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Team Penske eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series Race Report

Track:                Virtual Richmond Raceway 
Race:                 Toyota Owners 150
Date:                 April 19, 2020
 

No. 2 Alliance Parts Ford Mustang – Brad Keselowski

Start: 9th
Finish: 10th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 154/154

Notes:
Brad Keselowski gave Team Penske its first top-10 finish in the eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series Sunday afternoon at virtual Richmond Raceway. Keselowski scored a 10th-place finish in the Alliance Parts Ford Mustang, capping off a strong performance in the 154-lap race that saw him run inside the top-10 for much of the event.
Keselowski started ninth and steadily worked his way toward the front from the drop of the green flag.  He was fifth by lap 50 and up to third by lap 75. He pitted during a caution at the 100-lap mark for four tires but issues on pit road shuffled Keselowski back to 15th for the restart with 47 laps to go.
A caution late in the race set up a green-white-checkered dash to the finish. Keselowski made the bold move to pit just before the race went green and he restarted 14th. The fresher tires worked to his advantage and he sliced his way through traffic to claim his first top-10 finish of the iRacing season.

Quote:
“That’s the best race yet on the iRacing tour. I finally got my own simulator rig and it paid off. I ran in the top three or four at one point in the race. I’m really excited about the progress from this week. I had a lot of fun driving the Alliance Parts Mustang on iRacing. We’re really close to competing for wins. I’m proud of our effort today.” 

No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney

Start: 15th
Finish: 23rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 147/154

Notes:
Ryan Blaney was involved in two incidents that derailed any chance for a good finish in the eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series event Sunday afternoon at virtual Richmond Raceway. The driver of the Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang was credited with a 23rd-place finish in the final rundown.
On lap 43 Blaney was caught up in the aftermath of an accident that began when teammate Joey Logano and Kurt Busch made contact at the entrance to Turn 1. The second altercation came with just four laps to go and pushed the race into a green-white-checkered finish. Both incidents added up to seven lost laps on the track for Blaney and a finish outside the top-20. 

Quote:
“That was a tough race today for our Advance Auto Parts Mustang. I qualified decent and was hoping for a good finish today, but we got caught up in a couple of wrecks. Hopefully we’ll have a better day next week at Talladega.”

No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang – Joey Logano  

Start: 14th
Finish: 25th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 135/154

Notes:
Joey Logano’s respectable run in the early laps of the eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series event Sunday afternoon at virtual Richmond Raceway ended when he and Kurt Busch tangled on lap 43 of the 154-lap event. Busch and Logano made contact at the entrance to Turn 1, triggering an accident that also involved Logano’s teammate, Ryan Blaney.
Logano spent the next eight minutes on pit road for repairs. He returned to the track and was credited with a 25th-place finish. He started 14th and ran inside the top-15 until his accident just shy of the 50-lap mark.     

Quote:
“I think the hardest part is that you’re used to feeling what the car is doing through the seat of your pants and it’s hard for me to feel that. When the car is loose that’s when I really can’t feel it and I end up spinning out. That makes it a whole different ballgame from what we typically do on Sundays.”

Team Penske Saturday Night Thunder Race Report

Track:    Virtual Richmond Raceway
Race:     Saturday Night Thunder
Date:     April 18, 2020

No. 22 Project Apollo Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric

Main Event Start: 24th
Main Event Finish: 20th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 125/125

Heat 1 Start: 6th
Heat 1 Finish: 8th
Status: Running
Lap Completed: 10/10

LCQ 2 Start: 2nd
LCQ 2 Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Competed: 15/15

Notes:
Austin Cindric started 24th and ran inside the top-25 for the majority of the 125-lap Saturday Night Thunder event at virtual Richmond Raceway in the No. 22 Project Apollo Ford Mustang before scoring a 20th-place finish.
Cindric worked his way up to 14th but unfortunately, the Mooresville, N.C. native was turned during the final laps, crossing the finish line 20th at the conclusion of the event.
The driver of the Project Apollo Ford Mustang started sixth in the first 10-lap heat race. Shortly after the drop of the green flag, Cindric made slight contact with the wall, falling to ninth. He was able to make up one position, finishing eighth, but with only the top-six advancing to the feature he was forced into the second Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) to earn a starting position. He started second and finished third in the 15-lap event to qualify for the main event.

Quote:
“Think it is safe to say that I am better at real Richmond than virtual Richmond, but I had fun. I was not banking on making it into the feature tonight so I’m happy we did. My goal was to make the top-15. We were racing for 14th I got booted out and ended up finishing 20th. It was fun to do something different. I tried to do a lot of tire saving and thought I was doing a pretty good job at that but never really got to take advantage. We had a pretty cool paint scheme with our Project Apollo Ford Mustang.”