Team Penske eNASCAR Heat Pro League Preview - Homestead

April 20, 2020

As the popularity of esports and online racing continues to grow, especially during this time when the engines are quiet at race tracks across the country, Team Penske eSports has produced strong results in the eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series, the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge and the Supercars All Stars e-Series. On Wednesday evening, the organization looks to build on its virtual momentum as it begins its second season as a charter member of the eNASCAR Heat Pro League (eNHPL). Team Penske will open the new eNHPL season at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway with the same driver lineup of Brian Tedeschi and Corey Rothgeb that produced a solid rookie campaign in 2019.

The 2020 eNHPL season will once again be contested using the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4) platforms. It will include 14 races that feature three separate four-race segments and a wild-card round that will set the four-team field for the championship race in the season finale. The team that wins each segment will automatically qualify for the championship race with the wild-card round determining the final entry. Teams will compete for a total prize pool of more than $200,000 throughout the 2020 season.

In 2020, the eNHPL will utilize NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series entries across its 14-race schedule. The 2019 season was contested using only NASCAR Cup Series entries.

Tedeschi (gamertag - ShellVPower22) will once again race the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang in the Xbox division with Rothgeb (gamertag - Wurth_2) sporting new colors for 2020 as he competes in the No. 2 Würth Ford Mustang in the PlayStation 4 division. The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford will closely resemble the popular car design that 2018 Cup Series champion Joey Logano races in the NASCAR Cup Series. Similarly, the design of the No. 2 Würth Ford is based on the car that 2012 Cup Series champ Brad Keselowski has driven to two Cup Series wins while competing for Team Penske.

Tedeschi made eNHPL history in 2019, scoring the inaugural Xbox win during the live event at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. He was among the fastest drivers in the series, earning an additional six top-five finishes, but his 2020 goal is to visit Victory Lane more often.

“We want to win more races this year, plain and simple,” said Tedeschi. “The competition in the eNASCAR Heat Pro League is tough but we have the speed to do it. I can’t thank Shell-Pennzoil enough for their support. It’s pretty surreal to know that I will be running Joey Logano’s paint scheme this year. No pressure, right?”

Rothgeb was easily one of the most-consistent eNHPL drivers in 2019 with seven top-five finishes, his best coming at Auto Club Speedway where he was the race runner up. That consistency helped Team Penske eSports to the Championship Finale race and a third-place finish in the series standings.

“It is quite an honor for me to represent Würth and Team Penske eSports in the 2020 eNASCAR Heat Pro League season,” said Rothgeb, a native of Waynesboro, Virginia. “I’ve watched the No. 2 Würth Ford Mustang run up front for years in the NASCAR Cup Series and I’m confident we can do the same in the online racing world. We were close to a championship last year and with the support of Würth, the sky is the limit for 2020.”

The eNHPL season opener can be viewed on both the eNASCAR Twitch channel and at eNASCAR.com beginning at 8 pm ET Wednesday evening.