MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Chase Briscoe held off iRacing veteran William Byron to win the finale of the NBC eSports Short Track iRacing Challenge at virtual Martinsville Speedway Thursday evening.

Briscoe advanced to Thursday’s finale after earning a Peacock Provisional after failing to qualify during his two heat races on Tuesday at virtual Lucas Oil Raceway.

Byron was in control for the first 40 laps, but he runner-up Parker Kligerman were both given pass-through penalties for being “too good at iRacing,” which opened up the race and gave the rest of the field a chance.

When the race resumed Briscoe roared to the front on lap 51 with Christopher Bell in pursuit. Briscoe never yielded the lead the rest of the race, beating Byron to the checkered flag.

Byron made it back to second with 17 laps left, but that was as close as he could get. Bell finished third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kligerman, Kyle Busch, Landon Cassill, Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.