Best Bets for the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway
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The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series concludes this Saturday night with a race at virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway. Real-life North Wilkesboro hasn’t hosted NASCAR’s top series since 1996, and the track has fallen into disrepair after it closed in 2011.
Fortunately, the .625-mile speedway has been preserved forever in the iRacing library, so we’ll get to see NASCAR’s stars hit its 14-degree banks once again. The last winner at this track? Jeff Gordon, who is tied for the longest odds to win.
The other headline going into this weekend’s race is that William Byron, who has won three of six races so far, will sit this one out. It’s a true tossup heading into Saturday.
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Background
When I started covering eNASCAR back in March, I considered things like real-life performance in addition to iRacing savvy. I quickly learned that was a mistake — the best predictor of iRacing success is, well, iRacing success. I no longer look at real-life numbers.
That leaves us with a sample size of six races. And since North Wilkesboro is a short track, I’ll weigh the results from Bristol and Richmond more heavily in my projections.
Betting Odds
Here are the lines posted over at William Hill.
| Driver | Odds |
| Timmy Hill | +300 |
| Ryan Preece | +550 |
| Parker Kligerman | +550 |
| Denny Hamlin | +550 |
| Garrett Smithley | +650 |
| Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | +1400 |
| Landon Cassill | +1400 |
| John Hunter Nemechek | +1500 |
| Kyle Busch | +2000 |
| Michael McDowell | +2200 |
| Christopher Bell | +2200 |
| Kevin Harvick | +4000 |
| Erik Jones | +4000 |
| Ty Dillon | +5000 |
| Bobby Labonte | +5000 |
| Ross Chastain | +5000 |
| Joey Gase | +6000 |
| Martin Truex, Jr. | +6000 |
| Clint Bowyer | +6000 |
| Tyler Reddick | +6000 |
| Cole Custer | +6000 |
| Jon Wood | +6000 |
| Austin Dillon | +10000 |
| Chris Buescher | +10000 |
| Aric Almirola | +10000 |
| Chad Finchum | +12500 |
| JJ Yeley | +12500 |
| Jeff Gordon | +12500 |
With Byron gone, Timmy Hill has become the favorite. He certainly deserves to be — Hill has the series’ highest average finish at 3.83. And if you ignore his 11th-place finish at Talladega, the series’ least predictable track, it drops to 2.33. Hill has won once, finished second once, and finished third three times. While I think he races too conservatively to be a sure-thing like Byron, you can trust Hill to keep his car at the front.
After Hill, we’ve got a tier of drivers at +550. This is where we find simulator aces Preece and Kligerman. Preece has led 68 laps in the series so far, which is more than Hill’s 54. Most of these came at Richmond, too, which bodes well for Preece here. Kligerman, on the other hand, has only led 16 laps, and none of them came at short tracks. Neither driver has won so far.
Denny Hamlin is also at +550, and he won the series’ inaugural race at Homestead-Miami. While he’s yet to return to Victory Lane, he’s demonstrated more passion for iRacing than most other elite-level drivers, and I expect him to perform well here. Hamlin finished fourth at Bristol and sixth at Richmond, giving him the third-best average finish at short tracks behind Byron and Hill.
Lastly, I’ve got to mention Dale Earnhardt Jr. He’s got Lost Speedways on the hood this weekend — that’s his new television show about decrepit historical tracks like North Wilkesboro. The sponsorship makes for a beautiful throwback paint scheme, and should he win, a nice story.
Junior has the hours in iRacing to pull off a win, and if eNASCAR is anything like the NASCAR I know, a storybook ending could be in the cards.
Analysis and Suggested Pick
I expect that one of Hill, Hamlin, or Preece will win this race. They’ve been the most successful drivers at short tracks (Hill and Hamlin by average finish, Preece by laps led), and they should perform similarly well at North Wilkesboro.
However, Hill has a significant handicap heading into this weekend’s race. Because he finished in the top three last weekend, he must start from the rear of the field. Track position is king at short tracks, and it’s tough to play the favorite with such a disadvantage.
So instead of Hill, I’d pull the trigger on Preece. The former modified driver has more to prove here than Hamlin does, and his 68 total laps led demonstrate that he can lead the field.
And if you’ve got the money, I would double-down on Preece this weekend by taking him (-110) to beat Parker Kligerman (-110). While that bet increases your risk, you’ll get some of your money back if Preece has a good enough day to beat Kligerman, which is likelier than the odds suggest.
Suggested Prop Bets
Aside from Preece and Kligerman, I’ve got another recommended prop play over at William Hill. I’d love to put some action on Junior this weekend, and this is the perfect place to do so.
The sportsbook has paired him with Garrett Smithley (-165) this weekend, which leaves Junior (+185) in the plus money. Although Junior struggled at Bristol, he bested Smithley at Richmond, putting them at 1-1 for short tracks. Junior is 2-4 overall to Smithley, but I expect him to narrow the gap this weekend.
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Isaiah Sirois is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Isaiah, check out his archive and follow him @is_sirois.