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February 2012

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M T W T F S S
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iRacing TV

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The Team

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  • David Phillips
    Editor and Chief
    David Phillips is a long-time contributor to print and electronic publications in the U.S. and abroad, including Racer, Autosport, AutoWeek, Motor Sport and SPEEDtv.com, oversees the daily updating of news stories and assigns, edits and contributes feature material for inRacingNews.com.
  • Chris Hall
    iRacing.com Series Writer
    Chris Hall has been writing since the nineties and moved into motorsports reporting in 2005, covering series such as ALMS, British GT, FIA GT, Le Mans and 2CV racing for Full Throttle magazine, Motorsport.com, The-Paddock.net, GTGateway.com, L' Endurance and, of course, inRacingNews. During 2008 and 2009, he worked with the RSS Performance Porsche Carrera Cup Team (and former British GT(C) champions) as a data engineer for a variety of drivers and models of 997s.
  • Jameson Spies
    Contributing Writer
    19 years old, Jameson Spies lives in Quartz Hill, California. He grew-up surrounded by racing. His mother raced late models throughout Southern California while his father built and setup the car. Not surprisingly, Jameson began racing go-karts at the age of 13, and is now racing Spec Trucks at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He has a passion about all forms of racing and hopes to make a career out of it.
  • Jason Lofing
    iRacing.com Series Writer
    Jason is 21 years old and was born and raised in Elk Grove. California. A big time NASCAR fan, he hasn’t missed a race on Sunday in years. Lofing is also a huge San Fransisco Giants fan and tries to take in at least a couple games a year. Other than sim racing, his biggest (and far more expensive!) hobby is photography. Although he is rather new to sim racing, Lofing has already accomplished some pretty impressive results, qualifying for the 2011 iRacing Oval Pro Series in Season 1, 2011, winning the inaugural Landon Cassill Qualifying Challenge and finishing runner-up in the second one.
  • Ray Bryden
    Technical contributor
    Ray grew up in Nova Scotia, which means he’s a hockey nut, but in Nova Scotia’s two non-winter months he had to find other diversions, which meant watching F1 racing on weekends with his dad and brothers. Without the resources to get started in racing, he gravitated to computer versions of racing – first Atari games like Pole Position, followed by PC racing games like Indianapolis 500: The Simulation. Dozens of others came and went, until Grand Prix Legends came along and he decided sim-racing was his official hobby. Years were spent enjoying this both offline and online until a few years of fatherhood took priority. When free-time reappeared he heard about iRacing and signed up in 2008 and became so involved in the service that he wrote one of the first books on the subject of sim-racing, iRacing Paddock. When not writing for inRacingNews.com, his main occupation is as a research associate with Saint-Gobain working on advanced ceramic materials.
  • Patrick Atherton
    Contributing Writer
    Patrick Atherton, originally from Adelaide in the state of South Australia, currently resides just outside of Melbourne, Victoria with wife of 17 years and 3 kids. A business manager by profession, but also dabbles with blogging, cartooning and fine art, having been published both as a writer in a short-lived South Australian motorsport yearbook and later as a cartoonist in a niche trade magazine. At the age of 19 he competed in club circuit events in an Austin Healey Sprite, later indulging in sprint karts between 1994 and 2000. Following the move to the State of Victoria he raced Road Race Karts (“Superkarts” as they are known in Australia) in the popular Rotax class, competing at Phillip Island, Oran Park, Mallala, Wakefield Park, Eastern Creek, Calder Park, Sandown and Winton. It was during this time he met former Australian F2 champion and inventor of Australia’s first, and most prolific race simulator rig, Jon Crooke. This culminated in an introduction to Papyrus’ legendary NR2003 simulation, and the subsequent sim racing addiction which brought him to iRacing.
  • Tim Terry
    Contributing Writer
    Tim Terry, aka the voice of Maritime stock car racing, fell in love with sim racing in 2004 after he joined the Sim Racing Network crew as a pit reporter. From October 2004 to SRNtv’s closure in June 2007, he’s covered prestigious races and leagues such as the Online 500, FLM Fall 400, Real Racing Online and the DMP Racing League – each as the lead broadcaster for the company. At the same time the wheels started to turn in another direction as he began announcing stock car racing locally. Terry became the assistant announcer at Scotia Speedworld in May 2007 and took over full duties in May 2009 when long-time voice Mike Kaplan retired from the track. Terry also became the series voice of the Parts For Trucks Pro Stock Tour in ’09 and continues to hold down both posts in 2011. He has also announced races for the Pro All Stars Series, Atlantic Open Wheel and Maritime League of Legends tours and has called races at six different Atlantic Canadian tracks. Terry can be heard online at WebRacingNetwork.com, RLMtv.com and OLRtv.com covering sim races. He also makes occasional appearances on PSRtv.com. In addition to inRacingNews, his articles and columns can be read on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca, MaritimeProStockTour.com and his own website at timterryonline.com.
  • David Allen
    Contributing Writer
    North Carolina born and raised with over 15 years of computer/IT experience, I combine two of my biggest hobbies -- racing and technology -- here at inRacingNews. In my spare time I run a Nascar fan site and cure my own need for speed riding atvs. If it involves technology or racing I'll be there, but combine the two and I'll be looking a front row seat. Stop by and say hello anytime!
  • Allen Krier
    Contributing Writer
    Allen was born in West Palm Beach, Florida but grew up in Atlanta and attended Georgia College and State University where he received a BS in Information Systems. Currently a resident of Albany, GA, he started sim racing in 2008 while in college when iRacing was first released to the public. Since then, Krier has been a two time iRacing Pro Series driver (2009 and 2010), picking up one Pro Series win at Daytona in ‘09. Besides sim racing, Allen’s other hobbies include RC Car racing as well as “attending and watching any sporting event that I can including going to the local dirt track.

