In a previous post discussing streaming, I mentioned that I transitioned into streaming myself sim racing. With the NASCAR Cup Series season coming to an end, I figured now would be a great time to discuss and look back on my time sim racing.

If you don’t know what sim racing is, it’s exactly what It sounds like: Simulated racing. Basically, I was racing pretend race cars on a simulation (Not a video game, people do not like it when you call service like iRacing a video game).

Finally Getting a Racing Wheel

Near the end of the 2020 pandemic, I was finally able to buy myself a racing wheel set. It was the classic first wheel: a Logitech G923. It was small, clunky, and loud; but it worked and let me race.

The first thing I did when I got it set up was boot up Forza Horizon 4. I picked out a Ford GT, got into the game, and immediately spun the car out and crashed into a barn. I bring this up because many people (me included) think that playing a video game on a racing wheel is as easy as driving. It is not.

There’s something that you have when driving a car that is missing when you’re driving a virtual car. That something is usually called the “seat feeling.” When you are driving your car, you can feel it. You feel the movement, the vibration of the tires, and the forces of the car moving. This information helps you subconsciously make corrections in your driving to make sure you don’t spin out and crash into a barn.

When sim racing, all of those feelings are gone. Because of this, I crashed into a barn and continued to crash into barns for the first week of having my racing wheel. Little by little, I figured out if I didn’t mash the gas pedal, I could actually control the car. From there, I started to figure out how to make the car do what I wanted it to do. I spent probably three weeks just running around in Forza before I really dove into sim racing.

iRacing: Welcome to Actual Sim Racing

I finally forked over the money needed to start sim racing through iRacing and signed up for an account and subscription. I do want to quickly mention that iRacing is not the only racing sim on the market. There are many other great sims, like Assetto Corsa. For me, iRacing made sense. iRacing is arguably the best sim on the market for oval racing, which is what I wanted to do (I love NASCAR, by the way).

With iRacing, I really wanted to make sure I started off good and didn’t become a problem for the entire track on my first race. So instead of immediately hopping into a race and taking out the entire field, I spent a week just driving on my own. This was to get an idea of how the sim would react to my inputs, as well as how to properly get around a track without being in the wall the entire time. This took a decent amount of time and required a lot of settings adjustments to get everything perfect. Once I felt confident, I jumped into a rookie street stock lobby and prepared for my first race.

Public Lobby Racing: Welcome to Pure Chaos

I quickly realized I was one of the few people out there that didn’t immediately jump into a race as soon as the race loaded up. iRacing puts you into public practice sessions before races so you can adjust to the track and get a feel for how the car does on the certain parameters the service chose for the race (Temperature, weather, time of day, etc.). As soon as it loaded, I saw three cars wrecking into each other, another person going head on into the wall, and even heard two people hurling profanities back and forth for a wreck that happened (remember, this is practice, not an actual race). I got the car onto the track, and started turning laps.

The good news was that my solo sessions were effective, and I was able to run clean laps pretty easily. The bad news was that my solo sessions did not help me when other cars were around me. Because of this, I was not good at passing or being passed. I would leave room for faster cars to get around, only to realize that I had not worked on any line except the obvious racing line, so I would wash up the track and hit the fence or another car. I also hadn’t gotten used to changing my braking points for when there were multiple cars around me. I got done in the practice session by hitting or being hit by about 15 different cars. Finally, the race starting message began blinking on the screen and I logged into the proper race server.

The race server opened up with qualifying. After being the human embodiment of a pinball, I decided the best choice would be to start from the back and just get a feeling for racing around others. Yes, I wanted to win, but I also wanted to have a clean race and get out of rookies so I could drive something that wasn’t a beater with a roll cage strapped in it.

So, I started my first race 23rd out of 24 drivers. I rolled off on the pace laps and let the cars go ahead of me once the green flag flew. This turned out to be an excellent choice, as a large chunk of cars immediately wrecked into each other and smashed into the wall. I drove carefully underneath and continued to just ride around. I ended the race about 5 laps down, but I somehow was scored in third place. Most importantly, I only had one time where I overreacted to a spin and hit the wall, other than that I kept the car clean. I spent the next week getting more comfortable with the races. And eventually got out of the rookie cars and into the next level up for public lobby racing: The ARCA Menards Public lobbies.

The ARCA cars on iRacing are probably one of my favorite cars I drove (other than the modified cars, but I will discuss that more in a future post). The cars had a lot more horsepower, so they needed a lot more care when getting on the gas. I spent the first few days spinning out due to me absolutely stomping on the gas pedal. I eventually figured it out and started driving fairly consistently. I also gained enough confidence in myself to start qualifying for races instead of just starting in the back. I also found that I really, really liked racing on short tracks.

Lanier: Welcome to Racing for the Win

I was getting better, but I had a difficult time actually finishing a race with a win. It seemed like I would either overdrive my car and get passed in the final laps, or I would panic in the lead and spin myself. I think I was leading a race with less than 10 laps to go about 15 times and would meltdown and lose in the end. This continued for about 3 months until I raced at a track called Lanier Raceway.

