iRacing after 2+ years

[Rules]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

I raced Talladega not long ago. Started on pole and lead until lap 4. I moved to the high side as I saw two motoring to get around me. I let them go by and got back in line. While in the pack, a car beside me clipped my back quarter and I lost it taking out the car to my left.

I couldn't get my mic to work so I had to listen to this motor mouth kid telling everyone that I caused the wreck and it was unnecessary. For the next five minutes all I heard was how I killed their family, stole their christmas gifts and ruined their lives.

If I had it to do over again, I would have probably wrecked the entire field that way at least it would have been true.

On another note, I am getting better. Seeing my times drop at Charlotte and Michigan in the Gen 6 chevy.

[Chaos81]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

If there's one thing I learned watching NiS tonight it's that I have no clue about pit strategy and saving fuel.

[superjames1992]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

LOL, that race was intense. So much blocking and wrecking down the stretch. I was glad to come out 10th, though I got pissed a few times and those restarts were just stupid. I'm not sure how I made it through T1 4-wide on one of the final restarts, haha.

It was ridiculous how tightly-packed the field was.

Anyways, that is my third-straight top 10 in NiS. I don't believe I had any top 10s this year until last week (I ran two races at the Glen).

[Chaos81]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

That race was nuts to watch.

I've gotta ask, what was with the pitting under green with about 35 to go after pitting about 25 laps earlier? Was that a fuel thing? Guess I always figured you'd want to stay out longer than that, but it seemed like everyone was pitting around there.

[Redacted01]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

That race was nuts to watch.

I've gotta ask, what was with the pitting under green with about 35 to go after pitting about 25 laps earlier? Was that a fuel thing? Guess I always figured you'd want to stay out longer than that, but it seemed like everyone was pitting around there.

Given how much I notice tires fall off in a lot of these series, it's probably just like real NASCAR. Once one pits, the rest will follow so they aren't left out losing time on old tires.

I was falling asleep at my desk at about 40 in James' race so I didn't see the end. I saw you get up to the lead and then pit under caution. Seemed like your car was much better on longer runs. You'd lose positions early and then get them back over the run.

I'm leaning towards running one of the Saturday's. I want to practice some more tonight as I need to get better at driving the car on longer runs. After the first 10 or 15, the tires start to fall off and I'm still trying to over drive it and I'll usually wreck it out of 2 pushing it too hard.

The race I had last night still scares me a bit about going 100 laps and those around me. I was in the truck and someone pulled up right in front of me in 1 and I let off the gas cautionarily (luckily he didn't get off the gas so I would have been good, but I didn't know that), ended up sliding in the wall and then someone rear-ended me. I think my new plan is that if someone slides up in front of me into a turn and I run into him, you were asking for it by not holding your line. Would much rather get slight damage to my truck (and possibly total yours) than to wreck out trying to save from hitting you. 30 minutes of repairs made that race worthless.

[jct32]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

LOL, that race was intense. So much blocking and wrecking down the stretch. I was glad to come out 10th, though I got pissed a few times and those restarts were just stupid. I'm not sure how I made it through T1 4-wide on one of the final restarts, haha.

It was ridiculous how tightly-packed the field was.

Anyways, that is my third-straight top 10 in NiS. I don't believe I had any top 10s this year until last week (I ran two races at the Glen).

Yeah but you are usually top split. I ran 3 races this year so far in NiS and I finished 2nd, 18th(Daytona), and 4th. Maybe I should go back to doing NiS.

[Chaos81]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

Given how much I notice tires fall off in a lot of these series, it's probably just like real NASCAR. Once one pits, the rest will follow so they aren't left out losing time on old tires.

Yeah, I get that much, just surprised at how early people pitted that's all. Guess some didn't pit under the earlier caution so they had to go in then.

[superjames1992]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

That race was nuts to watch.

I've gotta ask, what was with the pitting under green with about 35 to go after pitting about 25 laps earlier? Was that a fuel thing? Guess I always figured you'd want to stay out longer than that, but it seemed like everyone was pitting around there.

Well, in the case of the last set of green flag pit stops, I believe there was a caution with around 60 to go. The pit window at Michigan is somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 laps, which means it was basically a one-stop race at that point if it went green to the end.

