Lucas Oil Raceway Nationwide Series iRacing 2.0 Gallery

August 2nd, 2011

Nationwide Series Debut for iRacing 2.0

by David Phillips on August 2nd, 2011

iRacing 2.0 made its debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway, in the form of the #7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet piloted by Josh Wise — featuring a dramatic iRacing 2.0 livery designed by iRacer Kevin King, of San Diego. Things got off to an encouraging start with Wise running in the top ten in practice, but when qualifying rolled-around he could do no better than twentieth.  Despite their best efforts, Wise and the JR Motorsports team never really got a handle on the car in race conditions and brought the car home in 19th spot. They’ll get a chance to put the lessons from LOR to good use this weekend, as Wise will drive the iRacing 2.0 Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway which, by the way, [...]

A Weekend to Forget

by Darryn Lobb on July 25th, 2011

This past weekend saw the S.A. Shelby Can-Am championship head to the fastest track in South Africa, the East London Grand Prix circuit. After securing a hard-fought win at the last round at Zwartkops, debuting for new sponsor Hollard Insurance, reigning champion Darryn Lobb was aiming for nothing less than the top step of the podium. After struggling for pace at the previous round, the Kyalami based resident, elected to run the car of Sean Grieve who was unable to make the event. It was a car with which Lobb had previously won both events at Zwartkops in 2010. New body work, and a slightly modified design, meant that the Hollard-backed car was not only going to be fast, but also eye-catching. In summary though, East London proved that it’s [...]

Prepare to Win

by David Phillips on July 23rd, 2011

When iRacers talk about using the online racing service to familiarize themselves with new race tracks, it’s only natural to assume the majority are speaking about road courses.  After all, while you can be pretty sure the next turn on just about any oval is going to go left, that’s only the case about 50% of the time on a road courses. But, as anyone who’s driven an oval (real or virtual) can attest, it’s a little more complicated than just turning left.  OK, so there’s rarely much elevation change to take into account, even fewer “blind” corners.  But a whole host of issues conspire to make every oval turn unique:  variations in radius, degree of banking, bumps and pavement patches, not to mention visual cues, matter.  The Indianapolis Motor [...]

Fourth Time a Charm

July 21st, 2011

For Seattle’s Jason Stock, winning the iRacing.com NVIDIA Cup Season 2b title was a case of fourth time’s a charm.  Since joining the service in January, he’d finished in the top ten in each of the pint-sized season standings (seventh in 2011 Season 1b, fourth in Season 1c, second in Season 2) so although he was certainly trending in the right direction, he decided to take a slightly different tack. “After finishing second place last season to Zsolt Hamvas I knew that to win an NVIDIA Cup Championship, it would require more than a series of nearly flawless victories,” says Stock.  “My initial solution was to call in sick for work on the last day of competition for the week so that I could get in the highest SoF race [...]

Gooden Plenty II

by Wyatt Gooden on July 18th, 2011

Editor’s Note: Wyatt Gooden has enjoyed great success racing sedans in both the real and virtual worlds.  As winner of the iRacing.com VW Jetta TDi Cup series in 2008, the young Ohioan earned an iRacing.com-sponsored ride in the 2009 SCCA Pro Racing VW Jetta TDi Cup.  After a rough first outing,Gooden rebounded to score a pair of wins and capture the series rookie of the year honors. Earlier this month, Wyatt turned his attention to open wheels, making his debut in the SCCA F1600 Formula F Championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Quantum Racing’s Honda Fit-powered Van Diemen with support from iRacing.com 2.0 and Starting Grid. Things went pretty well, as Wyatt explains . . . The schedule was rather unusual as everything started late in the afternoon. [...]

Sponsor Magnet

by David Phillips on July 18th, 2011

It seems that iRacing.com is something of a sponsor magnet these days.  Hard on the heels of last week’s announcement of the iRacing.com NVIDIA Series comes news that two companies have signed-on in support of sim racer Nolan Scott in time for Round Twelve of the 2011 NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship, slated for Tuesday, July 19 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Nordic Online, a server and website design company, and a new iRacing paint shop named THDesigns announced they will partner in sponsoring Scott for the remaining seven races of the 2011 season. “It’s a step in the right direction,” says Scott.  “I love simulation racing, and it’s nice to see that with the dramatic increase of popularity and media that sponsorship could someday become a serious business within [...]

iRacer Profile: Vinnie Sansone

by David Phillips on July 16th, 2011

There are more parallels between the online racing of iRacing.com and the “real” racing of NASCAR than just precisely-modeled cars and tracks and well-organized sanctioning bodies.   Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and a host of other NASCAR stars cut their racing teeth in the USAC ranks driving quarter midgets, midgets, sprint cars and Silver Crown cars rather than stock cars.  Likewise, NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship competitor Vinnie Sansone has a sim racing portfolio that is replete with race wins and championships in the iRacing.com Sprint Car and Silver Crown Series. But in addition to the virtual pavement of iRacing’s short tracks and speedways, the Illinois-based Sansone also knows his way around the dirt tracks of the Midwest, some of which were the springboard(s) to the [...]

