Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third in the IndyCar iRacing Challenge Chevrolet 275 at the virtual Michigan International Speedway.
Earnhardt started 18th in the No. 3 Nationwide Chevrolet and pitted on Lap 3, which also set up him to employ a fuel-saving strategy. With 15 laps left, Earnhardt was running 10th and gained positions when competitors were forced to pit for a splash of fuel.
“It was a lot of fun,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We got a little damage in that wreck on the front straightaway at the start of the race and saved our quick fix and we never ended up using it. I had a really bad push in the car so I couldn’t really run with the lead pack.”
Simon Pagenaud, the 2019 Indianapolis 500 champion, won the race from the 22nd starting position. Scott McLaughlin was second, 13.4 seconds behind. Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag 15.3 seconds behind Pagenaud.
The 85-lap race got off to a rough start with a multi-car crash when the green flag was displayed.
“The start of the race was a little bit odd,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We’d been starting much quicker much earlier off of turn four in our practice races. I think the rest of the field behind the leaders were anticipating going around that same area.
“The leaders chose to roll a little closer to the start/finish line. Everybody kind of got banged up there, accordion-ed into each other. Someone ran into the back of me. We wanted to save our quick fix that would repair all the damage on the car because I was anticipating a lot more yellows. With the damage we had, the car would burn the right front tire really quickly, so we didn’t have the pace that we had in the practices to run with the leaders.”