The strategy there is to short-pit at around lap 70, which would divide the run into two 30-lap segments. This is most efficient with regards to tire wear and should provide and advantage over someone who pits earlier or later.

In my case, I think I dove to pit road around lap 65, which is earlier than what is technically ideal, but I did so for a couple reasons. First, I was racing in traffic at the time and was losing time doing so, so I thought I might be able to gain some time by hitting pit road earlier and getting back into clean air and a clean track. Second, I was doubtful we'd go green to the end (and we sure didn't, LOL), so by pitting early I would hopefully be able to maximize the advantage of the fresh tires early in the run and the guys who pitted later wouldn't have a chance to make up the time before another caution flew. Of course, that carries some risk in that you can fall a lap down if you pit early, but with the wave-around these days it isn't as risky as it used to be (it's obviously riskier at a place like Bristol where you can fall 2 laps down).

In my case, it seemed that everyone came in around lap 65-68, so when the next caution flew, I was back on the lead lap again.

Anyways, here is my race replay. The crash right in front of me on lap 74 was nuts. Pretty sure you can hear me ranting and raving a few times in the video, LOL (and some laughter towards the end with all the carnage and ridiculousness). Too bad I don't have a camera so you can see some of my hand motions, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2CiFO8fCog

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U2CiFO8fCog" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[superjames1992]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

I was falling asleep at my desk at about 40 in James' race so I didn't see the end. I saw you get up to the lead and then pit under caution. Seemed like your car was much better on longer runs. You'd lose positions early and then get them back over the run.

Yeah, I thought the setup got pretty loose-off after a few laps, probably mostly because I felt it was tight mid-corner. However, after 5-10 laps it settled back in and become pretty snug and I was found the setup came back into my liking. I don't run the same line as a lot of guys, either, so that might have something to do with it. Most guys seem to really arc the corner here, whereas I take more of a shallow entry as I tend to overdrive it too much taking a wider arc on entry and end up losing the nose and washing up the track too much.

Towards the end, I started to kind of get the shorter run settled out, though, it seemed. I just hate that snappy loose on exit feeling these tight setups give.

I'm leaning towards running one of the Saturday's. I want to practice some more tonight as I need to get better at driving the car on longer runs. After the first 10 or 15, the tires start to fall off and I'm still trying to over drive it and I'll usually wreck it out of 2 pushing it too hard.

Turn 2 is a real mess here. I was surprised I didn't really have any close calls there last night. I kept on hitting the wall on exit there in practice. Of course, I am the type of driver that crashes cars left and right in practice, but almost never spins the car in a race situation. I guess I just don't care unless something is on the line, LOL (more like I overdrive it in practice).

The race I had last night still scares me a bit about going 100 laps and those around me. I was in the truck and someone pulled up right in front of me in 1 and I let off the gas cautionarily (luckily he didn't get off the gas so I would have been good, but I didn't know that), ended up sliding in the wall and then someone rear-ended me. I think my new plan is that if someone slides up in front of me into a turn and I run into him, you were asking for it by not holding your line. Would much rather get slight damage to my truck (and possibly total yours) than to wreck out trying to save from hitting you. 30 minutes of repairs made that race worthless.

The NiS races are fun and there's a lot of attrition, especially in the lower splits (and really even the higher splits as last night showed, LOL), so if you just keep your nose clean, you should do well. You can really just ride around for the first 1/2 to 2/3rds of the race and let things settle out before really racing. I think I do that sometimes as I usually seem to find myself back in the 20s not long after the race starts before recovering later (hopefully).

Yeah but you are usually top split. I ran 3 races this year so far in NiS and I finished 2nd, 18th(Daytona), and 4th. Maybe I should go back to doing NiS.

I like the long races.

Hopefully, they will become even better when dynamic track comes out, which should hopefully come out next build (so in about a month).

[Chaos81]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

The strategy there is to short-pit at around lap 70, which would divide the run into two 30-lap segments. This is most efficient with regards to tire wear and should provide and advantage over someone who pits earlier or later.

