What drivers said after IndyCar’s iRacing opener at Watkins Glen

The NTT IndyCar Series hosted the inaugural American Red Cross Grand Prix at Virtual Watkins Glen International this weekend, the opener of the six-race iRacing IndyCar Challenge.

NBCSports.com normally publishes a ‘What Drivers Said’ with driver quotes from postrace interviews at real-life IndyCar and NASCAR races.

This post will round up how drivers reacted postrace on social media -- some in “interview” videos with themselves.

Sage Karam - Winner:

Boom P1 in the Indycar Iracing Challenge! Was super cool to get out there with all the guys and be able to compete and have fun with it! Big shout out to @DRRIndyCar and @WIXFilters she looks good up front! Hope all fans enjoyed and looking forward to next week! @IndyCar @iRacing pic.twitter.com/neJIbYuLXm

— Sage Karam (@SageKaram) March 28, 2020

Felix Rosenqvist - Finished 2nd:

Thumbs up from the runner-up, @FRosenqvist!#NTTDATARacing | #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/LGDCMRRbbk

— CGR IndyCar (@CGRindycar) March 28, 2020

Will Power - Finished 3rd:

Good start to the @IndyCar season ... 🥉🏁

// #INDYCAR / #INDYCARChallenge pic.twitter.com/QYFkbNsW83

— Will Power (@12WillPower) March 28, 2020

Scott McLaughlin - Finished 4th:

Thanks for the race @IndyCar ! It was good fun! Bring on the next one! #esports pic.twitter.com/o8YrrtcPkl

— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) March 28, 2020

Oliver Askew - Finished 5th:

Wow that was fun. Hope everyone enjoyed watching!!! Sorry about the contact early on @smclaughlin93 and anyone who got caught up in it, but had a good fight there at the end. Thank you @IndyCar for putting this together, looking forward to next week! @ArrowMcLarenSP @ArrowGlobal

— Oliver Askew (@Oliver_Askew) March 28, 2020

Simon Pagenaud - Finished 6th

Wow that was hard work! Hope you guys enjoyed the @iRacing show... we recovered from an early incident to finish 6th. It was fun and an honor to bring you all some racing today! #indycar pic.twitter.com/IwE74PIf76

— Simon Pagenaud (@simonpagenaud) March 28, 2020

Josef Newgarden - Finished seventh:

P7 in the first @iRacing @IndyCar challenge. Not bad for the first outing! Ready for more!

I’ll be streaming more in the next couple weeks so make sure you head over to my YouTube and subscribe!https://t.co/bIrYh00ghs pic.twitter.com/M6zXegcljN

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) March 28, 2020

Conor Daly - Finished 10th:

24th or whatever last was, to 10th! Haha we’ll take that for my first ever official @iRacing event. We lost a screw in the ikea kitchen table chair I was sitting on and the cardboard box supporting my pedals collapsed. But we had a clean race! 😂 @USAFRecruiting @ECRIndy pic.twitter.com/6HAul6ppUL

— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) March 28, 2020

Dalton Kellett - Finished 11th:

Wow, exciting stuff! First IndyCar iRacing Challenge race is complete, brought it home P11.

Thank you to @IndyCar and @iRacing for working together to put this on. Quick turn around to get the Aeroscreen implemented and liveries in-game.#INDYCAR #INDYCARChallenge pic.twitter.com/PlcF0Bn8rK

— Dalton Kellett (@Dalton_Kellett) March 28, 2020

Kyle Kaiser - Finished 12th:

My #INDYCARChallenge post race recap! Thanks @juncosracing @IndyCar @iRacing for making this happen! pic.twitter.com/JAFoU9D83B

— Kyle Kaiser (@KyleKRacing) March 28, 2020

Pato O’Ward - Finished 13th:

Everything was going so well.... until I ran out of fuel 🤣 wing was a bit bent too☠️ had such a blast though🥳 #VirtualRace

Todo iba muy bien ... hasta que me quedé sin combustible 🤣 #CarreraVirtual @iRacing || @ArrowGlobal || @ArrowMcLarenSP || @McLarenF1 || @IndyCar pic.twitter.com/Uvc1pD23Y7

— Pato O'Ward (@PatricioOWard) March 28, 2020

Graham Rahal - Finished 14th:

Part 2 about the radio chatter between drivers 😂#INDYCARChallenge pic.twitter.com/uIneRV1TyF

— Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (@RLLracing) March 28, 2020

Felipe Nasr - Finished 15th:

Jimmie Johnson - Finished 16th (with Cup crew chief Cliff Daniels paying rapt attention):

Such a cool experience, they were amazing. I had no idea how deep the layers go in the world of sim racing. https://t.co/m80je7gtOx

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) March 28, 2020

Marcus Ericsson - Finished 18th:

Well that didn’t go to plan 😅. Caught up in L1 crash and then lost internet connection due to thunderstorms.. A lot for me to learn in this type of racing but I’ll practice more and give it another go next week! Well done to everyone and I hope you enjoyed it #INDYCARChallenge pic.twitter.com/R1QNDB4iFx

— Marcus Ericsson (@Ericsson_Marcus) March 28, 2020

Zach Veach - Finished 19th:

Taken out on the start and then just cruised around 5 laps down today. Thanks to everyone who watched! Also big thanks to @GabbyChaves for letting me use his sim. Hoping to have mine built mid next week to actually start practicing.

— Zach Veach (@ZachVeach) March 28, 2020

Alex Palou - Finished 20th:

Oh god 😩

Was running very quick in P4. Decided to pit to undercut the guy in front and my virtual team was not there. 😭

I f**ked the pitstop setting while driving... will be better next week! 🤓

Thanks @iRacing and @IndyCar for the show! 🤩#IndyCariRacingChallenge pic.twitter.com/1NkvQlXkKM

— Alex Palou Montalbo (@AlexPalou) March 28, 2020

Sebastien Bourdais - Finished 23rd:

A bit of a shame, lots of time spent trying to prepare for this @iRacing @IndyCar event and got disqualified for not piting to fix a damaged front wing... Thanks everyone @AJFoytRacing @SwindellSpdLab and special thanks @TristanVautier for allowing me to use his simulator.

— Sébastien Bourdais (@BourdaisOnTrack) March 28, 2020

James Hinchcliffe - Finished 25th (did not start):

Just learning that my car never showed up in the game. Obviously a glitch on this side. Really sucks. Spent a lot of time getting ready for this!

— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) March 28, 2020