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What drivers said after the IndyCar iRacing Challenge finale at Indy

By Nate RyanMay 2, 2020, 7:00 PM EDT
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VIRTUAL INDIANAPOLIS — The NTT IndyCar Series closed out the six-race iRacing IndyCar Challenge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Brickyard finale delivered a memorable finish Saturday.

Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske capitalized to take the victory after four drivers ahead of him wrecked while racing for the win on the final lap.

Pato O’Ward and Marcus Ericsson were involved in the first crash while dicing for the lead. And then Santino Ferrucci took out Oliver Askew a few hundred yards short of the checkered flag, which went to McLaughlin for the second time during the series.

Conor Daly finished second ahead of Ferrucci, Askew and O’Ward.

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

Here’s a roundup of how drivers reacted postrace on social media Saturday — some in “interview” videos with themselves:

Scott McLaughlin – Winner:

Conor Daly – Second:

Santino Ferrucci – Third:

Oliver Askew – Fourth:

Pato O’Ward – Fifth:

Marcus Ericsson — 11th:

Ryan Hunter-Reay — seventh:

Simon Pagenaud — 25th:

Will Power — 14th:

Graham Rahal — 13th:

Lando Norris — 21st:

Alexander Rossi — 12th:

Sebastien Bourdais — sixth:

Sage Karam — finished 27th:

Dalton Kellett — finished 31st:

Tony Kanaan — finished 33rd:

Lewis Hamilton receives Daytona 500 invitation from Bubba Wallace

Lewis Hamilton Bubba Wallace
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By Nate RyanSep 22, 2020, 7:30 PM EDT
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Lewis Hamilton is a fan of the new NASCAR Cup Series team formed by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan to field a car for Bubba Wallace.

Will the six-time Formula One champion also be a fan in person at a NASCAR race in the near future?

Wallace is hoping so.

After Hamilton tweeted his support Tuesday morning about the news of a Hamlin-Jordan-Wallace team making its debut with the 2021 season, Wallace responded with a sly invitation to the Daytona 500.

Much would need to be worked out, starting with how much garage and grandstand access would be afforded for a 2021 season opener that likely would occur during a still ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

But it would seem fitting given that Hamilton and Wallace have been two of the world’s most outspoken Black athletes about the quest for diversity and racial justice. Hamilton recently reaffirmed his commitment to activism after his donning a Breonna Taylor shirt sparked an FIA inquiry. Time just published a brief piece by Wallace saluting Hamilton as a trailblazer.

The idea of Hamilton attending the NASCAR season opener already had legs, too. The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver has expressed a desire to race the Daytona 500 after he has retired from Formula One.

He was a spectator (with racing legend Mario Andretti) at four-time champion Jeff Gordon’s final Cup race as a full-time in the 2015 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2011, Hamilton swapped cars with three-time champion Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen International.

Having rubbed shoulders with other racing greats so often, it would seem right for Hamilton — who is one victory from tying Michael Schumacher’s career record and also could tie the F1 record with a seventh championship this season — to spend some time with the greatest basketball player of all time.

Jeff Gordon was flanked by Mario Andretti and Lewis Hamilton before the 2015 Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Jared C. Tilton/NASCAR via Getty Images).