Why Myrtle Beach Speedway will be on NBC Sports and how Earnhardt Jr. is playing a part
Myrtle Beach Speedway General Manager Steve Zacharias was sitting in the virtual cockpit of a Late Model race car when asked for his thoughts on the fact Horry County’s track will be featured on NBC Sports later this week.
“It’s great. I’m actually currently sitting at a computer getting ready to play Martinsville [Speedway] in iRacing,” he said.
On Thursday, NBC Sports announced a four-day virtual racing event called NASCAR America presents the NBC eSports Short Track iRacing Challenge in which real NASCAR drivers will compete on the computer- and Internet-based platform in a series to be televised Monday through Thursday on NBC Sports Network.
In each of the first three races — Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway (Monday), Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis (Tuesday) and Myrtle Beach Speedway (Wednesday) — 18 NASCAR drivers — six each race — will attempt to qualify for the championship event on Thursday at Martinsville. All four races will be televised at 7 p.m. on NBCSN.
For Zacharias, whose track hosts the Horry County Fair, the Hippie Fest and other events in addition to weekly racing that all have been put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak, getting in the virtual race car on the subscription-based video game is a great diversion from the real world.
“It’s fun, especially now with everything that’s going on,” said Zacharias, who’s participated in some form of Internet-based simulation racing for nearly two decades. “It’s nice to be able to have fun with your friends and do the same things you remember, the things you were doing before.”
Zacharias said about two or three years ago the folks at iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations asked if they could include the half-mile Myrtle Beach Speedway in the track lineup, received approval and then scanned the track to set up a realistic simulation for their platform.
“We’re honored to be a part of this,” Zacharias said. “There’s not a lot of short tracks that are part of it.”
Retired NASCAR fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., who considers MBS his home track after having won his first race there early in his career, is among the drivers who will virtually race the track as part of the competition. Landon Cassill, Matt DiBenedetto, Timmy Hill, Ryan Preece and Myatt Snider will be his competition.
“It’s great,” Zacharias said of Earnhardt Jr.’s virtual return to the track. “Anything to shine a light on the speedway is good.”
The races will be timed and the top two from each of the first three races will advance to Thursday’s championship race.
While Myrtle Beach Speedway sits idle like most everything in Horry County these days amid the pandemic, Zacharias said iRacing has allowed him to connect with regulars at the track while practicing social distancing.
“Some of the guys that race with us at Myrtle Beach just called me and said they were going to race at Martinsville with Late Models, so I’m currently trying to get into a race with them right now,” he said.
In January, MBS owner Bob Lutz told The Sun News that Myrtle Beach Speedway is under contract to a developer that would turn the iconic short track into a commercial and housing development if a forthcoming rezoning request is approved. Still, speedway officials have insisted — prior to the pandemic and on Saturday — that they plan to continue business as usual until any further progress on a sale is made.
“As soon as everything comes back to life we’re planning on business as usual,” Zacharias said Saturday. “We hope to be back as soon as they let us.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 8:37 PM.
