“The whole iRacing process is sort of overwhelming for me. I finally just said, ‘The heck with it. I’m going to go race.’ And it’s just like racing anything else – if you don’t go race, you just get further behind, because everyone is getting better. So, I decided to dive in at Richmond. I actually qualified in the middle of the pack and was running fine, but you’ve got your spotter in one ear, and you’ve also got the engine noise from the car. Plus, I was on Skype because the team was broadcasting on Twitch. So, I’ve got my laptop on my left, my iPad on my right, and my phone on the floor, and I’ve got all this stuff going on in my ear. I’m at the point in my iRacing career where if something flashes on the screen or something is in my ear, it distracts me because I have to be so focused on what I’m doing because I don’t really know what I’m doing. So, I’m running along there and have passed a couple of cars and all of a sudden we’re having trouble with the laptop with FOX connecting. Before the race, I sent them my other Skype account and said use this one because it’s on my iPad. Then in the race, I hit the car on the left side of me, and then I hit the guy on the right side of me and I brake checked the guy behind me. Well, it was because my iPad rings into my headset, so I don’t hear the engine noise, my spotter, nothing, because it’s that crazy Skype ring. I jerk the wheel to the right and to the left. I’m reaching over trying to shut the iPad off. I’m trying to hit end, but the facial recognition says use your passcode. So, I’m trying to reach over to grab the iPad and, meanwhile, I’m hitting everyone who is around me. From that point, it kind of spiraled out of control. But I still had fun. I was way more competitive than I thought I would be. I’ve learned a lot, too. I feel like I’m going to do a little bit better as we get to Talladega with our Busch Flannel Ford Mustang. The short tracks are hard. I should have started at Texas, because I was fine in practice at Texas. If it wasn’t for Ryan Preece, I wouldn’t even be close. He was kind enough to help me on a daily basis.”
• This is Harvick’s second eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race.
• Harvick started 17th and finished 29th in the previous eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Richmond.
• In actual NASCAR Cup Series racing at Talladega, Harvick has one win, seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes with 260 laps led in 38 career starts.
• Harvick’s Talladega victory came in April 2010.
TSC PR