iRacing TV Episode Two

by David Phillips on July 30th, 2010

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iRacing TV Episode Two

The second installment of iRacingTV is now available.  This month’s webcast features iRacing marketing director Kevin Bobbitt and marketing manager Sean Siff discussing the 2010 Season 3 build.   The segment will also cover several iRacing series including the NASCAR iRacing Series World Championship and the iRacing World Championship Road Racing as well as the iRacing Pro Series, Mixed Class series and GP Master event along with an update on the progress of the Williams FW31 with iRacing vehicle dynamics engineer Eric Hudec. Click here for the latest from iRacingTV.

iRacing Introduces Night Racing, Spectator Mode and Other Upgrades

by Steve Potter on July 29th, 2010

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iRacing Introduces Night Racing, Spectator Mode and Other Upgrades

New Features Make World’s Leading Online Racing Service Easier and More Fun For the more than 20,000 race gamers and other racing enthusiast members of iRacing.com, the online racing experience just keeps getting better.  The latest quarterly update to the iRacing.com service, released earlier this week, introduces new and enhanced features that will make the racing more fun, more convenient, and more realistic than ever. “One of the great things about iRacing’s internet-based model is that it allows us to regularly add new features and content and tweak existing ones seamlessly, without inconvenience to our members,” said Tony Gardner, iRacing.com’s president.  “When a member logs on, his or her software is automatically updated.” Gardner noted that while minor changes are made frequently, larger enhancements are normally implemented about every 90 [...]

School’s In for Summer!

by Steve Potter on June 25th, 2010

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School’s In for Summer!

iRacing.com Offers Online Racing Instruction for Racing Game Enthusiasts There are books on how to drive a racing car and schools in the physical world where aspiring drivers can get hands-on instruction.  Now drivers who race in the virtual world have the iRacing.com Driving School, a modular 16-unit online race-driving instructional package.  Nearly two years in the making, the school is available free to all members of the iRacing.com racing simulation service.  The school is now live on the iRacing.com member Web site.  The first module of the iRacing.com Driving School is currently available to non-members on www.iRacing.com. “For the past 50 years novice racing drivers have learned basic race-driving skills in both informal and organized driving schools,” said Dave Kaemmer, iRacing.com’s CEO and a veteran real-world racer.  “But in [...]

Early Christmas

by David Phillips on June 18th, 2010

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Early Christmas

Christmas is coming early for iRacers, whether they’ve been naughty or nice. iRacing.com is adding a sleigh-load of free cars and tracks  to its base package of online racing in the weeks and months ahead.  You read that right — Free! Rookie or veteran, iRacers will be able to take advantage of the enhanced base package beginning in early July with the release of legendary Thompson International Speedway, the high-banked Connecticut bull ring that has been synonymous with New England motorsports for more than half a century. Of course, iRacers will want a shiny new car to race at Thompson. How about a Tour Modified?  The faster cousin of the SK Modified that has long been a staple of the iRacing garage is poised to join the service as well.  [...]

