Getty The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series will race at Bristol Motor Speedway
The main event of this weekend’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, the Food City Showdown presented by M&M’s, takes place at at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.
The race is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET and will be televised on Fox and Fox Sports 1. If you don’t cable, here’s how you can stream the iRacing Food City Showdown online:
Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
How to Stream iRacing Bristol Online
Watch on Sling TV
Sling TV’s “Sling Blue” package comes with 47 channels, including Fox and Fox Sports 1. Not only is it the cheapest streaming service with the Fox channels, but as a special offer that ends today, you can get a 14-day free trial and don’t need a credit card (only an email address) to sign up:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch the race live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 10 hours of cloud DVR.
Watch on FuboTV
Fox (live in select markets) and Fox Sports 1 are two of the 95-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch a live stream of the race on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which will allow you to watch the race on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
Watch on Hulu With Live TV
Fox (live in select markets) and Fox Sports 1 are included in Hulu With Live TV, which comes with 60-plus live TV channels and Hulu’s extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch a live stream of the race on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
iRacing Bristol Preview
Two heat races will determine the starting lineup for Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, and the racers will then transfer over to the main event after the lineup is determined. With the coronavirus crisis altering the NASCAR season — and a vast majority of the sporting world — the virtual event will feature NASCAR stars of the present, as well as favorite racers from the past. The race will include drivers from the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, ARCA, the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series, and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
Many popular drivers have relied on iRacing and online simulations while the season is on hiatus, and the simulation races also provide fans with a way to still watch their favorite drivers race.
NASCAR Driver Clint Bowyer found his first experience driving in an online simulation to be quite similar to actual racing. “First of all, it is extremely realistic. You’re using the same mechanics, the same forces, the same movements as you use in real life to make your car go fast; and that is your hand-eye coordination, your feet,” Bowyer observed.
“You drive these things so much with the pedals, with the gas, the brake, the steering input. All of those inputs in your mind are the exact same thing, and the same tools we use to put your car to the front of the field on any given Sunday.”
Driver Bubba Wallace thinks Bristol may be a bit tougher, virtually speaking.
“It’s such a small and short track where we can get super close to each other in real life and almost like lean on each other and be OK,” Wallace said. “But when you lean on somebody in the virtual world, you kind of hit a lag, and so you lag into each other and you end up wrecking. That makes Bristol really tough because it’s so small and such close-quarters racing.”
NASCAR driver Timmy Hill came out on top of last weekend’s iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Hill is the 4-1 favorite to win again on Sunday, but he’ll be racing against some stiff competition.
Drivers participating in the Food City Showdown include Kurt Busch (Chip Ganassi Racing), Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing), Bobby Labonte (Invitational), Bubba Wallace (Richard Petty Motorsports), Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing), Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports), and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), among others.