Before NASCAR partnered with the internet motorsports game known as “iRacing”, NASCAR Cup Series drivers from smaller teams like Timmy Hill weren’t usually making headlines. But Hill’s success in iRacing, recently broadcast on national television by FOX Sports, changed all that and brought one of Timmy Hill’s part-time sponsors, LeithCars.com into the iRacing craze as well
The idea was to bring together local race car drivers who have competed regularly at area short tracks like quarter-mile Wake County Speedway in Garner, North Carolina (just south of Raleigh), and the larger four-tenths of a mile Southern National Motorsports Park near Lucama, N.C. This new, local take on e-NASCAR’s Pro Invitational Series kicked-off May 12th on YouTube channel, MaxSpeedTV. Not only did this new LeithCars.com iRacing series feature 24 area drivers, it included live racing commentary by actual track announcers Mike Diaz and Charlie Hansen. This first race in a five-race series named the “Leith Direct 100″ also featured newly minted e-NASCAR Champ, Timmy Hill, who drives (in real life) for MBM Motorsports out of Statesville, N.C.
Hill graciously accepted Leith’s invitation to help launch this new series just days before he began preparing for the return to “real” racing with NASCAR at Darlington. If you expected the local guys to be in awe of NASCAR driver Timmy Hill or to cut him a bit of slack, think again. Timmy was the 2020 e-NASCAR Pro Invitational Series Champion, which Hill won by taking home a first-place finish at virtual Texas Motor Speedway and a string of top-three finishes, but the local racers at Southern National treated Timmy like any other driver.
Timmy Hill, in a green and woodgrain sided number 56 Camaro, had his hands full for all 100 laps of this virtual stock car race held on a fully digitized recreation of Southern National. One of the amazing aspects of iRacing is the detail that goes into each racing game. Every race venue has to be digitally scanned and then translated into working images for the race participant, (the gamers), and the viewers watching on YouTube. That detail also translates down to each race car and how it behaves on the track under the command of its driver, like Timmy Hill who was comfortably ensconced back home in his desk chair and in control of his car’s movements through his gaming console, pedals, gear shifter and “gaming” steering wheel.
What you see on-screen during the “Leith Direct 100” and what the actual track announcers respond to with their commentary, is the end result, and it’s a blast to watch.
Another detail to look for in this Leith Direct series is the variety of customized paint schemes you see on the virtual race cars. Just like in the real world, each driver is able to design a custom “scheme” or simply choose from pre-selected designs that are part of the iRacing game. Hill’s car, the green and brown Camaro, was nicknamed “the woody wagon” because it originally appeared in 2019 as an April Fool’s joke that Timmy, LeithCars.com, and MBM Motorsports played on fans at the time. The design even featured a chrome luggage rack on the rear decklid. Although the #woodywagon was never intended to appear on Timmy’s actual race car when it was raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s May 2019 Xfinity Series event, it made a great digital recreation in the YouTube race.
Other designs of note from race number one of this new five-race virtual series at Southern National, included the number 44 Kellog’s Pop-Tart car of Dylan Newsome, the blue number 07 car driven by Zach Lightfoot in a nod to the old Pontiac Trans-Am cars of the 1970s (complete with the “screaming chicken” hood decal), and race organizer/driver Mike Stodder in the number 20 Camaro which featured a blue and red paint scheme taken directly from Stodder’s actual race car, a Ford Mustang, that he competes in at Wake County Speedway.
After qualifying in 4th position, (yes, there is a pre-race qualification that narrows the starting field), NASCAR veteran racer Timmy Hill drove a conservative race for most of the first 80 laps of the Leith Direct 100. Hill seemed content to settle back in the 4th or 5th spot and let the other guys in front wreck each other before trying to make his move.
That strategy seemed to work until a wreck brought out the caution flag with around 26 laps to go. Most of the field dove for pits to put on fresh “virtual” tires while Timmy Hill, stayed out to take the lead under caution. Once the cars were re-staged and the race resumed, Hill was passed in turn 4 coming back around to the front stretch. Then, in a mass of cars just behind Hill and front-runner Blaise Brinkley, chaos ensued, collecting several of the previous top drivers like Ethan Johnson in the 66 LeithCars.com car and Robert Arch in the number 34.
After a final restart that led to a 15-lap sprint to the finish, Blaise Brinkley, driver of the black and aqua blue Rapid Race Cars number 12, continued his late-race command over the rest of the field, allowing him to take the virtual checkered flag and a points lead headed into the next race of the series.
All the races in this iRacing version of Southern National Motorsports Park will take place on Tuesday nights at 8 pm (with pre-race qualifying and staging beginning around 7:45 pm). You can watch each race live on the MaxSpeedTV YouTube channel on May 19th, May 26th, June 2nd, and culminating with the final race for the LeithCars.com Leith Direct 100 Championship on Tuesday, June 9th.
In his post-race interview with Charlie and Mike, race winner Brinkley said he felt his car was the fastest on the re-starts. Towards the end of the race, no doubt attributable to Brinkley’s pit strategy of only taking on new tires towards the later stages, Brinkley’s number 12 Camaro proved to be the strongest contender. In the end, Blaise Brinkley led 21 of the 100 lap iRacing event.
NASCAR driver (in real life) Timmy Hill, talked about racing at Southern National Motorsports Park as a teenager, during his post-race chat and looking forward to racing again with LeithCars.com at the Charlotte Roval in October in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
You can watch a replay of the race, including all the post-race interviews here.
Follow @LeithCars, @WCSpeedway, @SouthernNationalMotorsportsPark, and @MaxSpeedTV for updates on the Leith Direct 100 series.
Written by Mark Arsen for LeithCars.com.
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