First Responder 175
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 6th round of the 2020 INDYCAR iRacing Challenge season | |
 | |
| Date | May 2, 2020 |
| Official name | First Responder 175 Presented by GMR |
| Location | Indianapolis Motor Speedway (virtual) |
| Course | Oval 2.500 mi / 4.023 km |
| Distance | 70 laps 175 mi / 482.803 km |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) |
| Time | 39.432 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Stefan Wilson (Juncos Racing) |
| Time | 40.249 (on lap 56 of 70) |
| Podium | |
| First | Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) |
| Second | Conor Daly (Carlin Motorsport) |
| Third | Santino Ferrucci (Dale Coyne Racing) |
The First Responder 175 Presented by GMR was the final round of the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge, a six-event sim racing series hosted on iRacing featuring IndyCar Series drivers designed to replace the delayed start of the 2020 IndyCar Series season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, held on May 2, 2020.
The race became controversial for two separate incidents heading into the finish of the race, between Simon Pagenaud and Lando Norris, and another involving Santino Ferrucci and Oliver Askew; none of them were penalized for the incidents.
Background
The event was part of a six-race exhibition sim racing event hosted on iRacing, which races were held between March 28 to May 6, 2020; no championships were awarded. Races were held in virtual versions of Watkins Glen International, Barber Motorsports Park, Michigan International Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway, Circuit of the Americas, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with races aired on NBC Sports Network.
Qualifying
Scott McLaughlin scored pole position for the event, while Robert Wickens, Kyle Busch, Spencer Pigot, Felipe Nasr, James Hinchcliffe, and Kyle Kaiser all failed to qualify for the 33-car event.[1]
Race and controversy
With nine laps to go, Simon Pagenaud had been leading the race, only for him to run into the wall. Pagenaud pitted following the crash and while in the pits, told over the radio "We take out Lando Norris, let's do it", in reference to a previous incident they had during the race. With two laps to go, Pagenaud, who was slowing down, promptly collided with Norris, who was leading at the time of the incident. Heading into the finish line, Santino Ferrucci took a hard left into then-leader Oliver Askew, who flipped; Scott McLaughlin crossed the finish line, from the pole.[2]
Both Pagenaud and Ferrucci were criticized following the race for their poor conduct during the race. Norris alleged that Pagenaud did so in order to prevent a non-IndyCar Series driver from winning the race;[3] McLaren CEO Zak Brown tweeted that what Pagenaud did was not something expected from a former Indy 500 champion. Pagenaud insisted that he only intended to impede Norris, while his spotter Ben Bretzman denied instructing Pagenaud to crash into Norris.[4] Ferrucci, in denying that his collision was deliberate, claimed that his collision at the end of the last lap was an attempt at a NASCAR-style side drafting, although during the stream he quipped that his clash was "worth it" and he did it "for the fans".[5] Although iRacing's sporting code explicitly prohibited deliberate behavior, iRacing did not penalize both drivers, as it was deemed as a private league organized by INDYCAR themselves, rather than iRacing;[2] INDYCAR themselves did not issue penalties for both Pagenaud or Ferrucci. Motorsport journalist Marshall Pruett later confirmed that an unnamed party involved in the incidents had also received death threats.[6]
Race results
Top 15 results shown.
^ Several drivers (mostly non-IndyCar Series drivers) competed with unbranded "engines", listed as "Dallara" in race results.
References
- ↑ "05/02/2020 race: First Responder 175 (iRacing) (EX)". Racing-Reference.info. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weaver, Matt (2020-05-02). "Last-Lap Chaos Ends with Scott McLaughlin Winning IndyCar iRacing Finale". Autoweek. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ↑ "Simon Pagenaud under fire for wiping out Lando Norris at Indy". Eurosport. 2020-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ↑ Weaver, Matt (2020-05-03). "McLaren's Lando Norris, Zak Brown Condemn Simon Pagenaud for Poor iRacing Sportsmanship". Autoweek. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ↑ Kalaf, Samer (2022-05-12). "The Anger Over a Virtual IndyCar Crash Exposed the Fragile Facade of Competition". Slate.com. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ↑ Pruett, Marshall [@marshallpruett]. "I've been told at least one of the drivers involved in Saturday's iRacing drama at IMS have received threats against their lives via social media direct message. Come on, man" (Tweet) – via Twitter. Missing or empty |date= (help)
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