TIMMY HILL

NASCAR takes to the retooled road course at Daytona this weekend for what surely will be a unique unprecedented, really experience for dozens of drivers who have only raced it online. The Xfinity Series race is Saturday, followed a day later by the Truck Series and the Cup Series. Both ran the Rolex 24 endurance race on the road course in January. Kenseth and Ryan Newman have victories on the Daytona road course, each winning IROC races in the mid-2000s. While Busch and Allmendinger surely provided teammates help learning the tracks nuances, many teams eager to gain an advantage turned to road course experts for assistance this week.

A man walks through the infield as rain falls before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Wednesday, May 27, 2020, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)CONCORD, N.C. Rain washed out the Cup Series race Wednesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway a slight break for NASCAR teams taxed by a grueling return to racing. The race was rescheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m., which in turn forced NASCAR to move the Xfinity Series race scheduled for Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Xfinity Series race will instead be run Monday night, a day after the Cup Series. The second consecutive Wednesday night race would have been the fourth for the elite Cup Series since May 17. The starting order for the second Cup race at Charlotte this week was set based on the finishing order of the Coca-Cola 600 but with an inversion.

Kyle Busch (54) and Ross Chastain (10) battle during a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Monday, May 25, 2020, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)CONCORD, N.C. Kyle Busch normally celebrates his victories by climbing on top of his race car and bowing to the crowd. But with no fans in attendance at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday night due to the coronavirus pandemic, Busch passed on the tradition after driving past Austin Cindric on the final lap of overtime to claim his 97th career Xfinity Series win. "I guess I could have bowed to the camera.After a crash involving several cars sent the race into overtime, Cindric had a great restart in overtime and overtook Busch for the lead starting from the inside lane. But Busch battled back, driving by Cindric on the backstretch of the final lap and holding on to win 18th overall race at CMS. I wanted to win so bad.Busch has won 210 races overall across NASCAR's top three series, the most of any driver.

FILE - In this May 11, 2012, file photo, drivers take the green flag for the start of the NASCAR Nationwide Series auto race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C. NASCAR will re-fire the engines moments after mask-clad drivers climb into their cars at Darlington Raceway. (Tyler Barrick/Pool Photo via AP, File)DARLINGTON, S.C. NASCAR will not be as you remember it when racing returns at old egg-shaped Darlington Raceway. He tested at Darlington shortly before the season was suspended and determined then he was fit to race again. Busch and Hill are adding Xfinity Series races at Darlington and Charlotte, and a Truck Series race at Charlotte to their calendar. His only victory so far this season was the Truck Series race at home track Las Vegas.

William Byron showed hes the sharpest gamer in NASCARs iRacing Series with his third victory in four events. Byron passed Timmy Hill with seven laps remaining at virtual Dover International Speedway, where NASCAR was scheduled to actually race Sunday, to win yet again on the iRacing platform. Ive enjoyed this iRacing Series, but Im definitely ready to get going in my real car, Byron said. It brought out a late caution and a restart with nine laps remaining and Hill leading Byron at the green flag. Byron didnt need to use a bump-and-run the move Hill used on Byron to win the virtual race at Texas Motor Speedway and easily passed him on the inside with seven laps remaining.

Nobody did anything to get fired or lose a sponsor in this weeks edition of NASCAR virtual racing. William Byron won his second consecutive NASCAR virtual race on Sunday by holding off Timmy Hill the driver who moved him out of the way to win an earlier iRacing event in a race low on dramatics. Matt DiBenedetto was parked after twice crashing at virtual Richmond Raceway with Ryan Preece, the second incident clearly intentional. But that was about it in terms of controversy on a day NASCAR desperately needed a drama-free event. I wasnt in a racing family growing up and obviously this was my avenue to cut my teeth, Byron said.

The popularity of virtual motorsports racing on television has come with surprising success stories and occasional complications as race teams scramble to create value for sponsors and partners. IndyCar drivers participating in the series online races represent their real sponsors and for the most part that is also true in NASCAR. Some of the small-team drivers have seized the opportunity presented by being the only racing available. Not only did he win a NASCAR race, Hill, a regular gamer considered among the best in the iRacing community, has put together a partnership with Pit Boss Grills for the virtual racing. Hendrick Motorsports last week had Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott virtually connect with sponsors the duo would have hosted at the actual track.

William Byron led the most laps in NASCARs first two virtual races and had nothing to show for his gaming skills. Byron easily won the iRacing event Sunday at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, where NASCAR would have been really racing before the coronavirus pandemic caused sports to shut down. Some things are different, but a lot of things are similar, and this is a racetrack Ive always enjoyed coming to, Byron said. I need a beer really badly.Wallace appeared to rage quit the race after the incident. For Timmy Hill, winner of last weeks virtual race, the series has given him sudden exposure.

NASCARs new normal resumed Sunday with another virtual event, the second in an iRacing series thrown together after the coronavirus pandemic stopped nearly all sports. Timmy Hill won the virtual race at Texas Motor Speedway, where a highlight came when Daniel Suarez was parked by iRacing officials for intentionally trying but failing to crash Ty Dillon. Hill is considered among the top competitors in iRacing, a subscription-based gaming platform. That led Fox to offer affiliates the option to air the Texas virtual race on the broadcast. IndyCar made its iRacing debut Saturday in a race entered by 25 drivers and won by Sage Karam.

The Daytona 500 was scheduled to resume Monday after "The Great American Race" was postponed for just the second time in 62 years. Rain halted the event at just 20 laps, with pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out front the entire way at Daytona International Speedway. Trump was just the second sitting president to attend the Daytona 500, and first to be given a pre-race role. The last postponement was in 2012, and that was the first time in Daytona 500 history the race was not completed as scheduled. Monday marks the third time the Daytona 500 will be run on Presidents Day, the other two in 1959 and 1970.

Joey Logano and William Byron won the qualifying races that set the field for the Daytona 500. The victory in the first 150-mile race Thursday night earned Logano a spot in the second row for the season-opening Daytona 500. There were five drivers racing Thursday night for two slots in the Daytona 500 and they went to Reed Sorenson and Timmy Hill. Its the (qualifying) Duels, not the Daytona 500, said Logano, but momentum is momentum.Logano led 19 laps in the No. Logano did not seem bothered by the start of Speedweeks and both qualifying races were much calmer than last weeks Busch Clash.