p>\n

1. (10) Timmy Hill, No. 66 Toyota, 130.<\/p>\n

2. (7) Ryan Preece, No. 37 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

3. (12) Garrett Smithley, No. 51 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

4. (5) Landon Cassill, No. 89 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

5. (20) Alex W Bowman, No. 88 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

6. (2) Dale Earnhardt Jr, No. 8 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

7. (1) William Byron Jr, No. 24 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

8. (3) John H Nemechek, No. 38 Ford, 130.<\/p>\n

9. (27) Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

10. (30) Kurt Busch, No. 1 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

11. (15) Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Ford, 130.<\/p>\n

12. (4) Parker Kligerman, No. 77 Toyota, 130.<\/p>\n

13. (6) Bobby Labonte, No. 19 Toyota, 130.<\/p>\n

14. (11) Michael McDowell, No. 34 Ford, 130.<\/p>\n

15. (16) Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Ford, 130.<\/p>\n

16. (24) Ty Dillon, No.13 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

17. (19) Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, 130.<\/p>\n

18. (18) Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford, 130.<\/p>\n

19. (25) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

20. (28) Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet, 130.<\/p>\n

21. (22) Erik Jones, No. 20 Toyota, 130.<\/p>\n

22. (33) Ross Chastain, No. 6 Ford, 129.<\/p>\n

23. (31) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 47 Chevrolet, 129.<\/p>\n

24. (17) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, 129.<\/p>\n

25. (29) Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Chevrolet, 129.<\/p>\n

26. (32) Alex Labbe, No. 90 Chevrolet, 128.<\/p>\n

27. (26) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford, 128.<\/p>\n

28. (13) Tyler Reddick, No. 31 Chevrolet, 128.<\/p>\n

29. (8) Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, 128.<\/p>\n

30. (34) Ty Majeski, No. 45 Chevrolet, 122.<\/p>\n

31. (21) Ruben Garcia, No. 27 Ford, 122.<\/p>\n

32. (35) Greg Bi\ufb04e, No. 16 Ford, 121.<\/p>\n

33. (9) Daniel Suarez, No. 96 Toyota, 110.<\/p>\n

34. (14) Christopher Bell, No. 95 Toyota, 88.<\/p>\n

35. (23) Anthony Alfredo, No. 33 Chevrolet, 39.<\/p>\n

Race Statistics:<\/b><\/p>\n

Average Lap: 40.366 seconds                                                         <\/p>\n

Caution Flags: 5 for 21 laps                                                             <\/p>\n

Lead Changes: 16                           <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Timmy Hill gave the afternoon\u2019s dominant car, driven by William Byron, the virtual \u201cbump-and-run\u201d with three laps remaining to take the race lead and then ultimately held off fellow NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ryan Preece and Garrett Smithley for the victory in Sunday\u2019s O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts 125, the second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":29208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,21],"class_list":["post-29259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-texas-motor-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/EPIPS_Texas_Hill_Burnout_032902.png?fit=1517%2C907","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-7BV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29259"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29261,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29259\/revisions\/29261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}