Professional Sim Racing (for non-Aliens)

by Ryan Terpstra on June 18th, 2010

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Professional Sim Racing (for non-Aliens)

In November of 2009 iRacing.com introduced a feature that enables members to host their own races.  A session does cost $3 for the host, but he or she can have as many people join as they want for free as long as there is a stall for them on pit road. The most significant advantage to hosting your own race (compared to participating in an official iRacing event) is the ability to write your own rules.  This gives the host some great tools to create some really exciting events.  Some sites even run their own series complete with prizes for the winners.  Among the best examples of this feature are fantastic events like the STPC (Short Track Pro Cup) Thunder presented by ONeil PC systems (http://www.stprocup.com; http://www.oneilpcsystems.com).  These events are [...]

Online Racing a Featured Attraction at NASCAR Hall of Fame

by David Phillips on May 5th, 2010

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Online Racing a Featured Attraction at NASCAR Hall of Fame

The 15 iRacing.com-powered NASCAR stock car simulators proved to be a popular attraction yesterday during a media preview of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina.   More than 100 journalists took the opportunity to take some virtual laps of Charlotte Motor Speedway in one of the seven two-seat NASCAR stock car replicas, along with a 15th simulator in an ADA stock car.  In addition, journalists were able to run sample qualifying sessions with a separate group of more basic online racing simulators. The NASCAR Hall of Fame’s customized version of the iRacing.com software permits the scheduling and broadcast of races on a giant 50-foot overhead video screen.  The software also enables the exhibit administrator to specify aspects of the visitor’s driving program including number of laps that can [...]

Thompson International Speedway Joins iRacing.com

by Steve Potter on March 18th, 2010

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Thompson International Speedway Joins iRacing.com

Historic Connecticut Facility is Latest Online Racing Short Track For 70 years Thompson International Speedway has challenged New England’s finest racing drivers.  With the announcement that iRacing.com will add the legendary Connecticut track to its inventory, fans of the legendary high-banked, five-eighths mile oval and short-track online racing enthusiasts around the world will soon be able to measure themselves against a track that in its history has sent drivers to the winner’s circle in the Daytona 500 and success on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to put together this alliance with iRacing.com,” said Jonathan Hoenig, the track’s director of business development and marketing and the fourth generation of his family to be involved with Thompson International Speedway.  “The timing couldn’t be better as we [...]

iRacing.com Sponsors Ben Kennedy’s Mark Martin Performance Super Late Model

by Steve Potter on March 12th, 2010

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iRacing.com Sponsors Ben Kennedy’s Mark Martin Performance Super Late Model

Great Grandson of NASCAR Founder Bill France Will Carry iRacing.com Flag in 2010; First Race Tonight His racing roots go back three generations, and now 18-year-old Ben Kennedy is making his own mark in the sport that’s virtually synonymous with his grandfather and great-grandfather’s name – France.  Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and son of International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy, is already a champion in the Pro-Truck class at Orlando Speed World and New Smyrna Speedway.  The 18-year-old high school senior’s next step up the motorsport ladder, aboard a Chevrolet Impala SS super late model fielded by Mark Martin Racing, will be sponsored by iRacing.com, the world’s premier online racing simulation service.  Kennedy’s first race in iRacing.com livery is scheduled for this evening at [...]

2010 iRacing.com World Tour Features 120 Minutes of Online Racing at Sebring

by Steve Potter on March 9th, 2010

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2010 iRacing.com World Tour Features 120 Minutes of Online Racing at Sebring

Same-Day Tribute to 58th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Revisits Legendary GT1 Corvette C6.R The 120 Minutes of Sebring, a tribute to America’s oldest sports car race, is slated to run concurrently with this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 20.  The third stop on iRacing.com’s 2010 World Tour, the two-hour online racing event is a chance for iRacers all over the world to celebrate the 58th running of this classic endurance race and to experience the awesome performance of the American Le Mans Series GT1-class Corvette CR6. “The 12 Hours of Sebring was America’s first truly international race,” said Kevin Bobbitt, iRacing.com’s director of marketing. “And today Sebring is probably the best-known American sports car race among the global community of sports car racing [...]

