Another week, another addition to sports betting menus in the Silver State. This week the Nevada Gaming Control Board granted approval for sportsbooks to offer wagers on the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.
The approval allows all licensed sportsbooks in Nevada to post and accept wagers on the winner and matchups between drivers for the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. Circa Sports and William Hill are currently the only sportsbooks taking wagers on the sports event.
This will be the third event overall in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. The next competition will take place at 1 PM EST on Sunday, April 5 at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. The race will be shown on both via FOX and FS1 with the same announcing team that calls traditional NASCAR races for the network.
The first race of the season on Fox had just under one million viewers. The second race of the season last week set a record for esports on television with 1.3 million viewers. Timmy Hill won the race last week at the virtual Texas Motor Speedway. Hill opened as the 4-1 favorite to win the race at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway on the William Hill sports wagering app.
eNASCAR betting
Hill opened as the sole favorite at William Hill. Early wagering moved William Byron from 7-1 to 4-1 on Saturday afternoon. Byron is the 3-1 favorite at Circa Sports. One of the most popular NASCAR drivers of all time, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is the third favorite at William Hill at 7-1 . Dale Junior is +850 (8.5-1) at Circa Sports.
In addition to futures wagering with all drivers participating in the event, William Hill has eight head to head matchups including a duel between brothers. Kyle Busch is -135 versus his brother Kurt Busch. Circa Sports is offering even more matchups as well as Yes or No wagering to win the event.
William Hill was the first Nevada sportsbook to offer odds on the race this weekend. “We’re happy to be able to offer eNASCAR and other esports events on our wagering menu during the current sports climate,” said Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill’s U.S. Director of Trading.
He continued, “William Hill was the first sports betting company to post legal esports odds in the U.S. back in 2016 and we’re working to offer more games as they are approved. Keep an eye out – we’re posting new esports events every day.
While the virtual race in Bristol, TN is the first eNASCAR race to be approved, it wasn’t supposed to be. In March, Circa Sports thought they had the approval to offer wagers on the first race of the season. Unfortunately, the gaming control board didn’t approve that race for betting.
What is the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series?
Nevada sportsbooks are looking to offer new wagering options as the US professional sports leagues have suspended or canceled seasons in an effort to help slow the spread of coronavirus. The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is a safe way for professional auto racing to offer competition without endangering anyone.
NASCAR, iRacing and FOX Sports joined forces to create the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. This is a multi-week effort that will see NASCAR drivers compete virtually on the iRacing simulation platform. Big-name NASCAR drivers such as Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Clint Bowyer will compete every Sunday using virtual NASCAR Cup Series cars on digital replicas of NASCAR’s most iconic tracks.
Here’s a recap of last week’s Pro Invitational Series race that took place at the virtual Texas racetrack.
