UPDATE: NASCAR and iRacing announced Thursday that they will increase the field to 30 drivers for Sunday’s eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series. Two will come from a qualifying race, which has been added (and will be held at 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday - no TV, no streaming) and two provisionals chosen by Fox. Qualifying race will be 25 laps, no yellows and no resets. Qualifying race is open to all Cup drivers. The feature race will be 150 laps.
After an off weekend, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series gets back on track Sunday at virtual Richmond Raceway.
A smaller field of 26 current and former NASCAR Cup drivers – down from fields of 35 drivers at Homestead and Texas and 32 at Bristol -- will take to the .750-mile virtual track in the Toyota Owners 150. Drivers not on the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s race include Dale Earnhardt Jr., Landon Cassill, Bobby Labonte, Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell and the suspended Kyle Larson.
Bubba Wallace, who was criticized for prematurely quitting the race at a virtual Bristol Motor Speedway on April 5, is back in the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s race.
There will be one scheduled reset period for repairs during the 150-lap virtual race, which will be televised on FOX, FS1 and the FOX Sports App at 1 p.m. ET. Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Larry McReynolds will call the action, with Cup regular Clint Bowyer serving as in-race contributor.
Due to the smaller car count, there will be no qualifying races or heat races to set the field for the main event.
Denny Hamlin won the first virtual race on March 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, followed by Timmy Hill (March 29 at Texas Motor Speedway) and William Byron (April 5 at Bristol Motor Speedway).
Sunday’s main event will be preceded a day earlier by the second edition of Saturday Night Thunder.
NASCAR Cup drivers not competing in Sunday’s race, as well as drivers from the Xfinity, Trucks and ARCA series, are among those eligible to take part. All drivers will compete in virtual Xfinity Series cars.
The Saturday Night Thunder race will be televised on NASCAR’s YouTube channel and eNASCAR.com/live at 8 p.m. ET.
Here is the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 150:
| No. | Driver | Affiliation |
| 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 6 | Ross Chastain | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske |
| 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 31 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing |
| 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing |
| 38 | John Hunter Nemechek | Front Row Motorsports |
| 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 51 | Garrett Smithley | Invitational |
| 66 | Timmy Hill | Invitational |
| 77 | Parker Kligerman | Invitational |
| 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 95 | Christopher Bell | Leavine Family Racing |
This event is only limited to 26 drivers. Those spots should represent full time Cup drivers. Hope to get back in the #ProInvitationalSeries after Richmond. https://t.co/gfsj0PIHMG
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) April 15, 2020
Less experienced drivers. The 5 least experienced drivers are still in the race Bob! You know better, it is just politics. Unfortunate for our partners that we signed this week to get uninvited after running all the races.
— Michael McDowell (@Mc_Driver) April 15, 2020
