- iRacing.com Announces iRacing 2.020,175
- Dave Kaemmer Comes Clean on Dirt13,057
- iRacing.com to create virtual McLaren MP4-12C GT312,065
- Release Notes for 2012 Season 311,408
- Scanning What’s in Store for iRacing with Tony Gardner10,527
- The iRacing.com Protest System – May, 201210,322
- Building the iRacing System 1018,990
- Improving the Sound of iRacing7,616
- iRacing.com to Build Digital Honda for New Super GT Series7,374
- Two New Cars and Two New Tracks Coming to iRacing Soon6,752
- Towler, Wood Suspended from Upcoming iWCRR Events 67
- Dave Kaemmer Comes Clean on Dirt 44
- iRacing.com Announces iRacing 2.0 41
- The iRacing.com Protest System - May, 2012 33
- Bathurst Coming to iRacing! 30
- Scanning What’s in Store for iRacing with Tony Gardner 22
- iRacing Poll on Possible Championship Points Structure Changes 17
- Tips from a Human Sim-Racer 12
- iRacing.com to Build Digital Honda for New Super GT Series 12
- How to Survive a Legends Race 11
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iRacing.com
3066
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Motorcycles
2471
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NASCAR
2299
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Formula Cars
2080
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WRC
1830
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Other Racing
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Sports Cars
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David Phillips
Editor and ChiefDavid 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 WriterChris 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 Writer19 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 WriterJason 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.
David Ifeguni
Contributing WriterI was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1988 and moved to Midland, Michigan when I was two years old. I stayed there until third grade when I moved to Farmington Hills, Michigan and now I currently live in Naperville, IL where I'm attending Metea Valley High School as a 9th grader. In the past, I have participated in soccer and this year I plan on joining swimming or water polo. My family includes my 15 year old sister, a 7 year old sister and my mom and dad. I have been writing since 6th grade and have participated in many writing contests in my school and have received several awards for writing.
My fascination for motorsports began when I was nine. The first NASCAR race I watched on TV was the 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, won by Kasey Kahne. My favorite NASCAR drivers are Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jimmie Johnson. I have watched all the races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series since 2010. I currently have three wins on iRacing, two of them in the Nationwide car at Daytona and one in the Street stocks at Charlotte. My favorite car and type of track on iRacing is the Nationwide Series (B Class) car and superspeedways.
Katier Scott
Contributing WriterI am a veteran sim racer who first started racing way back in 1993 on the SPRTSIMS section of Compuserve with a league who can trace themselves all the way to the present. Within that league I act as Chief Steward and try to bring the unique viewpoint that this experience gives me into my articles.
I have a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Editorial design and have been writing for seven years and currently cover the Lotus 79 CTC and Radical series alongside my freelance work. Living in the UK, as well as motorsports I love Photography, Arts and Crafts and reading.
Dylan Sharman
Contributing WriterI was born in Adelaide and we moved-out for Angle Vale for a few years until I was about 7 years old, when we moved to the Barossa Valley where I live now. I'm 19 years old and currently traveling back and forth weekly as I'm studying for a Diploma of Furniture Design and Technology.
I've always had a love for racing as my close family did some racing and we were always out at the local dirt track. I joined iRacing back in 2010 and slowly but surely got the hang of it as this is my first experience with sim racing and am loving it each time I race. I've won two SK Modified titles (almost had three in a row but finished P2 in 2011 S4), an inRacingNews Challenge championship (2012 S1 Mazda) and was also an AustralAsian Intel GT Series Finalist.
Nathan Aljoe
Contributing WriterNathan's passion for motorsport first began in the late 1980s, captivated by the season in which Aryton Senna won his first F1 title with McLaren. Over the years his interest widened to include the British Touring Car Championship, World Rally Championship, NASCAR and various other forms of motorsport. Nathan began sim-racing in the mid 1990s using games developed by Papyrus. He later moved onto SimBim simulations such as GTR, GTR2 and GTR Evolution and has most recently joined the iRacing community.
When he's not working or sim racing, Nathan enjoys spending time and relaxing with his family. Other hobbies include going to festivals, tinkering with his car and doing up his house.
Austin Hartenfels
Contributing WriterBorn and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I have always had a serious passion for cars and motorsports. Hoping one day to become an automotive journalist for a magazine, I constantly crave the exciting competition that comes along with racing and sim-racing. Having participated in a mere test session in a Legends car at Old Dominion Speedway, I have not been able to get into any real-life competition . . . yet.
As a sim racer, my interests date back to "GTR Evolution." My goal is to have fun and win some races. I made it to Oval Pro in 2010, but did not become very successful. I enjoy any mixed road racing competition and love racing the Silverados around almost any track.
Jordan Hightower
Contributing WriterJordan began sim-racing in 2005 with the NASCAR Racing 2003 Season sim and then joined the iRacing community in June of 2008. He hails from Fort Smith, Arkansas where he is currently enrolled at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith, after which he plans to attend the University of Arkansas to earn his MBA. Although he enjoys watching and playing basketball, most of Jordan's focus is on motorsports, particularly NASCAR: "Anything that burns gas and goes fast, I like."
