By AMANDA VINCENT
Virtual Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway will play host to the second race of the 2021 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series season Wednesday night. The entry list for the race has been released, and among the entrants is Keelan Harvick, the eight-year-old son of Cup Series veteran driver Kevin Harvick.
Keelan Harvick is one of 39 drivers on the entry list for the virtual race and is listed as driver of a #62 car. The young Harvick races go-karts in real life and received entry into Wednesday night’s eNASCAR race through a promotor’s provisional.
Retired NASCAR Cup Series drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer also are entered by virtue of promotor’s provisionals.
Timmy Hill, whose entry in the first eNASCAR race of the season was up in the air before he filled in for Brad Keselowski with Team Penske, received and invitation for the virtual Talladega race through a past winner provisional. The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series was created in 2020 during a NASCAR break from real-world racing because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hill won the race at virtual Texas Motor Speedway and finished in top-three in six of the seven races.
Part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck and Xfinity series driver Jesse Iwuji got into Wednesday night’s event through a fan vote to drive a #99 car.
The 36 teams/drivers with real-world charters to compete in the Cup Series received invitations. Thirty-four of those teams/drivers are on the released entry list. Cup Series regulars Kurt Busch and Chase Briscoe are participating in a tire test at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, so they are not on the list. But Briscoe is a late entry with plans to compete in the virtual race after wrapping up testing at Nashville, bringing the tally to 40 entries for the eNASCAR race.
Below, is the entry list for the virtual Talladega race:
The starting grid will be set by a single-car, two-lap qualifying session. The race will be 70 laps and is scheduled to take the green flag at approximately 7 p.m. ET Wednesday. It will air live on FS1.
William Byron won the first race of the 2021 season last month on the virtual Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway dirt track.
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