BEDFORD, Massachusetts, November 5, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- While most of his neighbors are fending off Yorkshire's late fall chill, on Sunday afternoon, November 21, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hull's Richard Towler will be basking in Florida sunshine while being honored in front of 100,000 fans as NASCAR's first national series champion from outside North America and initial titlist in the American stock-car racing sanctioning body's first truly global racing series, the 2010 NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship.
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The series is the product of NASCAR's partnership with iRacing.com, the world's leader in online motor racing.
iRacing.com is owned by John W. Henry, who also is primary owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, co-owner of NASCAR's Roush Fenway Racing and led a group that recently purchased the English Premier League's Liverpool Football Club.
There was great competition for the title and it came down to the wire, Henry said. The championship was determined at the very last one of the season's 18 races! Richard won at Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Richmond International Raceway -- all without leaving his home in Hull. Congratulations to Richard, who also finished second in the iRacing.com Road Racing World Championship.
But before the first green flag fell for the NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship race, first Towler had to qualify for the series. Only the top 50 drivers among the more than 20,000 iRacing.com members from over 80 countries are eligible to compete.
In fact, his trip to Miami -- where NASCAR senior executives will present him with $10,000 in cash, as well as a custom-designed NASCAR championship jacket, ring and trophy -- is the Web designer and part-time sim racing driver's first trip out of England.
I'm just starting to understand exactly how big this is, Towler said. It's really a huge thrill to be part of NASCAR's season finale and be recognized for my accomplishment in front of 100,000 fans at Homestead-Miami just before the race starts.
The NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship is not only NASCAR's first truly global racing series, but the first in which the races take place in the virtual world rather than the physical one, and drivers compete wheel-to-wheel with one another in real time over the internet from locations in Europe, Asia and North America.
The 18-race 2010 NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship opened 10 February with a race at the 2.5-mile high-banked Daytona International Speedway, won by NASCAR-star Dale Earnhardt, Jr., a long-time racing game enthusiast. The second race, on Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was won by Sandeep Banerjee, of Mumbai, India. Altogether ten drivers scored victories, with Towler's four wins demonstrating his versatility at a wide variety of oval tracks -- the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, two-mile Michigan International Speedway and three-quarter-mile Richmond International Raceway.
In addition to organizing the seven online racing series that are sanctioned by NASCAR, iRacing.com organizes for its 20,000+ subscribers a variety of road-racing and oval-track racing series featuring over 20 cars on over 40 tracks from North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
The UK is home to the second-largest contingent of iRacing members. The Silverstone and Brands Hatch circuits are already represented in the service's track inventory and Oulton Park is under construction. Earlier this month iRacing.com unveiled its virtual version of the Williams-Toyota FW31 grand prix car, which was developed in partnership with the legendary ATT Williams team based in the U.K.
In order to celebrate the release last week of the Williams car and our inaugural Grand Prix racing series we've developed a special half-price package, noted Tony Gardner, president of iRacing.com. It includes a three-month subscription, with all of our basic content and everything you need to race the grand prix series. It is open to everyone and the package includes the Williams-Toyota FW31 and two of the world's legendary grand prix circuits -- Silverstone and Zandvoort -- for US$35.00.
Go to: http://www.iracing.com/gpwire (Promotion code is: PR-ENGLAND)
The car is fantastic, said former F1 driver and current IndyCar star Justin Wilson after driving the Williams-Toyota FW31. It's just how I remembered driving an F1 car and even more driver-friendly than I expected. Whatever your experience, you can drive the car, though getting the last bit is really hard. But that's the challenge.
Williams-Toyota FW31 video action at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKgx2P8MwA
About iRacing.com
The company was founded in 2004 by Dave Kaemmer and John Henry. Kaemmer was co-founder of Papyrus Design Group, developers of award-winning racing simulations including Grand Prix Legends and NASCAR 2003. Henry is principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club, as well as co-owner of NASCAR's Roush Fenway Racing. iRacing.com has developed numerous corporate relationships in the motorsport industry, including partnerships with NASCAR, IndyCar, GRAND-AM, International Speedway Corporation, Speedway Motorsports, Volkswagen, Ford, and GM. iRacing is open to racers and fans of all skill levels from top-level pros to complete beginners. To join in the fun, go to http://www.iRacing.com.
Note to Editors:
A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.
SOURCE: iRacing.com
CONTACT: Steve Potter, +1-781-271-1925 (office), +1-518-596-0500 (mobile),Steve.Potter@iRacing.com
