Podium eSports has secured media rights to three events of the For the Fans Racing League Grand National Series presented by Splash ‘n Go Graphics.
The Remembering Bob Bahre 250
The first FTF Racing League race on Podium eSports is the Remembering Bob Bahre 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on August 1. All races will air on the Podium eSports Twitch channel at twitch.tv/podiumesports.
The Remembering Bob Bahre 250 is FTF’s nod to the real-life Oxford 250, held annually every August at Oxford Plains Speedway. The initial qualifying races were held last week. 26 drivers locked themselves into the 250-lap feature.
The Last Chance Qualifier for the Remembering Bob Bahre 250 airs at 9:30 p.m. ET on STN. Podium eSports will broadcast the feature race at the virtual Oxford Plains Speedway.
Bob Bahre was the architect of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The track was built in 1990 and has hosted NASCAR races every season since. Bahre purchased Bryar Motorsports Park and redeveloped it into the 1.058-mile oval that is today. Speedway Motorsports, Inc purchased the facility from Bahre in 2008.
Bahre passed away last Saturday. He was 93 years old.
The Races
Podium eSports will also air the FTF Grand National Series events from the 2007 ‘Legacy’ version of Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 22. The race at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 5. is the final event of the Regular Season for the FTF Grand National Series. The Podium eSports broadcast of the Darlington race currently closes out the broadcast schedule with the FTF league.
The FTF Grand National Series is the premier Saturday night oval series in iRacing. It uses the Class B stock car at a variety of ovals in the service, with many used in real-life by the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The Class B stock cars are laser-scanned versions of the cars used in Xfinity Series.
The Drivers
Drivers in the FTF Grand National Series include Blake Reynolds and Caine Cook from the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. iRacing Road to Pro contenders Shawn Butler, Derek Justis, and Brian Mercurio are also represented. Twitch streamers Michael Cosey Jr. and David Schildhouse, and First in Flight 400 winner Michael Frisch also compete in the league.
The League
FTF Racing began during the glory days of NR2003, organized by Melillo and others, the precursor to iRacing. The league has been regularly active since 2015. Past champions in FTF include Kevin McAdams, Justis, Mercurio, and Schildhouse among others.
“FTF has come a long way to be where it is today,” said FTF Racing owner Justin Melillo. “Since 2008, we’ve been able to work with so many amazing people to continue to grow these FTF races to be what they are. I’ve always envisioned FTF to be a place where anyone could compete and have a good time; where the best of the best can duke it out on a neutral battlefield.”
More Info
To find out more about FTF, visit their website at www.ftfracing.net or their social media pages on Twitter, and Facebook.
For more information about Podium eSports, visit their website at www.podiumesports.com. Broadcasts can be found at twitch.tv/podiumesports. Podium eSports can be found on social media via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.