iRacing after 9+ years

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Yeah I am planning a few offline series, like Trucks at short tracks, as if NASCAR hadn't ruined the series, plus a few other special youtube series with AI. Should be fun.


Also this just in. $200,000 dollars is on the line between the top two series in iRacing for 2019.


Porsche has teamed up with iRacing for the Road World Championship

https://www.iracing.com/porsche-and-iracing-partner-on-100000-esports-world-championship/

And NASCAR has stepped up their prize money in the NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series to $100,000.
https://www.nascar.com/news-media/20...s-2019-season/


So big news, then there is also the World of Outlaws Sprints and Late Models which both offer 10k each, along with the Rally Cross and Endurance Racing Championships.

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

This F3 series has been so much fun this season. Still working on learning open wheel racing, but so far three weeks of racing have been fairly fun, even though I am a mid-rear pack guy.



Hows everyone elses start to S1 2019 going?

[jct32]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

This F3 series has been so much fun this season. Still working on learning open wheel racing, but so far three weeks of racing have been fairly fun, even though I am a mid-rear pack guy.



Hows everyone elses start to S1 2019 going?

Not bad. I didn't do any racing this week but I was on the front page for my division in the GT3 series and the WoO before this week.

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Nice, I need to get back into dirt this week, since F3 is at the Roval and the bus stop is just deadly with those.

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Finally getting back into dirt. Loving the USAC Midget. this was an amazing race where i got the bottom to hook up while everyone else ran the top.


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[superjames1992]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

I got back in the saddle for my first race since last April. I was in top split of the NiS Fixed Series at Las Vegas and finished 28th. We only had one caution all race (about 15 laps in), so it was a tough one for me. I lost 4 positions in the last 20 laps as I short-pitted on my last stint and my tires were really fading.

It’s just tough for me to do well in NiS top split. I have no chance against guys like Alfala, Bussa, etc. and even running mid-pack is a challenge. I really needed some cautions and carnage to have a chance at a mid-pack finish.

Oh well, it was fun. I’m hoping to try to run most of the NiS Fixed races this year, but we’ll see what happens. I like the strategy of the longer races.

[canes21]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

I was a very responsible iRacer tonight. Bought the Camping World trucks and within 15 minutes I was qualifying for my first race in them at Bristol. I had never driven Bristol in a race before, I had just bought the trucks 15 minutes ago and had never driven them and was doing a race. I was everyone's worst nightmare. Of Course I don't qualify well, 18th out of 24, but I was the #20 car so I guess I did better than expected? The race was a mess. We got a yellow before the first lap was over. We had 10 laps in before ever having a clean lap.



It eventually cleaned up after 20ish laps and was a pretty decent race. I didn't know the line too well, but I tried to watch the other drivers and race the same line I saw Keslowski running when I was there Sunday afternoon. I ended up finishing 6th. I had 8x points from not completely getting through the wrecks unscathed, but I never was actually in a wreck. My fastest lap was a 16.2 which I know is not good at all, but I was running smooth and safe and letting people pass whenever they got near for the first 50ish laps. By then I actually felt comfortable and was catching up the front pack before I pushed it too hard and got loose and had to slow and lose ground to stay straight. I kept it and eventually got close to the front pack again before another wreck happened and the race fittingly ended during yellow.


I had a lot of fun despite how messy it was. The trucks are fun. I am rusty and obviously very new to the trucks. I don't know what a good time is on Bristol with the trucks, but I did qualify at 15.7 I think it was. It felt rough and I definitely could tell I could improve that by half a second at the very least, but overall I was happy with my performance qualifying and racing considering the circumstances.

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Finally had some good luck tonight in the eNASCAR Peak Series spotting for the 42. This series has put on some pretty good races so far. The new package at Dega is actually really good.

[canes21]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

I'm excited to race Dega in the trucks later this week. Richmond was something else last week. I raced 3 races with the trucks there and was wrecked out of two of them. Finally on the 3rd race I was able to complete it. I qualified 11th, fell all the way back to 17th at one point, then with 15 to go I started pushing it and got up to 7th before a caution came out and ultimately ended the race. A 7th place finish and a 0x race was more than enough to make me happy. I'm still getting used to racing ovals as this is the first time in 3 or 4 years since I've gotten to race and back then it was simply running rookie street stocks to get out of Rookie and D races.



