Washington Capitals fan and RMNB reader Ryan Ellis will race at his hometown virtual track tonight as part of NASCAR’s Saturday Night Thunder. The Ashburn, Virginia native will drive the RMNB number 78 car at Richmond Raceway at 8 PM.
“It’s pretty cool to have our iRace at Richmond,” Ellis said. “Growing up, it was always my go-to track to go and watch my heroes race at. I got to run one of my first Cup races there too back in 2016.”
The stream of the race can be watched live below or on enascar.com/live.
Stream of the race
“I haven’t been practicing nearly as much as I’d like for this, mainly because this track has the biggest discrepancy we’ve seen between real-life driving style and habits,” Ryan said. “I’m just gonna have to miss the wrecks and hope that everyone else crashes like they usually do!”
The design of the race car this week is slightly different because iRacing will have the Saturday Night Thunder drivers race in XFINITY cars. IRacing skin designer Ben Horton updated the design and the skin is free to use for other iRacers.
Yoooo @russianmachine made @NASCAR’s Paint Scheme Preview 😭😭😭
Thank you and good luck tonight, @ryanellisracing! pic.twitter.com/qopT3fgk5o
— ianoland (@ianoland) April 18, 2020
Other big-name XFINITY drivers participating tonight include Justin Allgaier (hockey fan), Michael Annett (hockey fan), Ryan Truex, Blake Koch, Austin Cindric, and Elliott Sadler.
Since suspending its season due to the coronavirus pandemic, NASCAR has turned to virtual racing and had seen major success during its telecasts on live TV. Three different drivers have won the top-tier races including Denny Hamlin (won the first race at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway), Timmy Hill (virtual Texas Motor Speedway), and William Byron (virtual Bristol Motor Speedway).
Watch to see me and the @russianmachine Ford most likely eCrash. https://t.co/oOPGdADXoZ
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) April 18, 2020
Photos of the RMNB eCar
Video from the race
Don’t try to wreck the RMNB car or you will be checked into the boards @ryanellisracing https://t.co/NjcnEYMzFR pic.twitter.com/Meg8DKVHlp
— RMNB (@russianmachine) April 19, 2020
I’ve eDied every eWeek https://t.co/G2dBGAKXe9
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) April 19, 2020
Photos courtesy of @Horton2802
