JACKSONVILLE, NC – Matt Bussa will be turning his dreams into reality in Saturday night’s National Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram 250 at New River All American Speedway.
Bussa, 29, from Darien, Illinois, will make his debut in the Grand National Super Series after spending years competing on the virtual iRacing platform for Kevin Harvick, Inc. Bussa will be driving a car prepared by Bob Schact in the 75-lap feature preceding Saturday’s zMAX CARS Tour race. Before this weekend, his only time on track, outside of the virtual reality simulators, has been at the Skip Barber Racing School and some on-track testing in the Grand National car at Tri-County Speedway in Hudson, North Carolina.
“The main things you learn on iRacing are the tracks and the way the car feels,” Bussa said, when talking about how the simulator has prepared him. “You don’t have the seat of your pants feel, but you have the feel in your hands because we have force feedback wheels. If you’re getting loose out of the corner, your wheel will feel lighter. If you run over a curb or dip a tire in the grass, the wheel will shake and stuff like that.”
Bussa does not expect to light the world on fire in his Grand National debut on Saturday. His goal is to log laps and learn.
“I think my expectation is probably to be mid-pack,” Bussa explained. “I’m not the type of person who sets a goal that’s unrealistic. I’d like to win, that would be the perfect world situation. I did a test at Tri-County last week and was about three-tenths off Frank Kimmel’s time. Three-tenths is really slow in iRacing, but Bob thinks I could have a top-five car with that.”
New River All American Speedway is not available on the iRacing platform or on its predecessor, Papyrus’ NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, which will throw another curveball at Bussa.
“I’ve watched videos from Bob and A.J. Henriksen,” Bussa commented. “They’ve shown me onboard video from their race last year. Other than that, there’s no reference from the track on the simulator, but iRacing does have Gen-4 cars which are really similar to the real Gen-4 car. I’ve done laps in the sim on similar tracks, like Myrtle Beach.”
Racing simulators have become a common tool utilized by race teams since NASCAR implemented a testing ban in 2008. Several competitors have either started their racing careers on iRacing or have used the platform to expand their careers – including 2024 Daytona 500 champion William Byron and current NASCAR Cup Series competitor Josh Berry.
“With my story, the unique thing is, A.J. [Henriksen] randomly messaged me on Facebook, said he saw me on iRacing and I impressed him,” Bussa stated. “It’s one of the coolest sim-to-reality stories to date.”
The Grand National Super Series runs the Gen-4 car which was run in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1992-2007 and in the ARCA Menards Series until the mid-2010s.
Bussa also has his sights set on potentially competing in some Trans-Am races and potentially more Grand National races. He will test in a Trans-Am car at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin later this year.
The Grand National Super Series will compete on Saturday, April 13 as part of the National Dodge Chrysler Ram Jeep 250 at New River All American Speedway, which is headlined by the zMAX CARS Tour presented by Soundgear. More information about the race, including ticket information, can be found at newriverspeedway.com/carstour.
New River All-American Speedway is Jacksonville’s Action Attraction featuring racing and other events. For more information about New River All-American Speedway, check out the speedway’s website, like/follow “New River Speedway” on Facebook and/or follow @newriverswy on X (formerly known as Twitter).