Gooden Sweeps Formula F Races at Mid-Ohio

by Dan Layton on July 5th, 2011

Wrapping-up a sensational professional open-wheel racing debut, former karting and iRacing.com star Wyatt Gooden came out on top of a race-long duel with young Australian Mitch Martin to win his second SCCA F1600 Formula F Championship series race of the weekend Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The victory gave the 22-year-old from suburban Cleveland a sweep of both Formula F races this weekend at Mid-Ohio, the first time this has been accomplished in the brief, six-race history of the series. Driving for Quantum Racing Services with support from Chris Miles’ Starting Grid, Inc. and iRacing.com, Gooden started from the outside of the front row, in second, as he and pole qualifier Martin quickly broke away from the rest of the 25-car starting field.  For the next 15 laps, [...]

New Sponsorship Deal for Lobb

July 4th, 2011

It is with much excitement that we can announce a new sponsorship initiative for the Zwartkops Round of the Shelby Can-Am series next weekend. In a deal concluded late Thursday night, former South African Shelby Can-Am champion — and veteran iRacer — Darryn Lobb will be pairing with current Shelby Can-Am TV sponsor, the Hollard Insurance Company. Hollard were previously involved with the Shelby Can-Am series in 2007, when Lobb won his first championship, as the official series sponsor. Since then, Hollard have remained involved with the series through TV sponsorship, as well as one or two other initiatives. The deal to back the 2010 champion for this event is the first opportunity for Hollard to put their support behind a specific car in the series, in addition to the [...]

Gooden Wins Formula F Debut at Mid-Ohio

by Dan Layton on July 3rd, 2011

Friday saw a near-perfect debut for former karting and iRacing.com star Wyatt Gooden, as the 22-year-old from Cleveland started on the pole, set fastest race lap, and went on to win the SCCA F1600 Formula F Championship series race Friday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Driving for Quantum Racing Services with support from Chris Miles’ Starting Grid, Inc. and iRacing.com, Gooden led the opening laps of Friday’s race – the first in a double-header weekend at Mid-Ohio – but some became embroiled in a fierce battle with fellow “young guns” Mitch Martin and Sam Beasley. The three continued to battle for the first third of the 18-lap contest, before Beasley dropped out with broken shift linkage, leaving Martin and Gooden alone at the front of the 22-car field.  Gooden [...]

iRacer Profile: Bill Brown

by David Phillips on July 2nd, 2011

For a self-described “old, broke, washed-up, wanna-be racer,” Bill Brown isn’t doing too badly.  The 30-something Floridian holds-down top ten positions in Division One of both the iRacing.com Street Stock and SK Modified Series and, at the time of this writing, stands P15 in the NASCAR iRacing.com Late Model Series, again in Division One.  And while he’s not an imminent threat to knock Klaus Kivekäs, Hugo Luis, Greger Huttu and Jesse Nieminen from top spots in the iRacing World Championship Series Road Racing, the Panama City resident did collect a Mazda MX5 win at Lime Rock last season and recently followed that up with a fifth place finish in an NVIDIA Cup race at Okayama International Circuit. All this, as Brown notes in his profile, for less than he used [...]

Gooden Plenty

by Wyatt Gooden on June 29th, 2011

Editor’s note: Wyatt Gooden, 2010 SCCA Pro Racing VW Jetta TDi Cup winnner and champion of the 2009 iRacing.com VW Jetta TDi Cup Series, is poised to make his open wheel racing debut this weekend when he drives Quantum Racing Services’ Van Diemen Honda in the SCCA F1600 Formula F Championship series event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  The Cleveland-based Gooden is quite familiar with Mid-Ohio, having scored one of his two Pro VW Jetta TDi Cup wins there last year — not to mention driving hundreds of laps of the virtual Mid-Ohio on iRacing.com.  However, apart from his extensive go-karting background, Gooden is an open wheel rookie.  Last week he spent a couple of days in Oklahoma preparing for the Mid-Ohio weekend testing with Quantum team at Hallett [...]

