Josh Wise signs with Parsons No. 98 NASCAR team - MotorSportsTalk

Only a little more than a week ago, Josh Wise announced he was leaving Front Row Motorsports’ third car. On Wednesday, it was confirmed he’ll stay in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with another fledgling operation, Phil Parsons Racing.

The team announced Wise’s signing and a switch from Ford to Chevrolet for the black No. 98 car. Wise replaces Michael McDowell, who signed for a full 2014 season with the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing team more than a month ago.

“While I enjoyed my time at Front Row Motorsports, and am thankful for that opportunity and feel I’m leaving the team on good terms, I am still really excited for what next season will bring,” Wise said in a release via NASCAR.com. “I think it was time for a change. I appreciate Phil, Mike Curb and everyone at Phil Parsons Racing giving me this opportunity. The team has a lot of exciting things going on for next year, and I’m thankful to be a part of it.”

Neither Wise or McDowell had any real results to show for their 2013 seasons. McDowell and the PPR team excelled at the four restrictor plate races, but only ran full races a handful of other times. The No. 98 team’s best restrictor plate finish was ninth at the Daytona 500, and best finish elsewhere was 26th at the fall Martinsville race.

Wise, meanwhile, at least was able to run the full race distance in his 35 starts for Front Row, but a 19th at the spring Talladega race was his best result. A 26th at Bristol in the spring was his best non-restrictor plate finish.

Front Row’s third car has not been accounted for and after Swan Racing announced Tuesday it would expand to two full-time cars for youngsters Cole Whitt and Parker Kligerman, this provisionally takes the number of confirmed 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup entries up to 36.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”