Scott Kelly
Contributing WriterBorn and raised in the greater St. Louis, Missouri area, Scott Kelly has had a love for motorsports ever since his father did the right thing by introducing auto racing into his life. No longer able to quench his need for speed by spectating NASCAR races on TV and watching dirt track stars slide around local tracks, Kelly eventually picked-up sim racing in his teens, wheeling cars found in Ratbag Games' "Dirt Track Racing" and "World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars" while also becoming introduced into multiple Papyrus sim-racing series. Joining the iRacing ranks in late 2011, Kelly set his sights on the short track racing he was familiar with, focusing on the sprint car, while also driving the Legends and street stock in multiple iRacing.com leagues.
Kelly brings not just his enthusiasm for racing to the highest-rated motorsports simulation, but also his B.A. degree in English; he covers the action seen in the iRacing.com Sprint Car Series, while also placing the spotlight on various leagues within the service. Enjoying his start to a career in motorsports journalism, Kelly also doesn't mind visiting victory lane from time-to-time.
Kenneth O'Keefe
Contributing WriterKenneth was born in Smithville, Ontario on December 23, 1994. A major racing fan, he enjoys competitive kart racing in the Rotax Max category at Mosport International Karting. Kenneth also tunes into Formula One and NASCAR races on those Sundays when he is not at the kart track.
O'Keefe has been sim-racing since 2005, starting on the Live For Speed simulator. After moving to iRacing in 2008, he was able to qualify for the NASCAR iRacing Pro Series (NiPS) in both 2011 and 2012. He will continue to compete and write about the iRacing.com Skip Barber Series throughout the coming year before taking another run at the NiPS in late 2013.
Chris Owens
Contributing WriterI was born in Florence, South Carolina in 1989 and have lived here my entire life. I've been around racing since I was a young kid watching with my dad on Sundays. In 2009 and found my local track, Florence Motor Speedway and started working for them as a PR guy the same year. At the end of that season, I started writing for RACE22.com, a Late Model Stock Car news site. In 2010, I picked up my first DSLR camera and started shooting races. To this day, I've experienced some of the best races from behind the camera.
I've been with the iRacing service since its public beta in 2008, back when the top oval car was the Late Model. I've been in over 500 races on the service with 70+ wins on both oval and road. My favorite car on the service is the Chevrolet Silverado. Darlington Raceway and Concord Speedway are my favorite tracks simply because everybody hates them.
George Wood
Contributing WriterAfter beginning his racing career with go-karts at age seven, George then turned wrenches on street stocks until he could finally turn the wheel. Following the successes of his friends and family, George has since retired from real-world racing, where he is now a science and mathematics faculty member for several local community colleges. When George isn't grading laboratory reports or iRacing, he is performing at bluegrass festivals in the Northeast, making fishing lures, playing golf, and rooting for his beloved Baltimore Orioles.
iRacer Profile – John-Michael Shenette
by David Phillips on March 10th, 2012
John-Michael Shenette has one foot grounded real world racing, the other in sim racing. Or is it the other way around? For in the case of the Connecticut’s Shenette, the boundaries between the real and virtual racing are blurred. And that’s a good thing. A former iRacing.com marketing intern, past Late Model and SK Modified divisional champion, Shenette assists in the administration of the iRacing.com DWC. He is also president of the Short Track Pro Cup Series (www.stprocup.com), iRacing’s longest-running league, and creator of Dynasty Motorsports.
On the other hand (or foot, as it were), Shenette has nearly two decades of real world racing under his belt, having raced Super Late Models, Trucks, Pro Stocks, IMCA Modifieds, karts andquarter midgets, with plans to compete in PASS North races and the Granite State Pro Stock Series at Thompson International Speedway, Canaan Fairgrounds and Seekonk Speedway this year, not to mention the prestigious 24 Hours of Lemons at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (with fellow iRacers Jeremy Davis, Eric Jones and Douglas Comier0). Shenette also stands at the intersection of the real and virtual worlds of racing, working with Landon Cassill to insure the success of the popular Landon Cassill Qualifying Challenge.
Q: How long have you been sim racing?
A: I began iRacing in 2008 as a beta tester/marketing intern for the company. Prior to iRacing I raced online with NASCAR 2002 and 2003 season, and offline with Bill Elliot’s NASCAR Racing, NASCAR ’99, NASCAR Racing 4 and NASCAR Racing 3.
Q: What attracted you to iRacing?
A: To be honest, I initially contacted the company regarding a potential sponsorship opportunity. After meeting a few employees and seeing what the product was all about, I accepted a position in the marketing department. iRacing is hands down the most realistic simulation software I have ever found, and I will continue to support iRacing in any way possible.
Q: What are favorite iRacing cars/tracks?
A: I mainly race the Late Model and Impala B car, but do dip into the truck and SK modifieds from time to time. Overall my favorite car would be the Late Model at Oxford Plains, an answer that you probably don’t see very often.