Wyatt Gooden to Make Formula F Debut at Mid-Ohio

by David Phillips on June 27th, 2011

iRacing stand-out and 2010 SCCA VW Jetta TDi Cup rookie of the year Wyatt Gooden will make his Formula F debut at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course the weekend of July 1-2 in the SCCA F1600 Formula F Championship.   Gooden, who earned his ride in the SCCA VW series by winning the iRacing.com VW Jetta TDi Cup, will drive a Van Diemen/Honda prepared by Quantum Racing with the support of iRacing.com and Starting Grid, Inc. Starting Grid principal, Chris Miles, facilitated the formation of Willy T. Ribbs Racing to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship with driver Chase Austin and has now formed a new partnership with the Oklahoma City-based Quantum Racing Services enabling Gooden to compete in the Mid-Ohio race. “Aligning myself with Starting Grid is a huge [...]

iRacer Profile: Matthieu Fourtemberg

June 25th, 2011

Check the standings in a range of racing cars and series – Street Stock, Skip Barber, Mazda MX5 – and you’ll find Matthieu Fourtemberg’s name.  You’ll also see the icons of his cars are usually colored in the reds, whites and greys of the BAM Pro Racing team of which he is a proud member.  But if you really want to find what really floats the boat of the sim racer from Le Blanc Mesnil, France, check the iRacing.com Grand Touring Cup.  There Fourtemberg is something of a fixture, having finished sixth in the Division 3 standings in 2011 Season 1 (thanks to 11 top five finishes including a couple of wins) and currently holds-down P14 in Division 2.  Why the GT Cup?  Simple. Fourtemberg’s favorite race car is the [...]

iRacer Profile: Nick Ottinger

by David Phillips on June 18th, 2011

OK, OK.  If you’re a regular (or even irregular) reader of inRacingNews, you’re already familiar with Nick Ottinger’s name.  After all, as a serial winner in the NASCAR iRacing.com Street Stock Series, he’s a staple of Jordan Hightower’s weekly reports.  The Carolina Club sim racer is also very active — and competitive — in Legends Cup and NASCAR Class A and B, where he got out of the gate fast with four top fives and a couple of wins in the early weeks of the season. But would you have guessed that Ottinger’s most recently read book was Of Mice & Men? Or that one of this confessed oval junkie’s favorite tracks on iRacing is Infineon Raceway?  Read on . . . Q:      How long have you been sim racing [...]

iRacing.com Video Contest Winners Announced

June 17th, 2011

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner in the iRacing.com Video Contest. Correct that, we have 15 winners in the iRacing.com Video Contest, headed by Christian Braun who received the lion’s share of the votes cast by his fellow iRacers. One of four grand finalists, Braun will receive $500 in iRacing credits and an opportunity to do some additional video work for iRacing.com for his efforts. The remaining three grand finalists – Florian Godard, Jens Denker and Nick Neben – will each receive $150 in iRacing credits, while $100 in iRacing credits will be deposited in the accounts of eleven other finalists including Daniel Vergara Muro, Nathan Lively, Jose Fernandez, Jyrypekka Lehtinen, Taylor Meyn, Jon Adams, Bryan Blackford, Andrew MacPherson, lefevre ludovic, Stefan Wisselink and Steve Claeys. Congratulations to all [...]

Madison’s Spa Party

by Patrick Atherton on June 14th, 2011

Week 6 of the iRacing V8 Supercar Series moved to the famous hills of Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. This classic venue provokes mixed feelings amongst the V8 sim racers, with many chasing setups in practice sessions right up until the 8.45pm main race. Still, nobody can resist the timeless allure of Eau Rouge, one of the most exciting succession of curves in motorsport. Madison Down returned to the top split, much to the field’s chagrin. He poled with a stonking time, the only driver in the 22′s. The Netherlands’ Rens Broekman shared the front row. Defending champ Mitch McLeod was third from Dylan Gulson, Troy Cox, Guy Leach, Vail Richies, Simon Black, Stuart Wood and Scott U’Ren. Once again, a full field greeted the green lights. There was nothing in [...]

The Full Monte

by Marcel Gutierrez on June 12th, 2011

Running caution laps behind the pace car at Lanier can be pretty boring. Why doesn’t iRacing have ‘quickie yellows’, there’s no reason . . . The radio cracks.  “You know gents, this track reminds me of a little dirt bullring we used to race at when I was about 19 years old.  That’s the first time I raced against Jack Brabham.” That’s Monte Smith, so everyone listens for the rest of the story.  Monte will make the time pass with a quick story about the old days.  You see Monte is 83 years old, and has been racing in some form most of his life.  Certainly the oldest active iRacing member, he is a long time sim-racer. In the car just ahead of me is Paul Smith, Monte’s son.  I [...]

iRacer Profile – Scott Green

by David Phillips on June 11th, 2011

Not all iRacers belong to Generation X or Y.  There’s plenty of baby-boomer sim racers out there, and no small number are probably identify more with Geritol than Generation X, Y or Z. I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to guess Scott Green’s generational affiliation, but the fact the Albuquerquean lists his birth date as “quite some time ago” leads me to believe his contemporaries in a famous local clan are familiarly known as Big Al and Uncle Bobby, rather than Little Al and Bobby, Jr.  And the fact that his favorite cars on the iRacing service are the Silver Crown sprint car and Mustang FR500S also suggests Green is “old school.”  Did I mention the person he most admires is a fellow named Mario Andretti? While he may be [...]