eNASCAR Bristol Motor Speedway Odds, Picks, Predictions, and How to Watch iRacing

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Series Invitational heads to virtual Bristol Motor Speedway for Sunday’s race at 1:00 PM ET
• The race will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1
• Timmy Hill and Garrett Smithley are the only two drivers to finish in the top five of the first two races

NASCAR iRacing has taken off in its first two weeks. Last Sunday, the Texas Motor Speedway event drew 1.3 million viewers, setting a record for eSports.

This week’s virtual race is at Bristol Motor Speedway (1:00 PM ET, April 5). FOX Sports 1 will have the broadcast, which means you can watch along as you place bets. Speaking of betting, which driver is the best bet for this week’s race?

iRacing Pro Series Invitational: Bristol Motor Speedway Odds

Odds as of Mar. 31.

Hill Wins Race At Texas

Last Sunday’s race at Texas was quite entertaining with a NASCAR driver and an esports expert going down to the wire. William Byron was actually in the lead on the last lap but Timmy Hill came through in the end. He made a move late in the race to swipe the win from Byron, who had led the most laps in the race.

.@WilliamByron was in the lead, but @TimmyHillRacer was coming through!

Here's the winning move from today's #ProInvitationalSeries race! pic.twitter.com/QtlTCLsTeG

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 29, 2020

Where To Watch?

FOX Sports 1 has picked up the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational series for the rest of the season and will have the broadcast for Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Without much in the way of professional sports these days (due to the coronavirus pandemic), the major networks have been looking to fill the airwaves.

Originally, FOX Sports 1 only committed to the first race of the season. The response was fantastic as the race brought in 903,000 viewers. Of course, that still pales in comparison to a real-life NASCAR race, which normally averages 3.74 million.

⚡️Just in: @NASCAR @iracing on @fox and @FS1 garnered 1.339M total viewers (355,000 in 18-49) for Sun’s race.

Eclipses last weeks race on FS1 when combined – FS1 solo generated 823,000.

2nd highest TV rating for sports programming for last week.

— Manny Anekal (@mannyanekal) March 31, 2020

However, the ratings shot up for the Texas race (1.339 million viewers) and it’s clear that fans and bettors have taken to iRacing.

What’s The Best Bet?

These races are tricky to handicap. On the surface, you’d like to think that the esports pros have an edge over the actual NASCAR professionals. However, that hasn’t fully been the case. Byron probably should have won this past week and it was actually Denny Hamlin who won the first race (Homestead).

What a swing of emotions for a 7 year old. And a dollar into the swear jar 😳🤐 pic.twitter.com/JB4Z2j3vai

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) March 22, 2020

The race I’m looking at is the favorite, Timmy Hill. We’re just two races in but he won on Sunday and was third in the first race. You can look at some other guys like Garrett Smithley, who was fifth and third in the first two races, or Alex Bowman, who was fifth and sixth. However, I think Hill is the play.

Taking a look at Hill’s history, he has now won 674 times in 1677 iraces. He’s spending tons of time preparing for these tracks, averaging about four hours of preparation. The NASCAR pros have impressed me but I would go with either Hill or Smithley, who is the only other driver to finish in the top five in the first two races.