Circuit Park Zandvoort Now Available to iRacing Members

by Steve Potter on March 5th, 2010

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Circuit Park Zandvoort Now Available to iRacing Members

Virtual Version of Historic European Circuit Open to Online Racers World-Wide Circuit Park Zandvoort, one of Europe’s most historic motorsports venues, is now available to online racers around the world through iRacing.com’s internet-based virtual-racing service.  iRacing’s first offering on the European continent is a millimeter-precise rendering of the undulating Dutch seaside circuit, from the famed Tarzanbocht hairpin to the daunting Scheivlak curve and the Arie Luyendijkbocht honoring the two-time Indy 500 winner who cut his racing teeth at Zandvoort. “Circuit Park Zandvoort is one of Europe’s most iconic race tracks,” says Divina Galica, iRacing’s director of partner relations and former Formula One driver. “There’s some great history at Zandvoort, with new history being made every year with the Formula 3 Masters and DTM events, together with a full schedule of [...]

iRacing.com Expands Partnership with Lyn St. James Foundation Through “Women in the Winner’s Circle” Exhibit

by Steve Potter on February 16th, 2010

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iRacing.com Expands Partnership with Lyn St. James Foundation Through “Women in the Winner’s Circle” Exhibit

History of Women in Auto Racing Documented in Five-Year Traveling Interactive Exhibition iRacing.com is joining the Lyn St. James Foundation in support of “Women in the Winner’s Circle,” a five-year traveling exhibition that recognizes the past history, the growing achievements, and the future growth of women in racing.  iRacing.com’s support of the exhibit marks an expansion of the company’s relationship with the foundation, which was initiated last year through the company’s involvement with the Women in the Winner’s Circle Driver Development Academy. The joint announcement by St. James and Kevin Bobbitt, iRacing.com’s director of marketing, was made prior to a reception at the opening of the exhibit’s first stop, the Daytona 500 USA. “Last spring iRacing.com generously made its simulation service available to more than a dozen of the foundation’s [...]

Coming Soon, the iRacing Driving School

by Kevin Bobbitt on February 9th, 2010

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Coming Soon, the iRacing Driving School

Dave Kaemmer and I spent a few days in Indianapolis last week filming portions of the soon to be released iRacing Driving School. The shoot was great, the weather, not-so-much. I could have driven back to Boston in less time than it took to fly! We are still several months away from launching the school but it is shaping up nicely. The iRacing Driving School will feature about a dozen separate chapters, each being its own stand-alone video on the member site. Many of the chapters will finish-up with exercises designed to help you  practice what you just learned. The basic idea of the school is to help iRacers become better racers. Many iRacers have no formal racing education and that often leads to reaching a plateau where no matter [...]

iRacing Expands into Asia through Collaboration with Interush

by David Phillips on February 5th, 2010

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iRacing Expands into Asia through Collaboration with Interush

iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, LLC have completed a collaborative marketing agreement with Interush, Inc. for the introduction and marketing of its online motorsport simulations program into some of the world’s fastest growing gaming markets: Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Through this agreement, Interush will provide Japanese and Chinese translations of the website and gaming content, iRacing.com will use these to create Japanese and Chinese websites, and Interush will market the online gaming program through their extensive marketing affiliate organizations throughout Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.  Interush will also market iRacing.com through their portal websites and through ongoing promotional and public relations activities in these same countries. In addition, Interush will commence online marketing into China, already the world’s single largest market for both Internet users and online gaming, and also [...]

Official NASCAR Online Racing Begins

by Tom Sullivan & Steve Potter on January 21st, 2010

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Official NASCAR Online Racing Begins

iRacing.com Is Home To Five NASCAR Series A vision that Bill France Jr. articulated more than fifteen years ago will become reality this season with the formation of the NASCAR iRacing.com Series, an official NASCAR racing series. On February 9th online racing competition commences with the first event of the inaugural 18-race, 39-week NASCAR iRacing Drivers World Championship. This series will feature the 50 top-rated drivers currently racing in iRacing’s Pro Series and will include NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who recently clinched entry into this elite series. Selected races from the series will be carried over the internet on iRacing.com. Weekly iRacing news coverage and standings will be featured on NASCAR.com and inRacingNews.com. NASCAR and iRacing have worked together since the announcement of the partnership in [...]

Williams F1 and iRacing Announce Virtual Version of AT&T Williams FW31

by Steve Potter on January 14th, 2010

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Williams F1 and iRacing Announce Virtual Version of AT&T Williams FW31

Digital Duplicate of Current-Era Grand Prix Car Will Be Available in 2010 iRacing.com will build a virtual version of the 2009 AT&T Williams FW31 and make it available to members of its internet-based global motorsport simulation service.  The announcement at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, UK was made jointly by Williams F1 and iRacing.com Motorsport Simulation, LLC. “Our members range from full-time professional racing drivers to fans who may never sit in a racing car in the physical world,” said Divina Galica, MBE, iRacing’s director of client relations and a former world-class racer in cars and on skis, where she represented Britain in the Olympics on four occasions. For $12.95 (US) and less than $8.00 per month, anyone virtually anywhere in the world will be able to take the [...]

