iRacing.com has released a new promo video of their online racing simulation as popular SPEED TV commentator Leigh Diffey introduces viewers to the simulation.
Even though this video shows nothing new to experienced sim racers, the use of a well-known TV character will probably help attract a lot of new people to sim racing.








GeraArg
March 13th, 2009 at 18:21
U$S18 million spent on developing this game?
It seems that U$S17 million spent on advertising.
Paul Kelly
March 13th, 2009 at 18:24
Nice idea, but Leigh Diffey is not a household name when it comes to racing announcers in the U.S. He covers a niche series, sports cars, on a niche network, Speed.
iRacing needed to hire good ol’ DW or Larry Mac for this video to reach critical mass with Gomer Nation. :)
Hell, more people in the U.S. know who “Pinks” host Rich Christensen is than Diffey. Wonder how much iRacing paid Diffey?
timwheatley
March 13th, 2009 at 18:31
I’m British and I knew him from bike racing. :) He commented for the BBC too.
Montoya
March 13th, 2009 at 18:34
I watch lots of sports car racing and Leigh Diffey is definetely one of SPEED’s best guys there. You don’t get this kind of racing coverage in Europe…
DW would be great for sure, all iRacing races should be started with a nice long “Boogity Boogity…”
idlejimbo
March 13th, 2009 at 18:40
It’s a nice video for sure. In fact, it’s made me eager to download the demo and give it a whirl right away!! Oh yeah, I remember why I’m playing alread; no demo.
?! What is with that??!
idlejimbo
March 13th, 2009 at 18:41
^^^ That should have read ‘NOT playing already’.
Lincoln Miner
March 13th, 2009 at 20:52
idlejimbo, DOH!!!! There is a demo link for iRacing right here on Virtualr.net
http://www.virtualr.net/get-a-free-iracing-trial-month/
In fact it’s the 3rd story down on iRacing. You need to do a tad more research before you stick foot in mouth. LOL!
F1Racer
March 13th, 2009 at 20:56
yep. All you need to do now, even though you’re not committed to buy, is give them your credit card details before you trial it.
Lincoln Miner
March 13th, 2009 at 21:04
I think that was a nicely done video. Europe is a large market for iRacing. Currently just over 50% of Road Racing iRacers are not from the US, so Leigh Diffey is not a bad choice at all.
iRacing is planning on sending their laser scanning equipment to Europe. Maybe they already have…
They’ve also stated they’ll be broadcasting the World Drivers Championships (Top 50 iRacers in 24 weekly league races with prize money). That championship series/league will begin in 11 months in Feb 2010, so I wonder if YouTube will be the broadcaster?
iRacing is taking things slowly. I think the reason they’re waiting up 2010 to launch the World Drivers Championship is to allow time for 3 more updates to the softare. Each update adds new features.
I like how iRacing is run so professionally.
jux
March 13th, 2009 at 21:09
GeraArg, I’m not sure if putting a video up on Youtube costs that much.
Crazy Bored
March 13th, 2009 at 23:27
I don’t think they’ve spent much at all on advertising yet, mainly because they said they weren’t going to try and advertise until sometime this summer.
Paul Kelly
March 14th, 2009 at 01:46
iRacing might want to invest in an editor. Unbelievable that they spelled Junior’s last name Earhardt in the graphics within this video, especially since Junior is such an ardent fan, driver and general pimp of this game.
jux
March 14th, 2009 at 03:06
Paul, they’re actually hiring right now: http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=78974082
fpol
March 14th, 2009 at 04:38
Very nicely done – iRacing puts a very professional face on online racing though i must admit the first post made me laugh – and they have some car related issues that a pureist would flat out blanche at if they paid attention (which i guess doesn’t really say that much for *hard core* sim racers since they don’t seem to care).
Odd – they always say how Jr has used the game to benefit his real racing. Hmmm Jr hasn’t exactly been *stellar* the last few years…oddly enough Jimmy Spencer called him out for perhaps not being committed enough – wonder if he’s actually spending *too* much time sim racing.
Montoya
March 14th, 2009 at 04:42
Well, I think the past season and the first races this year have shown that Jr. simply does not have the ammount of talent than some of NASCAR’s other star drivers.
For years, people kept saying how DEI equipment was holding him back. Now, he’s in the championship winning team and he still can’t manage to get good results on a regular basis.
Of course, that’s nothing to blame him for… he just does not seem to have the killer instinct and the dedication it takes to become a champion. The direct comparison with Jeff Gordon & Jimmie Johnson has shown that.
timwheatley
March 16th, 2009 at 15:55
Paul – thanks. I’ll get a new version uploaded as soon as I can. :)
timwheatley
March 18th, 2009 at 16:07
Tada! Fixed. ;)