Denny Hamlin won a rain-shortened Toyota 500 at Darlington Raceway, Wednesday night. The race was NASCAR’s second since returning from suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.
NASCAR, like other sports, has returned without fans and that set up an interesting dynamic towards the end of the race.
A fox ran onto the track.
Fresh off of winning a heat during the “Kickin The Tires” Lower Half Dash at Daytona, Caps fan Ryan Ellis will be racing his number 78 RMNB sponsored race car at Talladega.
The virtual race, entitled Saturday Night Thunder, will be held at the world-famous Talladega Superspeedway where the high embankment shoots cars out of turns at 200 MPH.
The race will be aired live on eNASCAR.com at 8 PM and can be watched live in the below stream.
Ryan Ellis raced the number 78 RMNB e-car at the virtual Monza Oval live on Twitch, Sunday. The iRacing stream can be watched below.
Over 60 drivers competed in “Monza Madness” including NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, and former champion Bobby Labonte. The race was set up by NASCAR drivers Landon Cassill and Garrett Smithley.
Alan Bestwick did the play-by-play of the wild, crash-filled 30-lap race.
NASCAR driver and Capitals fan Ryan Ellis tried to drive his RMNB eFord into NASCAR’s nationally-broadcast race on FOX at 1 PM. Instead, the Ashburn, Virginia native got caught up in a wreck on lap five during the qualifying race.
Yes, he broke the Russian machine (again).
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, NASCAR has postponed all its races in the coming weeks. But unlike the other major sports, NASCAR has been able to weather the storm better than others due to iRacing – an online video game. Unlike in NHL simulation games, real-life NASCAR drivers are driving and shifting their digital cars from home, making the races just as exciting and, at times, ridiculous.
Last Sunday, NASCAR raced at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway and it was nationally broadcast on FS1. All of the superstar drivers in the sport participated — such as Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr, Jimmy Johnson, Matt DiBenedetto, and Chase Elliott — while Jeff Gordon, Mike Joy, and Larry McReynolds provided commentary. Clint Bowyer also provided hilarious “in-car” analysis.
Denny Hamlin won the race (from his “rig” reportedly costing tens of thousands of dollars) in a photo finish, narrowly beating Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who came out of “retirement” to participate. According to CNET, FOX Sports said the first race was the most-watched esports event broadcast on television with 903,000 viewers. So many people watched that FOX will air the entire eNASCAR iRacing Pro invitational Series over the next month and a half.
Moving forward, RMNB will be sponsoring NASCAR driver Ryan Ellis as he tries to race into Sunday’s virtual race at Texas (1 PM, FOX & FS1) and throughout the rest of the tour. Ellis, a big Capitals fan and RMNB reader, grew up in Ashburn, VA and played on George Mason’s hockey team.
By Ian Oland 10 months ago
Road America is one of America’s premier race tracks, with massive amounts of horsepower bellowing through lush Wisconsin hills.
On Saturday one of our very own will be there, as RMNB reader Ryan Ellis takes to the circuit in the SS-Green Light Racing 07 Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. It will be Ryan’s first race of the season. He will be turning both left and right, sponsored by Superlite Cars and Bachtel Excavating. You can see it all on NBC at 3 PM on Sunday.
“I’m probably more excited for this race than just about other race in my career,” Ellis said. “I almost didn’t even’t have time to get excited because it all came together so quickly.”
Ryan will be wearing a helmet featuring a Deadguins sticker — a nod to the Capitals’ hated rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The bucket is also signed by Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is retiring after this season.
By Chris Gordon 3 years ago
Yes, we know we cover hockey, but we have a NASCAR-related request. At midnight tonight, voting for this Saturday’s All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway ends. Would you vote for Matt DiBenedetto for us?
DiBenedetto, who currently ranks 32nd in Monster Energy Cup standings, races for a very small team called Go Fas Racing. His PR manager is none other than Caps fan and guy who once raced a NASCAR with RMNB’s logo on the hood Ryan Ellis. A source tells RMNB that DiBenedetto is neck and neck in a four-way race between Danica Patrick, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney for the top spot. That means your votes could literally put the man I call DiBurrito over the top.
Drivers can qualify several different ways for the race. Drivers that have recently won a race or been a Cup Series champ automatically get entry. For guys like DiBenedetto, the only way in is to win the fan vote to be included in the field of 20 drivers.
Recently, the third-year Cup driver published a serious but touching video, arguing why he deserved your support. It inspired a vote from Redskins fan Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Sunday evening, NASCAR driver and Capitals fan Ryan Ellis looked on from pit lane as his best friend Matt DiBenedetto crossed the finish line, placing ninth at the Daytona 500. The finish was the talented 25-year-old’s second top-ten ever during three seasons of racing in the Monster Energy Cup. Ellis high-fived and hugged everyone in the pit stall of the number-32 Go Fas Racing team. It was almost as if the team had won.
“At that moment, I felt so much joy. I really felt like I became part of Matt’s team,” Ellis said in a phone interview from the track. “But when I calmed down, I admittedly was super jealous and wished it was me out there.”
During the month of September, we held a fundraiser so Caps fan and NASCAR driver Ryan Ellis could get the final funds he needed to participate in the Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway. The RMNB community came up big again, raising a final total of $8,865 ($1k was donated outside of the fundraiser).
The money allowed Ryan and our blog to design the hood, do a half wrap of the car, add RMNB decals to the sides, and put all of your names — including Harambe — on the trunk.
Over the weekend it was finally time to go racing. Chris Gordon and I joined Ryan in Dover, Delaware, to document his experience. Many random, amazing things happened, so I’m going to share everything.
By Ian Oland 4 years ago
Friday night, your support got the attention of the local CBS affiliate, WUSA9. Anchors David Longo and Lesli Foster detailed our Russian Machine Never Brakes promotion, where you guys raised nearly $10k to get Caps fan Ryan Ellis into the Dover Xfinity race.
Check it out.