Brands Hatch Now Available to iRacing Members

by Steve Potter on December 22nd, 2009

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Brands Hatch Now Available to iRacing Members

Virtual Version of Historic UK Circuit Open to Racers World-Wide Located in Kent, 30 miles outside London, and internationally known as a classic road-racing circuit, Brands Hatch is now available to simracers worldwide through iRacing.com’s internet-based virtual-racing service.  Every detail of the historic circuit, including its dramatic elevation changes and challenging mixture of fast, slow and medium-speed corners, is reproduced with millimeter accuracy. “Motor racing fans throughout the UK and across the world love Brands Hatch,” noted David Scott, Race Operations Manager for MotorSport Vision Racing, the company that owns and operates Brands Hatch and other British road-racing facilities.  “Our RaceMaster driving experience lets visitors come to Brands Hatch and enjoy some laps behind the wheel of a BMW M3 and F1-style single-seater race car.  Through iRacing’s virtual version of [...]

iRacing.com Announces 2010 World Tour

by Steve Potter on December 21st, 2009

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iRacing.com Announces 2010 World Tour

Series of 14 Virtual Events to Track Real-World Counterparts Starting next month members of iRacing.com will able to participate in the iRacing World Tour, a series of same-weekend virtual versions of more than a dozen of the world’s top motorsport events.  Beginning in January with the Grand-Am Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway’s road course, and then continuing with the Daytona 500 in February, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring in March, and including the Indy 500 and British Grand Prix at Silverstone, iRacers will have the opportunity to compete in a total of 14 events ranging from American short-track classics to Formula One and Australian V8 Supercars.  The series concludes in November with the running of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Miami-Homestead Speedway. From the start [...]

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to iRacing in 2010

by Steve Potter on December 10th, 2009

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Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to iRacing in 2010

When it comes to race tracks that provide a road-racing driver with the perfect balance of challenge and pure fun, it’s hard to beat Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  And soon this classic road-racing facility will be available for racing and practice to members of iRacing.com’s motorsport simulation service. Mid-Ohio was about the last major permanent road-racing facility in North America not either in our inventory or in production,” said Steve Myers, iRacing’s executive producer, “and our members were pretty vocal in letting us know they wanted it.  So, we’re pleased to be able to provide the many fans of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – both current and future iRacing members – with the chance to put themselves behind the wheel of a wide variety of race cars on a millimeter-accurate [...]

Oran Park Raceway and Circuit Zolder Join iRacing

by David Phillips on December 1st, 2009

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Oran Park Raceway and Circuit Zolder Join iRacing

Two celebrated race tracks half a world apart are set to become a part of iRacing.com.  Circuit Zolder, a home of the Belgian Grand Prix during the 1970s and ’80s, will join Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Zandvoort among iRacing’s first European circuits, while Oran Park Raceway will pair with Phillip Island as the first two Australian facilities on the service. The addition of Oran Park’s distinctive figure-eight layout to the iRacing service is especially noteworthy given that the suburban Sydney facility is slated for demolition in early 2010 to make way for a housing development. “Oran Park Raceway has played an important role in the history of Australian motorsport,” noted Divina Galica, director of partner relations for iRacing.com.  “Too many great race tracks have been lost forever; I’m [...]

Gooden Takes iRacing’s Virtual Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Title & Chance to Compete for Real-World Version in 2010

by Steve Potter on November 3rd, 2009

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Gooden Takes iRacing’s Virtual Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Title & Chance to Compete for Real-World Version in 2010

Tight Competition for Big Prize Highlights 12-Week Season of Virtual Racing The prize? The chance for a paid-for arrive-and-drive ride in the 2010 VW Jetta TDI Cup.  The result?  Twelve weeks of hard racing among 600 competitors climaxed by a two-race final-weekend shootout between real-world kart racers Wyatt Gooden, 21, and Carl Modoff, 20, with the championship – and the shot at a real-world drive next year – going to Gooden by the narrowest of margins. Gooden, who came into the final weekend of the 12-week iRacing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series with a slim 22-point lead over Modoff, took a win from the pole on the first race on the tricky 1.53-mile Lime Rock Park circuit.  Modoff won the second race, passing Gooden in the esses for the lead [...]