Thanks for all the info, this part especially. It's exactly what I didn't understand and now it makes perfect sense. Given that everyone else hit the pits, I would have too, but I would have stayed out longer as this would have never crossed my mind.

Thinking about it, I believe this is what happened in the Indy race I ran. People hitting the pits much earlier than I would have on my own, and I'm guessing it was for the exact same reason. Yay for learning something new everyday.

Hopefully, they will become even better when dynamic track comes out, which should hopefully come out next build (so in about a month).

I'd love to see it next build, but my expectations are season 1 2016. I've been around iRacing too long to expect it next build.

[jct32]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

Chaos and I ran some laps today in the Skippy and the A car. I'm trying to practice for some races this week in the NiS/A fixed. Here is a replay that I have done. My times are not well. I analyzed my laps in iSpeed afterwards and it seems like other people turn in much earlier and then stick it at the bottom. I will have to work on that.

Anyways, here is this for your critiquing.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x9mkdsbefzel586/Michigan%20Slow.rpy?dl=0

[Chaos81]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

Chaos and I ran some laps today in the Skippy and the A car.

That was great fun, especially the Skippy where I think we're a little more evenly matched. Glad I joined the server you were on. That fast left hander (turn 2?) at Summit Point just kills me. Always has.

Just watched your laps.

The first thing that stood out to me is that you get off the gas very early, especially in turn 1. Try using the safer barrier (in 1 and 3) as clue to when to get off the gas. That might not be the best point to use, but it seems to work for me just fine. Secondly, you get on the gas too early, which then leads to you having to get back off the gas because the car didn't turn. Try waiting for the car to turn in a little more and take a "set" as they say before you get back on the gas. Thirdly, and I do this all the time as well, is you aren't using all of the track. Try getting back to full throttle sooner, or unwinding the wheel a little more and letting the car drift up the track further. You'll be able to carry more speed this way, which will help all the way around.

Just as my thoughts. Might not be accurate at all, but hopefully it helps a little.


Here's three laps I did the other night in practice. First one is a 39.0xx and the last two are 39.1xx. Don't take these as an example of the racing line as I screwed up, but they might give you an idea.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35807749/MIS_Cup.rpy

[Redacted01]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

James, watched some of your laps and how do you keep it so smooth? I tried running laps similar to you, which I can get pieces of them, but it seems like when I try to mimic it, when you get on the gas if I do that I wind up losing it out of 2 and 4 like I was when I first started practicing. I guess I could be getting into the gas just a fraction too soon. I just feel like I'm having to move the wheel a lot more and it's what makes me wreck and yours seems like an easy Sunday drive (at least when no one else is around).

[jct32]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

That was great fun, especially the Skippy where I think we're a little more evenly matched. Glad I joined the server you were on. That fast left hander (turn 2?) at Summit Point just kills me. Always has.

Just watched your laps.

The first thing that stood out to me is that you get off the gas very early, especially in turn 1. Try using the safer barrier (in 1 and 3) as clue to when to get off the gas. That might not be the best point to use, but it seems to work for me just fine. Secondly, you get on the gas too early, which then leads to you having to get back off the gas because the car didn't turn. Try waiting for the car to turn in a little more and take a "set" as they say before you get back on the gas. Thirdly, and I do this all the time as well, is you aren't using all of the track. Try getting back to full throttle sooner, or unwinding the wheel a little more and letting the car drift up the track further. You'll be able to carry more speed this way, which will help all the way around.

Just as my thoughts. Might not be accurate at all, but hopefully it helps a little.


Here's three laps I did the other night in practice. First one is a 39.0xx and the last two are 39.1xx. Don't take these as an example of the racing line as I screwed up, but they might give you an idea.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...49/MIS_Cup.rpy

Thanks, I'll check it out later. Yeah, I am being really impatient in the corner but I get down there and when I am in the corner I want to get on the gas when I am on the bottom. I need to let it roll a little more before getting on the gas, not as soon as I get to the bottom.

Thanks for the advice Chaos.

[Chaos81]

Re: iRacing after 2+ years

Just ran a few practice laps at Bristol in the Gen6 and boy is that place nuts. Almost makes me dizzy with how quick the laps are.