James Davison Dominates eNASCAR Windy City 110 on Streets of Chicago

For the second event in a row, Rick Ware Racing’s James Davison was far and away the dominant driver in an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on Wednesday night. But unlike his win two weeks ago at Circuit of the Americas, which came before NASCAR’s real-world debut at the track, this one was a little different: it came in the Windy City 110, a special race through the streets of Chicago conceptualized and realized by NASCAR, iRacing, and the city itself.

Wednesday’s race was the culmination of an extensive collaboration between all parties over more than a year. The question—what if NASCAR held a street race for the Cup Series—had been asked many times over the years, but bringing a new event to life in Chicago made its first steps towards becoming a reality when iRacing covertly scanned city streets last fall. Since then, the 2.14-mile track underwent extensive behind-the-scenes development, from the painstaking recreation of iconic Chicago landmarks to revisions to the track layout before the final release. In the middle of the broadcast, the track was officially released to the public, allowing all iRacing members to give it a try immediately after watching the end of the race.

As for the on-track product itself, well, that was all Davison. The top qualifier managed to avoid getting caught up in a Turn 1 incident with second place starter Anthony Alfredo, and from there he never looked back. In fact, the chase up front had more to do with just how many cars the Australian veteran of IMSA and Indy Lights street races would put a lap down. When the race’s 51 laps were completed, just Josh Bilicki and Justin Haley joined him on the lead lap, owing to the tricky nature of the course that caught numerous drivers out of position.

“I knew I had to get through turn one,” said Davison. “I saw the torpedo coming there and saw everyone get caught up in that, so that was a bit of a shame. But I wanted to thank everyone at NASCAR and iRacing for the effort they clearly went through to put this event on and render the whole track. I’d love to see a street race, it was a good bit of fun for us and a good night for Rick Ware Racing.”

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Windy City 110 results were as follows:

Details on the remainder of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series schedule will be released in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series for the world’s top sim racers will return to action on June 22 at 9PM ET from Pocono Raceway. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.