iRacing Seasons
 

This is a slightly different type of post, as all the drivers are real world people, essentially it is a racing MMO.


This week I have been focused dirt modifieds since it is a fixed setup series (everyone has the same setup in the car) and each night is a different track. (regular seasons each week the track changes)


I record all my races, and give live commentary (and yelling) through the race.


I will start off with my 13th Week DIRTcar UMP Modified Series. This series runs only for one week, and has 7 different races. Points are totaled at the end of the week to decide a champion. Although over 1000 drivers have raced, points are based on ratings, and who you beat. Currently I am ranked 1144th in the world out of 29000 who have made a dirt start. My Rating is a 2323, the average rating is a 1350, and the top driver is at a 8545, just to give you an idea of where I currently stand.

Note: This series has cautions off, certain series run with cautions, others don't.

Race 1 - Williams Grove Speedway. This is one of the harder dirt tracks in the game, very flat, narrow, and lacking banking. Walls on the inside and outside, with little room for error on the exit of T4. I was rated the 8th best driver in the race I was in (which is why I was given car #8) I qualified 5ht overall out of the 19 cars entered, .124 seconds off the lead. The field was split into two heat races to set the starting lineup for the A Main, odd positions in heat 1, even positions in heat 2. So i started 3rd in my heat, and was able to hold that position for the 8 laps, which would have me start inside the third row.


The A Main is embedded here:


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I wasn't too pleased with how I did, and overall for the week only doing that one race placed me in 80th position in points, out of the 357 who race.


Race 2 - The Dirt Track at Charlotte. This track is very basic, its wide, fast, and you dont really need to move around too much. We call them cookie cutter tracks, as there are many tracks with the same big sweeping design. This race a much stronger field signed up for the race, and I was ranked 12th for my split (when more than 24 people sign up the drivers are split based on ratings with the best racing each other, while the slower guys race in their own even for less points) I once again had a great Qualifying lap running 3rd out of 20 cars, only .055 off the fast time. This put me on the front row for heat race 1, and I held onto that position for the 8 laps to start inside row 2 for the A Main.


The A Main is embedded here:


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Once again not happy with the main, as i felt I could do a lot better.


Race 3 - Limaland Motorsports Park. This is one of my favorite tracks, it is short, banked a bit, but offers multiple lanes to run. I was ranked 11th in this race and once again qualified 3rd out of 19. Sadly my heat race did not go well, as the leader accidentally knocked his car out of gear, and the field got tangled up, and when racing for the final spot to transfer to the main out of the heat, i once again got into another car, which sent me to the B Main. In the B, I held on to third, and didn't really try to race as I was in a transfer spot, and just wanted to make it to the main. The main was a mess, as you will see, especially since i had to start 17th out of 18 drivers on a short track with no cautions.



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Although it wasn't the result i wanted, for starting 17th I will take it.


Race 4 - Knoxville Raceway - The heart of sprint car racing is at Knoxville, the track in a modified though, is much different, and slower. I have never been great at this track, as it is a big flat half mile, with a berm on the inside of the track, and a wall that you have to run fairly close to if you want to go fast later in the race. I did not qualify well, even though I was ranked 3rd in this race and only could place 11th out of 20 cars. I moved up one spot in my heat race to 5th, meaning I would start on the inside 5th row for the main. The race was fairly spread out, but i was able to find a line with a bit more speed halfway through as the track dried out. Then lap traffic started to be caught and everything got crazy. See below.



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Race 5 - Fairbury Speedway - The newest track on the service, just released the day before, i went into the race ranked 9th in the split, and qualified 9th. This track is a very tight quarter mile, with a narrow banked line by the wall, and a wide open flat inside line. In my heat race I was involved in an early crash right as the green was thrown, which sent me to the back where I finished 8th. This mean I would start dead last in the A Main in 15th. My hope was that since everyone was running the top, the high side would wear out, and I could start to gain ground on the bottom, everything worked as planned until I got in my own way :brickwall

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With all of that, I currently sit 8th overall in points (not everyone has run all the races) Even though I am 8th in points with 460, I am way too far out to even think about winning the series as multiple people are ahead of me with fewer races, and the current points leader has 754 points.



The goal for the final two races is to get a top 5, and maybe if I am lucky a win. Up next will be Volusia, and then it appears we head back to Fairbury for a day race there.

Re: iRacing Seasons
 

Night six of the W13 Championship with the UMP Modifieds, and we headed to Volusia Speedway Park. This is a half mile track, with an arced backstretch and a tight exit off of turn 4.

I qualified 4th out of the 20 cars registered, and was ranked as the 5th best driver in the race. This placed me on the outside front row for Heat 2, and i settled in to the second place for the eight laps.

Write up of the main here, video below:

I started on the outside of the second row for the main, in hopes that I could hold onto this position, but on the first lap the leader got into the backstretch wall, and i had to check up giving up the 4th spot dropping behind the #7 car.

I started looking around for lines mid race to gain the time back on the field, but was making little progress, all while watching the #9 car come from the back of the field slowly getting larger and larger in my mirror.

