Stewart-Haas eSports, the simracing extension of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has named its two drivers for the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing World Championship Series, promoting one accomplished simracer from within its NASCAR team and selecting another veteran simracer from outside the United States.
Justin Bolton is a 24-year-old engineer on SHR’s NASCAR Xfinity Series team who helped Cole Custer to a career-high seven victories in 2019. Bolton has raced in the iRacing World Championship off and on since 2014, accumulating 46 starts with nine top-five finishes and a career-best points result of ninth in 2015. The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, native also has real-world racing experience, as Bolton has raced Legends cars and Late Model stock cars, winning the 2013 Fall Classic at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in the Limited Late Model division.
Canadian Dylan Duval is a 24-year-old from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The graphic designer debuted in the iRacing World Championship in 2012 and is the first Canadian iRacing winner in series history, taking the virtual checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. Duval has made 73 starts in his seven-year career, scoring eight top-fives and earning a best points finish of fifth in 2016.
Bolton will race Stewart-Haas eSports’ No. 10 Ford Mustang and Duval will pilot the team’s No. 41 Ford Mustang.
“I’m really proud to be a part of Stewart-Haas eSports and extend my overall role within Stewart-Haas Racing,” Bolton said. “It’s tough to get started in racing and even harder to stay there as a driver. iRacing has allowed me the opportunity to pursue my driving career while trialing some of my ideas from an engineering standpoint. Competing for Stewart-Haas eSports is an excellent way for me to pair my engineering role at SHR with my actual racing experience.”
“I’ve been competing as an independent in iRacing ever since I started in 2012,” Duval said. “To be able to continue my simracing career with such a prestigious organization in Stewart-Haas Racing and be a part of their growing esports involvement makes me genuinely excited. Stewart-Haas eSports has infrastructure and support I’ve never had before. To say I’m looking forward to the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing World Championship Series is a massive understatement.”
The 2020 season will mark the 11th year of the eNASCAR iRacing World Championship Series and it is the only officially sanctioned esports series of NASCAR. It features the top-40 paved oval simracers in the world who compete in racecar replicas engineered from the ground up in cooperation with real-world race teams, applying accurate mechanical and dynamic models on exact copies of the world’s greatest racing circuits.
The 2020 eNASCAR iRacing World Championship Series consists of 20 races and begins Feb. 11 at the virtual Daytona International Speedway. The series competes through October with the champion receiving their trophy, ring and check during pre-race ceremonies on Nov. 8 prior to the season-ending NASCAR Cup Series race Phoenix Raceway.
About Stewart-Haas eSports:
NASCAR is the ultimate test of driver acumen and mechanical know-how, where teams scrutinize every detail in a never-ending quest for speed. Stewart-Haas Racing has thrived in this environment, winning races and championships to firmly establish its presence in NASCAR. Stewart-Haas eSports emulates these efforts in the virtual world, where sim technology provides a visceral experience that amplifies the grit and determination of NASCAR drivers in the real world. Stewart-Haas eSports is a natural extension of Stewart-Haas Racing, where competition and simulation are one. For more information, please visit us online at www.StewartHaasRacing.com and follow on Twitter @SHR_eSports.
About Stewart-Haas Racing:
Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR team co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America. The Kannapolis, North Carolina-based organization has won two NASCAR Cup Series titles, one NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and more than 70 NASCAR races, including such crown-jewel events as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. For more information, please visit us online at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing, on Twitter @StewartHaasRcng and on Instagram @StewartHaasRacing.
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