NASCAR's iRacing Pro Invitational Series has been garnering plenty of attention from both traditional NASCAR fans and sports fans looking to fill the void during the COVID-19 outbreak.
In just two weeks, NASCAR iRacing drawn plenty of eyeballs — so much so that DraftKings Sportsbook is offering weekly pools with the winner earning $10,000.
In fact, according to Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, 1.339 million viewers tuned into Sunday's virtual Texas broadcast, breaking the record for the most-viewed eSports event in U.S. TV history, which was set the week prior at virtual Homestead.
With this in mind, I've compiled key driver and race statistics through the first two NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series events and have organized into two sortable tables below.
*Stats updated through March 31
NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Driver Stats
They eye-popping takeaway when looking at driver stats is William Byron's average finish of just 20.5 despite dominating over the first two races.
Byron has an average starting position of 1.5 and has led 108 of 230 (46.9%) laps through two races. To put this dominance in perspective, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ranks second with 28 (12%) laps led.
Another interesting note is the performance (or lack thereof) of Ty Majeski, widely regarded as one of the best (if not the best) virtual NASCAR racers. Average finish can be skewed with a sample of just two races, but one total lap led is shocking for Majeski.
NASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Race Stats
After a wreck-fest to start the season at Homestead, the drivers seemed to learn a lot, which resulted in my cleaner race at Texas.
Despite running 30 more laps, Texas saw four fewer cautions.
