NASCAR Drivers Takes The Wheel Online,Too

The Daytona 500 is Sunday, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his first NASCAR-sanctioned green flag on Tuesday night — albeit a pixilated version.

The NASCAR iRacing.com Series kicks off its inaugural season with 50 players from eight countries — including one from the Sprint Cup Series.

Earnhardt has been playing the online racing simulation games for several years and has become a de facto spokesman (without an endorsement deal) as well as an adviser who has guided game designers on how to make cars react to suspension and tire adjustments just as Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet does.

"I race on there every night," says Earnhardt, ranked sixth among 50 drivers in the first-tier World Championship division. "I'm a fanatic."

Other active Cup drivers in iRacing include Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, A.J. Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose and Martin Truex Jr., but the game is open to anyone and counts more than 15,000 players around the world.

"You could say it's our first international series," says Blake Davidson, NASCAR's managing director of licensing.

Earnhardt likes the game's authenticity, which is achieved by scanning track surfaces and cars with lasers. NASCAR is trying to expand that by sanctioning iRacing (founded and co-owned by Boston Red Sox owner John Henry, also a co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing) as it would a national series, officiating rules through its Concord, N.C.-based competition department.

If there's a market for it, NASCAR also hopes to allow games to be viewed by fans online and encourage drivers to sell virtual sponsorships.

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