I feel like I am definitely getting better and starting to compete for higher spots. I still suck at hot lapping and don't qualify as well as I probably should. I am one hell of a driver in 2nd place, but take the cars in front of me away and I become inconsistent. I think that is just me needing more practice. I am not as inconsistent as I used to be and at the end of both Bristol and Richmond I was starting to gain on all the cars in front of me. I think that is another indicator I just need to practice more and when I get even more comfortable and consistent I'll start pushing for more top 5 spots. Still, 6th and 7th place finishes at Bristol and Richmond in my first two weeks with the trucks when racing in the 1st and 2nd splits feels pretty good.

[canes21]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Guy forced it 4 wide 5 laps into the race and I got into a big wreck. Could barely get the truck to 155. Finished 21st. Tried another race. Got wrecked on the first lap as they tried to force it 4 wide again by passing me halfway on the apron... I was excited for Talladega and then I actually raced. I'm excited to get out of Talladega.

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Yeah, the plate tracks are hit and miss, but that's what happens when you put a bunch of people in a pack.


New damage model video below.


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[canes21]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

I'm about to get my B license on oval. The thing is, I am not a fast driver. I am a consistent driver that stays out of wrecks more often than not(outside of Talladega haha). My biggest issue is that I don't know optimal track lines, what tracks to use brakes on and where, whether or not left foot braking is needed, etc. I just ran 50 practice laps on Kansas in the C Class trucks and was probably averaging a 32.3 lap time. I never could get a feel of what to run, where exactly to slow, etc.

I ran two races earlier. One with the Impala on Bristol. I would usually run one of the faster laps in practice and qualified decently well, but it was like by lap 15 I had killed the grip on my tires and I lost positions the remainder of the race. I made maybe 4 passes at most in the final 45 laps.

Is there a good site to go to to learn how to become quicker? Driving consistently and driving in traffic I am comfortable with at this point. Driving faster at a consistent pace I can't seem to achieve. I;m about to be a B Class driver with like a 1,600-1,800 iRating and I'd really like to get it up more.

As someone who bought iRacing for the road racing and only fell in love with oval rookie and has never looked back, all of my oval experience ever is just from the 68 races I've ran in iRacing the last 4 years. 59 of those were in 2015 and so far since getting my free time back I've been able to run 8 officials the last 4 weeks. I enjoy oval racing a lot more, but I definitely am not near as good at it as I am road racing despite not racing road and having stuck with oval after loving it so much.

Is this just a case of me needing to keep at it and the speed will come with experience? It just feels like my biggest weakness right now is not knowing lines or great tire preservation techniques. Like the Bristol race, I ran fast early, but I had no grip a quarter into the race. It felt like and could not keep up at the end of the race. Pushing it any harder felt dangerous and I'd get loose easily.

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Biggest thing novice oval drivers (and most of the oval drivers on iRacing) have to learn to be fast, is do not over drive the entry to the corner.


Any car that you have to drive (Trucks, Xfinity, K&N, and lower) over driving the corner is going to hurt you bad on the long run. Also make sure you are rolling through the center, and gradually getting on the throttle, rather than just smashing it. It may be able to take it for a few laps, but it will eventually burn up your RR.

[kneebon5]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

Another form of racing for me to be terrible at coming in June


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[canes21]

Re: iRacing after 9+ years

I've developed a case of driving too conservatively to avoid any collisions recently after the Bristol, Dover, Talladega weeks. I'll qualify top 10, but drive so conservatively to not get involved with anything that I drop spots. The sad thing is all that does is put more traffic in front of me to try and weave through and I still got caught in a wreck that ended my race last night prematurely. It was only 5 laps early, but still, I had actually gotten aggressive near the end and got close to the top 7 or 8 before tapping a wall and dropping to like 10th before the wreck in front of me ended my night as I tried to avoid it, but they created a wall I couldn't react quick enough to dodge.


I'm going to run a lot of practices this week, run them hard, push the car as hard as I can, then actually push during the race. It'll be a flip of how I've been racing where I'm just trying to survive. I won't be careless about it, but it'll definitely be a lot different from how I've driven from the beginning. I think never racing ovals before ever in any video game and then going through rookie where surviving is really the key has developed my too conservative style along with how many accidents I've seen when not making top split.