Tales and tips from a veteran sim racer
My dad was the first sim racing alien I ever knew. Granted, in those early days of racing video games just after the release of the original NASCAR Racing by Papyrus, he was the only sim racer I knew. And before the advent of live streams, world championship series, or any sort of organized online Read more about The Son Also Races[…]
While real-world racing series found their seasons suddenly paused this spring, for me and many other sim racers — including a number of those real-world drivers eager to keep racing, no matter the form nor format — it was an opportunity to get some valuable virtual track time. My own plans to do more regular Read more about Hidden Talents[…]
It sounds like a question reserved for some post-apocalyptic box office thriller: would you rather be the hunter or the hunted? Of course, now that terms like “pandemic”, “quarantine”, and “lockdown” are appearing in the actual news instead of just Hollywood cinema, we may be closer than it seems to a world where it’s chase-or-be-chased Read more about The Hunter and the Hunted[…]
September was one of my best sim racing months ever. Admittedly, it was with a small sample size, but good results in my two events still made it a month to remember. It began with pre-qualifying for the new NEO-sanctioned 24H SERIES ESPORTS season. I was back behind the wheel for the first time in Read more about In-Race Reporter: Mountain High to Valley l’Eau[…]
I was never supposed to be in this position. Midway through the last NEO season, I decided that it would be my last as a driver. Both writing about and competing in the series proved to be a bigger time commitment than I could make, and when forced to choose, I figured I was a Read more about In-Race Reporter: An Unexpected Position[…]
Endurance racing is all about time. It can be your best friend or your worst enemy, and sometimes both within the same race. It can make or break a strategy. It can show how nail-bitingly close or frustratingly far you came from that next position or, in a championship series, a few more valuable points. Read more about Ten Best Drives, Part 6: The Time of My Life[…]
The classic knock against sim racing is that it’s all too easy to hit the reset button. Whether it’s recovering from a crash without a damage bill, instantly getting a new car with fresh tires already fastened (for free!), or expediting a return to the garage to tune a setup with a few clicks of Read more about Ten Best Drives, Part 5: On the Button[…]
Thinking back on my iRacing oval career, it sometimes feels like an out-of-body experience. Or perhaps more aptly, that some other, more talented oval driver took over my body whenever it came time to turn left. That’s the best explanation I can fathom for how a sim racer who, despite growing up on the Papyrus Read more about Ten Best Drives, Part 4: Doing Left Turns Right[…]
As I was growing up, NASCAR races glowed across my family’s TV screen thirty-some weekends per year. They were standard fare on a Sunday afternoon, like mom’s chicken casserole or dad’s catnaps during the commercials. But a few times each year at critical points on the racing calendar, different races graced our TV, and because Read more about Ten Best Drives, Part 3: Special Events, Special Performances[…]
As my iRacing career progressed, I came to find my niche and I discovered it was endurance racing. Rewarding patience and consistency over raw speed, longer races became my specialty. Before the team endurance racing era began on iRacing, I found my stride in longer solo races such as the Targa Virginia, often finishing ahead Read more about Ten Best Drives, Part 2: Endurance Under Pressure[…]