Up until the past couple of weeks, races on iRacing have probably been my biggest weak spot. I did do a couple of races while using a PS4 controller, but those were rough! In the past month and a half I have been able to drive with the Logitech G29 Racing Wheel. It did take a couple of weeks to get the feel of the tracks. My progression, I feel, has really started to increase.
After mostly doing Time Trials and Time Attacks, I have started joining races here recently. Over the last two weeks, I have competed in about a dozen races among four different series. These have come with mixed results. I did pick up a win at Indianapolis in the DW12 IndyCar. On the flip side, have also been involved in crashes.
I would like to share what I have learned so far and my overall thoughts. Also what you can expect in these races if you are unfamiliar. These thoughts may be shared by others, but are purely my own. Everyone can potentially have a different and unique experience with the nature of auto racing.
Dallara Dash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (DW12)
I was able to run three races in the Dallara Dash at Indianapolis. The first two did not go so well. The first race I was trailing a car and they brushed the wall coming out of Turn 1 and spun. There was no room for me to move and ended up driving into them. The second race was a little better, at least finishing on the lead lap. After these races, D.J. said that it is as much crash avoidance as it is racing.
Going into the third race, I almost decided to skip qualifying and just start at the back. I did end up running and qualified in 13th of 16 anyway. At this point, running a clean race and no accidents was the primary goal. There were a couple of wrecks in Lap 1 that were avoided. By the end of Lap 2, I was leading. Every other car had crashed! I led for the remaining 8 laps and went on to victory. As Vin Diesel once said, “it don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.”
The DW12 is a really fun car to race at Indianapolis. It can pretty much run flat out the whole way. Just watch out for Turn 1, it can bite you! Be ready for some chaos as crashes will happen early and often. The advice on crash avoidance and running a little smarter was certainly a big boost that I have since taken forward.
Carburetor Cup at Legacy Daytona International Speedway (Nex Gen)
Again, it was a mixed bag of results at Daytona in the NexGen Chevy. The style of racing is different than most tracks. You have to hold onto the draft or you will get left behind. A lap with the draft is between 2-3 seconds faster than running by yourself. There were a few solid runs with 1-Top 5 and 4-Top 10 finishes.
Just like the Dallara Dash, be ready for some chaos. Cars would crash right after the start going thru Turns 1 and 2. I found the high line could be a tough spot, at least early on. It seemed a lot of the cars may get too low and then sent back up the track collecting anyone in their path. The last race that I ran, we were running 4 cars in line (3rd pack on the track) and came upon a lapped car. This was the other issue that I noticed (I had trouble too at times, I’ll admit it), the car moved up the track as I was leading the pack. I didn’t hit the car, but did take away the downforce and it spun and then came back across the track, taking out 3 of the 4 cars in our line.
Overall, it was a blast driving the NexGen at Daytona. As I did more races, it got easier to run in the draft. It was a new experience in game and takes some getting used to. Sometimes you need to avoid the urge to pass and just run in line, otherwise you may get left behind. The car was easy to drive and could move where you needed to be.
Pickup Cup at Legacy Daytona International Speedway (Silverado)
There is a trend forming with the unranked races. Be prepared for anything. I leave race radio for these races. It can be kind of entertaining just listening to others. Before one race, a driver mentions no safety rating or iRating, how are we racing this? The replies that came back were pretty funny. Essentially it was don’t intentionally wreck anyone, but anything goes.
Same as with the NexGen, you want to run in a draft with the trucks also. At least for me, the steering was a touch looser and not quite the control as the car. It may be a combination that I need to run more laps to get comfortable in the truck, or it was a results of the series being a little hectic at times.
As for results and my races, I’ll leave it like this. Yeah… Can only move up from here!
Formula Vee Official Races
At this point, I have only run two races. The first was at the Oran Park Grand Prix set up and the second was the Tsukuba Circuit – 2000 Full. Oran was a month ago as I was still learning to race with the wheel. It was a rough result, but a great learning experience.
Fast forward a month to the Tsukuba Circuit. Even though I finished 7th and had one spin, I felt pretty good about it. There were quite a few cars that spun, but still a fun race. It will be interesting to see if it stays similar on other tracks. You will see cars spin, but haven’t seen too many crashes with other cars. This may change as more races are completed.
F-R Racing Wednesday Night Dash
Last week we some great racing at Daytona! Be sure to check out our highlights and join us every Wednesday night at 11:00E/8:00P. You can follow along on Twitch @frracingonline.
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