Fans Are Loving NASCAR's Switch to Esports

Marc Deschamps

03/22/2020 08:09 pm EDT

Today, the inaugural race in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational took place, with professional driver Denny Hamlin taking the top spot. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing people around the world to practice social distancing, NASCAR has switched to an esports format in order to give fans new content to enjoy over the coming weeks. Across social media, viewers really seemed to embrace the shift in format, and a lot of people were surprised by how closely the iRacing event stacked up to the real thing. While it's clear that many enjoyed the broadcast, it will be interesting to see if viewers continue to tune in for subsequent races.

What do you think about NASCAR's iRacing Pro Invitational? Did you follow the broadcast on Fox Sports 1? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

Keep reading to find out what viewers thought about the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational!

Some were surprised by how realistic it looked.

It's nice to see what this meant to some viewers.

A lot of people needed the distraction.

People really seemed to have fun with the format!

It seems like people would be down for that.

iRacing is going to gain some interest from this.

Okay, a LOT of interest.

This might make people more open-minded about esports.

Hopefully, someone's working on it!

Hate the player, don't hate the game.

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