Hamlin with the Win at Homestead iRacing!!

Hamlin with Final Lap Pass for Win!!

March 22, 2020 – Content by Nascar.com

Denny Hamlin passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap Sunday to win the first event in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Hamlin drove the No. 11 Toyota to land his 31st iRacing win, prevailing in the Dixie Vodka 150 at the virtual 1.5-mile track. The 100-lap, 150-mile event with a fixed setup was the first in a multi-week online racing series for NASCAR’s real-world standouts.

Earnhardt’s No. 8 Chevrolet survived some last-lap contact with Hamlin’s car to score second place. Timmy Hill led until late in the race and grabbed third with Chase Briscoe fourth and pole-starter Garrett Smithley fifth.

The event was organized by NASCAR, FOX Sports and iRacing with the support of dozens of current and former NASCAR drivers to fill the void of mass postponements due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. Details about other races in the series are to be announced.

RELATED: About the series

The event brought together 35 drivers with backgrounds in NASCAR’s three national series, all competing on various rigs from their rec rooms, man caves and garages. FOX Sports’ usual race-day crew attempted to add a layer of authenticity to the event, with the two-man booth of Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon presiding over the online stream.

Smithley won the pole position in pre-race qualifying, held in a group format. iRacing standout and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series regular Ty Majeski prevailed in a last-chance qualifying race, leading all 20 laps as six drivers from the Xfinity Series and Gander Truck ranks advanced to the main event.