Lanier is a 1/3-mile short track that is pretty flat. Getting a good lap could be tricky, but I felt really comfortable around it. I also ran a few races and quickly discovered that the bottom lane of the track was the only viable option. Essentially, the race strategy is run on the bottom and wait for the guy in front of you to screw up.

On one of the final races of the week, I qualified in second place. This was one of my best qualifying times but was also an issue as it would mean that I would line up in the top lane. The race strategy became this: Get to the bottom and be patient. We lined up for the race, ran the pace laps, and the green flag waved.

As soon as I could, I dropped down to the bottom lane. I dropped back on position and was running in third, but I didn’t panic. There were 55 laps of racing, and I knew that people would make mistakes. If I just stayed patient, I knew I could get the lead. Of course, with the public lobbies being chaos, it wasn’t that long until I got into second.

A lapped car wasn’t paying attention, and the guy in front of me got impatient. For some reason, the car in second place decided to try to pass on the outside. At this time, the lapped car decided now would be a fantastic time to move up to the top lane and get out of the way. Needless to say, the second-place car and the lapped car smashed into the outside wall, and I inherited second place.

At this point, we were about 20 laps into the race, and I was about 2 tenths behind the leader. This is where I got kind of lucky. The leader was dealing with multiple lapped cars who were fighting for 15th and refused to let the leader pass. Meanwhile I had nothing but open track in front of me. I was able to utilize the entire track and run some pretty good lap times to make up the difference. In about 5 laps, I was right behind the leader and we both started making our way through lapped traffic.

I had a good feeling about the race, but I also knew I needed to calm down and just drive. I stuck right behind the leader and stayed right on his bumper. The leader also knew that the bottom, so he refused to move off the bottom line. I didn’t force the issue with him and just stuck onto his bumper. I knew from my time racing on the sim that all of the lapped cars would probably cause problems for him, and I just needed to wait for the right moment to occur.

That moment happened at the beginning of lap 32.

A lapped car that had been having an unfortunate race got to heavy on the gas pedal entering turn one and began to spin. We both hit the brakes, and the leader took evasive action by driving up to the high line. I was about to follow him when I saw it. The lapped car was rolling up the track towards the high line, and there was an opening on the bottom of the track. I immediately turned into the opening and got on the gas. When we came out of the other side, I was now on the bottom line and had the leader stuck on the top line. This was the moment I needed.

We ran side by side for a couple of laps until the leader missed a breaking spot and ran a corner poorly. I was now the leader, and there were 15 laps to go.

I could feel the rush of adrenaline and nerves hit me. Yes, I am fully aware that this is all pretend race cars and I’m sitting in my office on the computer, but that feeling of executing on a perfect moment and taking the lead in a race is exhilarating. The former leader fell back to second and dropped in right behind me. I looked at my mirror for a split second and then focused on the track.

I knew that he couldn’t pass me from anywhere except for the bottom, so I glued my car to the bottom of the track and refused to let him under me. We rode around like this for the next 12 laps. Me hugging the bottom, and him matching my every move.

Each lap spiked my heart rate a little more than the previous lap, and I noticed that I had been holding my breath for 3 laps. I finally took a breath and just focused on running my race. While I was expecting to be turned for the win, the other driver raced me respectfully. We never made unwarranted contact, and we never dumped each other. Soon 35 laps became 45. Then 45 laps became 48. I was two laps away from winning my first race.

I looked in the corner of my screen. We had less than a tenth of a second between us. If I wanted to win, I was going to have to earn it. As we came to take the white flag. I looked up to see what the former leader was planning. He got hard on the gas and rode up the track. He was preparing to dive bomb me. I figured he was hoping to get me nervous and force me into the mistake of going up the track to defend the move. I didn’t.

I knew this track. He would not be able to pass on the outside. Protecting the inside was the priority. I stuck to my line, took the white flag, and entered the turn one.

He dove down to the bottom and easily could have cleaned me out. Instead, he coasted and slightly missed the turn. If I was in his shoes, I don’t know if I would have done the same thing, but I respect how much he wanted to keep the end of the race clean. At the beginning of turn 3, we had a tenth in between us. I just needed to make this turn and hit the gas. Coming out of turn 4, I slightly spun the tires. I felt the car come loose. I stepped off the gas and then got back on in hopes that the car would stick and I would make it to the line.

The car stuck back to the track and sped across the finish line. I had just won my first race.

I celebrated like anyone else would, I fist pumped in my office to no one but me. I couldn’t cheer, as it was midnight. I didn’t care, I felt like I had won a championship. I did virtual burnouts and read a bunch of congratulations messages. I got on the voice chat and complimented the guy who came in second and thanked him for a clean race. I didn’t get a response back, but I hope the guys knows how good of a race it was. After I left the lobby, I just sat there and breathed a sigh of relief.

I was surprisingly tired.

Post Lanier

After this race, I went onto win a few more public lobby races (including my most undeserved win ever, which ill save for its own full post). And then transitioned into league racing.

League racing is its own beast and will have its own post next week. In that, I’ll talk about a championship battle, getting humbled, and racing against a true legend.

Overall, sim racing is a fun hobby. It is incredible how much adrenaline and intensity can come out of driving around a pretend race car in your office while no one is around.