Three weeks ago, iRacing.com and NASCAR announced plans to start an official NASCAR-sanctioned online racing series in 2010. The partnership with one of the world’s most important racing series is already paying off as the iRacing online simulation was recently featured on NASCAR.com
The official NASCAR website is one of the most frequent used websites in the United States, giving the simulation and sim racing in general a lot of exposure. The article features NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. and carefully explains that getting started in sim racing doesn’t require much more than buying a steering wheel.
While this type of promo for sim racing is surely excellent, iRacing might be running in a little problem with their spokesperson soon. Even though Eanhardt Jr. is the most popular NASCAR driver, his on-track performances are on a rather quick downward-spiral right now, being over 600 points behind championship leader Tony Stewart after several mistake-ridden races. Not exactly the best situation to be in when you´re promoting a simulation that’s meant to be professional training tool…..
FooAtari
June 10th, 2009 at 01:15
Nice article.
I recently subscribed to iRacing, less than a week ago actually. I was very sceptical of the service. Even though I’m still in the rookie series racing the Soltice around Lime Rock and Lagua, im hugely impressed. I’m having more fun with iRacing then any other sim I have driven.
The tracks are supremely accurate, the physics excellent and the FFB the best I have felt. It really raises the bar and I don’t think I will spend much time driving my other sims such as rfactor or GTR:E.
I think for the price of a couple of Macdonalds or whatever each month, it’s very much worth the cost. Sure buying tracks and cars may be seen as a little expensive. But they are of a very high quality and you don’t need to buy everything, or a whole bunch of content at once, just build it up as you progress.
The standard of driving is generally quite high probably partly due to the cost but also the large insentive to race cleanly. It’s a bit like being in a league but with sessions available 24/7, not just a couple of weeks at set times.
I genuinly didn’t beleive I would be so impressed with it. Glad I signed up to give it a go.
fpol
June 10th, 2009 at 01:43
Great that you’re liking it FooAtari, guess since you’re driving road courses we’ll see you soon in the Skip Barber.
…regarding Montoya’s final sentence, I’ve been thinking this myself for quite awhile. Funniest thing was seeing Dale quoted in Sports Illustrated about how he thought practicing in iRacing would give him a leg up at Daytona at the 500 this year. We all know how that turned out.
Funny thing is, as far as we know, none of the top 10 in the Chase are iRacing drivers, but Jr and AJ are…and their results aren’t generally that convincing. Do the same with the IRL (Wilson is …don’t think the top 4 drive it though).
IRacing definitely helps me on track, but I’m an amateur…and that’s who i think it really helps, not nearly as much top level professionals.
moppenheimer
June 10th, 2009 at 02:02
Alex Gurney trains with it, Tomas Sheckter uses it, and just got a full time IRL ride, and Brad Keselowski uses it, and won tally and some nationwide races
Montoya
June 10th, 2009 at 02:03
Marcos Ambrose uses iRacing though, and he’s having a spectacular season considering he’s still somewhat of a rookie.
He’s one of the drivers ranking ahead of Junior right now too..
Crazy Bored
June 10th, 2009 at 04:59
I believe Marcos is even better since he is actually learning to drive a COT in real life, where Earnhardt is relatively experienced and really should know how to drive well…
Paul Kelly
June 10th, 2009 at 05:24
Well said, Foo.
I was an early, persistent skeptic of iRacing. Tried it in November with a closed mind, and unsurprisingly wasn’t impressed.
But I have become bored with LFS (racing FBMW’s on Blackwood GP EVERY race online gets dull) and rFactor (horrific racecraft on public servers), so I gave iRacing another try. I’m very glad I did.
This is a pretty abstract statement, but iRacing seems to do a heck of a lot more things right than any other sim if you’re into online racing.
A few specifics. As many others have mentioned, the track modeling is superb, much better than any other sim. You can feel every bump, every dip, every ripple. Excellent force feedback also helps you feel all of the imperfections that are captured in each track.
Combine that with iRacing’s superb physics, and the game creates more of a “seat of the pants” feel than any other PC racing sim. When you start clicking off laps in this game, you can really get into the zone and become so focused on braking markers, acceleration points at apexes, steering input, etc. This game plunges you into the rhythm of driving a race car better than any other I’ve tried, even GPL.
Some castigate iRacing for the lack of modding. I see it as a strength. When iRacing releases a track and a car, you know it’s done right and done to a consistent set of VERY high standards. rFactor’s mods and tracks are so hit-and-miss; you never know whether you’re going to get gold or crap.
iRacing’s online racing structure is MUCH less limiting than it appears on the surface. At first, I bought into the idea that sitting around and waiting to race on iRacing’s schedule was a bad idea.
Not so.
iRacing conducts racing in classes every hour in the evenings. Every hour. Plus you can jump in practice sessions with other racers while waiting for the race and have almost as much fun as in a race. Some of the most breathtaking sim racing I’ve ever enjoyed has been in Legends practice sessions at the Lanier Speedway oval.
Plus you can turn hot laps in ANY car you own on ANY track you own — regardless of your license status — at ANY time. Even if your license status forbids you from racing that car, you can still get seat time in it, have fun with it, lower your lap times and become a better driver.
One of the main reasons that the racing is so good in iRacing is the quality of opponents. Every racer is there because they’re serious about the hobby and about doing well. The racecraft and give-and-take is FAR BETTER in iRacing than any other public online racing community. It’s not even close.
I have read posts where some have criticized the iRacing community as elitist, unwilling to help newbies or share advice. Nonsense. I have found the vast majority of iRacers to be tolerant and helpful. Are veterans giving away long-toiled setups? No. But are they offering tips and being patient with occasional mistakes? You bet.
If you’re into offline racing with AI, then iRacing isn’t for you. There is no AI offline racing! But if you’re into online racing, iRacing is the best available game/service right now, and it’s worth the coin if you’re serious about the hobby of sim racing and having fun with it.
FooAtari
June 10th, 2009 at 11:24
Good post Paul, pretty close to my thoughts on iRacing
Klaas Jan
June 10th, 2009 at 11:58
Junior has been voted most popular driver in NASCAR six years in a row now, I don’t think iRacing could wish for a better ambassador. And to put a positive note to his performance, imagine how poor he would have done WITHOUT iRacing…
Tim Wheatley (iRacing)
June 10th, 2009 at 20:35
It was also featured there back in May.
http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/official/05/19/iracing.league/index.html