With only a handful of laps left, the leaders must have got into each other and sent the #4 car sideways out of turn 4, i once again had to check-up with no place to go, losing the spot to the hard charging #9. Now in 6th, I started working the bottom of the track inches off the wall, trying to gain little by little back while the #9, #4 and #7 all battled in front of me. I finally got the rear hooked up and was able to get inside of the #4 for the 5th spot, and we battled side by side for the last two laps. Out of the final corner, he laid onto my left side, and our cars got hooked together to the point i couldn't turn out of the corner, which actually hurt him, allowing me to grab the 5th spot.



In-car Video



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Re: iRacing Seasons
 

Race 7, we return to Fairbury for a day race to finish off the week long championship.



I had a poor qualifying run which put me in 11th position. Meaning I would start from the outside third row in my heat race. I was able to move to the bottom eventually, and get past the 5th place car, to move me up one spot for the A Main.


Starting on the inside 5th row for the main, I decided I would stick to the bottom while everyone got stacked up on each other on the top side. Even though it was faster up there, the risk/reward wasn't worth it, as I am smoother on the bottom of a track.


I eventually worked my way past 4 cars and got into the 5th spot. Once we got into heavy lap traffic 6th was able to pass me on the high side. I switched my lines up a few times hoping to find a bit of speed, but I just couldn't handle the slicked off top like others were and moved back to the bottom. At this point the #18 ranked driver in the race spun out in front of me :jpshakehe I ended up losing two spots due to this and had to hold off 9th to take home a poor 8th place finish.


The final standings have me in 6th place overall, but many people only ran 4-6 races rather than all 7. Most likely I would have finished 20-40th in points had everyone ran every night.


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Now we move onto the full seasons of racing for 2019 Season 4. I am planning on running the F3 Championship, and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge on the road side, and then the K&N National Series on the oval side, with a few random races thrown in there.

Re: iRacing Seasons
 

K&N National Series - Week 1 - Phoenix 2008

First race of the season, with the K&N National Series (old xfinity series bodies with less horsepower) I went into the race with a 2901 iRating, and was ranked #7 overall for my split. There were four splits for this time slot, and I was put in the top one.



24 cars were entered for the race, since this is a lower entry class series, no cautions are one, and the race length is shorter, only doing 40 laps at the old Phoenix.



In Qualifying I set a 27.943 second lap, which held the pole all the way up until a minute left in the session, when the #1 driver hit a 27.834. This put me second starting on the outside front row for the race. Third place ran a 28.011, which the entire group from 3rd to 7th was all within .05 seconds of each other. The rest of the field fell off into the .2s and lower with 7 drivers failing to make a lap either due to contact or wanting to start out back.



I got a pretty bad start from the outside front row (my weakness) but luckily the second row had an even worse start which allowed me to slot into second without any pressure from behind. From this point the leader and third place continually got further away from me. Once we reached damaged cars, and lap traffic the leader was really able to distance himself, while the #8 car who started 5th was able to gain and get within 1.0 seconds of me. I started to take it easier through heavy traffic, which hurt me a bit, but the third place car was also slightly better on the long run. With 5 laps left I made contact with the wall out of T4, just a lack of concentration, and lost a big chunk of time to the #8. He was able to get right to my rear bumper a few laps later, but i was able to cut down off the corner, which i think scared him, and he backed off on that run. At that point there was only one lap left and he had lost about .4 seconds with his check-up. I finished 2nd about a mile behind the leader who won by 6.9 seconds.



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With a few days left in the first week of the season, I am up to a 2979 iRating, and gained 149 championship points for this week. This puts me in 42nd place out of 1478 drivers, and 51 points out of the lead overall.

Re: iRacing Seasons
 

Audi TCR (IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge) - Week 1 - Laguna Seca

Off to the road side for my first ever race in the Audi TCR. This is a 350hp front-wheel drive race car. It isn't the fastest thing in the world, but its nice to drive, and easy to race close.


Going into this race, I put about 30 minutes of practice in to get the feel of the car, and work on the setup to balance the front and rear on entry to the corners, as that is where the danger zone is with this. It is very easy to swap the rear end around in heavy braking zones, so I wanted to calm that before i tried to race.


There were 45 drivers who signed up for the race, split into 3 different races of 15. The top ranked drivers were sent to the first race, next best 15 to the second, and the lowest 15 to the third race. I found myself in the second race, as the #14 car out of 15.



Going into Q i had not done a low fuel run, and found out that setup changes would be needed to drop the fuel to what I needed, so I went out a little heavy, and had a few major issues, not setting the time I wanted only getting a 1:32.584 while the pole sitter set a 1:31.972. In practice I had hit low 31s so I wasnt too worried about my pace.



On the pace lap, the leader somehow spun at low speeds in the corkscrew, this advanced me into second, but I had a poor start and started battling with the #1 car for the second spot. After realizing that he was faster on the first few laps I let him go, and just followed along trying to minimize mistakes.


