By: Tanner Watkins
April 23, 2020 | 12:00 PM
Entry List for AutoNation INDYCAR Challenge at COTA
On Thursday, INDYCAR released the entry list for this week’s round of the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge – racing at the virtual Circuit of the Americas. One rumor has been confirmed with the entry list now public: McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris will be participating in the fun as a provisional entry.
Norris, still just 20 years of age, has 21 starts to his Formula One record after finishing 11th in the F1 standings last year as a rookie. He tallied 49 points and picked up a best finish of sixth twice in 2019 – once at Bahrain and once at Austria.
Through the relationship between McLaren F1 and the IndyCar team Arrow McLaren SP, Norris will be on the grid this weekend with Patricio O’Ward, Robert Wickens and Oliver Askew as virtual teammates.
Norris is the latest cameo inclusion to the INDYCAR iRacing series, joining high profile names such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch as drivers without previous IndyCar experience to make their debuts in the virtual scene.
Swapped the F1 car for something a little different. I’ll be racing this beast with @ArrowMcLarenSP in Saturday’s #INDYCARChallenge 🇺🇸 #iRaceforAMSP pic.twitter.com/q4qMqaYO6Q
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) April 23, 2020
The Somerset, England native will certainly bring additional eyeballs to the event as he is a regular gaming streamer on Twitch, with over 400,000 subscribers to his channel and more than 7 million views across all of his streams.
But Norris won’t be the only driver to make their IndyCar debut this week – SuperCars pilot Chaz Mostert will drive Marco Andretti’s No. 98 U.S. Concrete/Curb Honda at the Austin, Texas road course. Mostert, who drives for Walkinshaw Andretti United in Australia, follows in the footsteps of fellow SuperCars competitor Scott McLaughlin, who has been racing weekly for Team Penske in the INDYCAR iRacing ranks.
There are 33 drivers on the entry list for this week’s event, matching the season-high set last week at Twin Ring Motegi. Winners in the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge include Sage Karam, Will Power, the aforementioned McLaughlin, and Simon Pagneaud – who has won the last two races.
Tune into NBCSN at 2:30 PM Eastern on Saturday to catch the AutoNation INDYCAR Challenge live from the virtual Circuit of the Americas, featuring the stars of IndyCar and more!
Header image by EssentiallySports.com