Q: What do you like most about iRacing?
A; I really enjoy the opportunity to race on tracks where I run in real life. Next season we hope to race at Speedweeks in New Smyrna, and the opportunity to test a similar car on the same track should help get me ready.
Q: What would you change about iRacing?
A: I would place my focus on updating some of the tracks that have recently changed like Phoenix, and fix some of the issues with bumps like Thompson and Homestead. After that I would focus on integrating heat race style qualifying into a single race server, and develop a garage area that displays images and graphs so an advanced setup person can see the changes. This would help to develop coil bind setups and give you advantages seen on a pull-down rig and shock/spring testers.
Q: How many hours a week do you spend on iRacing?
A: I race mainly in leagues, focusing most of my time on the Short Track Pro Cup League. I race in the Fender Sheetz/Impact Graphics Premier Division on Sundays and the RH2Way SK Modified Series on Wednesdays. I also race in a couple other late model, truck and Impala B COT series leagues on other nights.
“My favorite car would be the Late Model at Oxford Plains, an answer that you probably don’t see very often.”
Q: Tell us about the paint schemes on your helmet/car(s) . . .
A: My helmet is a poor attempt to render my real life helmet, a custom airbrushed job from Indosil Art in Rock Hill, SC. My car’s match their real life counterparts, a simply all white body with the Dynasty Motorsports logo on the hood, and the distinguished flat black and red number 82.
Q: What other sim racing activities (Forza, Gran Turismo, etc.) do you do?
A: None
Q: What are your favorite video games?
A: None
Q: What is your most memorable iRacing moment?
A: My most memorable iRacing moment is more of an ongoing event. I took over the Short Track Pro Cup, STProCup.com, from Mark Royer a little more than a year ago. In that time we have seen drivers come and go, but most of all we’ve been able to go back to our roots and build a community focused on short track racing, and have formed a solid core group of members. I find personal satisfaction knowing that I help organize a community for all different drivers from all different walks of life. We have drivers as young as 14, and as old as 65+. We have war veterans, real world drivers, small-business owners, college students and everyone in between. I am very thankful for the opportunity to keep STPC thriving, and it will forever be my most memorable iRacing moment(s).
Q: What is the iRacing moment you’d love to forget?
A: This is a loaded question but I will describe an STPC Late Model East series race from nearly 2 years ago. We were racing at Lanier, and I was running second and slowly gaining on Jeremy Davis, the leader. When it was time to go, I caught Jeremy, made the pass and took the lead. Coming down to the wire on the last turn of the last lap Jeremy got to my back bumper and turned me sideways. We both ended-up fifth and sixth or something like that, and Wayne Matherne took down the win. I still can’t forget this race.
Although Shenette races a variety of cars on iRacing, the Late Model is his favorite.
Q: What car/track would you like to see iRacing add to the service?
A: The Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts would be one of the best additions to the service. Seekonk is a small, ¼ mile track that provides some awesome racing. The Pro All Stars Series visits Seekonk annually, and the opportunity to practice and race at this track would be awesome.
Q: What person, living or dead, do you most admire? Why? A: This is more of a personal answer, but I most admire my grandfather (dad’s side). I never had the opportunity to meet him, but I’ve been able to form an image of him over time. He was a World War II veteran and held his FAA Private Pilot’s License. When I think back to my real life racing career, I feel as though I have missed out on the multi-generation aspect of the sport that so many drivers get to enjoy. When I think about him, I know he would be at every race regardless, and would do all he could to help put the car on the track.
Q: What’s your favorite real world racing series?
A: I enjoy watching Super Late Models the most. In the past year I have been to a host of PASS and NASCAR races, along with the Snowball Derby in Florida and “The Race” at North Wilkesboro.
Q: Name the title of the most recent book you read.
A: Definitely a textbook for my recently completed Masters Degree. Name and title would be unknown as there were way too many!”
Q: Name of your favorite movie/TV show?
A: Movies include The Godfather and Days of Thunder, but my favorite TV shows would include Hillbilly Handfishin’, Tosh.O and anything racing related.
Shenette's cars sport the Dynasty Motorsports logo.
Q: How many of your close friends are iRacing members?
A: I have been fortunate enough to develop close friends through iRacing. Jeremy Davis, Jeff Conover, Tony Dugan and Wayne Matherne are all people I talk to on a regular basis and met through the service.
Q: Has competing with iRacers all around the world influenced your opinions/outlook on life/world events? How?
A: I completed my undergraduate studies at Bentley University outside of Boston, and can attest to the importance of keeping an open mind when engaging with people from around the world. Bentley like iRacing, is a multi-national institution with people from many different cultures. I have learned to keep an open mind for things outside my “comfort zone,” and have actually expanded my interests because of this. Ten years ago I would have never eaten the foods, listened to the music or entertained the news/tv shows that I do today. I can attribute some of my more worldly views to the exposure generated from racing with different drivers in different cultures.