The leader after a few laps spun into the corkscrew and advanced the #1 to the lead, with me following a second back in 2nd place. After about 15 minutes into the 30 minute race I was able to scare the #1 car off his line and take over the lead. This was just in time as the #11 was starting to show speed from behind.



Sadly he was able to get around the #1 car faster than I did and was closing fast in the final laps. With 2 to go, he made a move but had to back off due to the positioning up the hill. This should have allowed me to pull away, but sadly my tires were starting to go off, and my driving was getting worse allowing second place to catch back up on the final lap up the hill to the corkscrew. On braking into the corkscrew, the #11 made contact with my rear bumper sending me out wide, and off into the sand cutting the track through the corkscrew. I tossed it back on track like Vettel, and we made contact again while i was serving a slow down penalty, sending him spinning off the track to a third place finish.


I went on to get the win in my first race in the car, but it was not how I would have liked. A lot of good info from this race though, as I now know the tires can fall off pretty hard late in the race.



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Re: iRacing Seasons
 

NASCAR iRacing Series - Fixed Setup - Las Vegas

Making my 4th start of the 2019 season in race 27 just looking to get a decent run, and have fun. I decided not to qualify and started 28th in the 35 car field.


A notable driver in this race was AJ Allmendinger who was in the #3 car.


My entire goal for this race was to keep it clean, and not race until i needed to. After missing a few early cautions I was able to position myself in 13th by lap 48. This would end up being the final restart of the race, as we would go the rest of the way to lap 134 caution free.


As the run went on, the car started to free up a lot in 3 and 4, but i found a line on the high side that worked for me, and tried to keep the throttle as steady as possible on entry and through the corner. This really worked out well as I started to track down other cars that were falling off mid run. Looking at the fuel there were some options to pit early, but that would be banking on no caution coming out, I decided to push it later in the run until the lead pack started to pit.


I was running 7th around the time the front runners started to pit, and went in on lap 87. The drivers that were just behind me stayed out much longer with the #7 car who I had just passed on lap 81 staying out until lap 97.


This gave me a large gap to work with, but they would have faster tires at the end. I came out behind the #3 of Allmendinger, but he was able to quickly pull away on speed, and work through the drivers who had not pit yet faster than I did. As pitting cycled through I moved up into the 4th spot, but had two cars on fresher tires coming up on me extremely fast. both the 35 and 17 made their way past, but then started to fight among themselves, allowing me to catch back up to them as they wore their tires.



I made a bad move and accidentally got into the left rear of the 17 as I tried to work the air off his spoiler on corner entry, but he was able to make an amazing save. I would eventually get past him a lap latter and set off to track down the 35 car.



I had 25 laps to catch and pass him, and as i got closer, the air started to work against me, taking away my high line. I eventually got a run on him with 4 laps to go, but he threw a couple of late blocks as I looked inside. I decided that I would send it in on the bottom and hope to make it stick, but slid up and made slight contact with him through the middle of the corner, sending him to the top of the track. At this point I was able to pull away and finish 4th.


Honestly this was one of the best overall runs I have had, even though contact between two cars isn't good, I felt like I had late run speed compared to everyone else, and being able to finish 4th as the #20 is pretty good. Also making a green flag stop at speed and not throwing it away by speeding or spinning amazed me!



Hope you enjoy this one if you watch.


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Re: iRacing Seasons
 

Audi TCR (IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge) - Week 2 - Oulton Park Circuit - Island

Week 2 in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge brought the series to Oulton Park on a version of the track I had not raced on before. I got some decent practice in, and joined the first race of the week, which only had 23 people sign up for it with max fields of 20, so two splits were formed putting me as the #7 car in the slower split.


In qualifying I had some really good pace, but on both laps, hit the grass slightly after Turn 1, causing my lap time to be invalidated. With this i started at the rear of the field of 9 cars, (1 car was DQ'd from the event in qualifying, the other didn't show up)


From here my plan was to survive and just get what i could on this narrow goat path of a track. Coming out of the first turn, I nearly put myself 3 wide but was smart enough to back out of it, but was able to get two positions through the first bend. Out of the second turn, a driver went wide into the grass, advancing me up to the 6th spot. On entry of the hairpin, the car in 5th drove deep into warm tire braking markers, leaving him no traction for turn in, opening the door for me on the inside. Midway through the hairpin 4th position struggled to get the tires to grip up on exit as he went slightly wide onto the curb, advancing me into 4th by the end of the third corner.


At this point, I felt like my luck was going to be good for the race since I had instantly erased my bad qualifying, but it only got crazier from here. The next lap the top three battled into the hairpin slowing themselves down. Through the chicane, the lead two cars made contact sending one off, moving me up to third. The new lead duo continued to battle and on the next lap through the hairpin made contact, allowing me to take the lead in two and a half laps from the 9th spot, without ever having to really pass anyone. From this point on I hoped to manage my tires, but one of the lead cars started to gain on me. In my normal fashion I ended up getting a slow down penalty on the last lap and had to defend hard, but still ended up taking the checkers for my second win of the season.


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Re: iRacing Seasons
 

Good stuff. I always enjoy your videos!