Bryan Blackford was hosting a Daytona watch party at his house late last month when he was stunned by a video that appeared on the Instagram feed of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace.
Just hours before a crucial race for Wallace, the driver was shown intensely playing a mobile racing game called “DRAFTYCAR” — and enthusiastically celebrating in his motorhome after winning.
Blackford, who spent three years developing DRAFTYCAR by himself as a labor of love and homage to his biggest passion, couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“I had some buddies over and we were all just completely beside ourselves when the video dropped,” Blackford said. “I was just like, ‘This is not real life.’”
But the energy for DRAFTYCAR is very much real, as it has swept through the NASCAR garage in recent weeks. Drivers, crew members and fans have all embraced the game as a simple yet surprisingly rich reflection of the stock car racing world.
“It’s fun to just be able to escape for however long a race is — what, five minutes? — and enjoy it and see how you can be better than your friends,” Wallace said. “(Wife) Amanda is playing it and doing it a lot, so it’s cool.”
Wallace isn’t the only one playing the game. Xfinity Series driver Kyle Weatherman was so pumped about…
