All News: Matt Holden

Behind the Scenes: The NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com – The Science of Strategy

August 26th, 2015 by

The race was only 50 laps, we could run 27 laps on one tank of gas. But to make it complicated, so could everyone else.  There was no chance of any driver making two stops, no chance of the usual trickery that can play out during a 200-lap race to shuffle up the leader board … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: The NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com – The Oval Office

July 28th, 2015 by

Being a participant in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series comes with its own small amount of fame.  Nick Ottinger gets asked questions all the time like, “Who paints your car?”, “What wheel/pedals do you use?”, and “Do you really have a ponytail?”  Peter Fisher and I, however, see a much smaller range of inquiries.  Aside … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: The NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com – For the Alpha: the Omega, Part 2

July 8th, 2015 by

Before we dive back into this, let’s review:  We’re talking about how to be more efficient with your setup process, and spend less time trying 28 different setups every week that don’t work and spending more time in the fine-tuning stages.  In the last article, I discussed how to approach the initial setup build, as … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: The NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com – For the Alpha: the Omega, Part 1

June 10th, 2015 by

There’s no denying the fact that the garage system iRacing introduced to the sim racing world back in 2008 turned said world on its ear.  While it has yet to be adopted by other racing sims as of yet, it remains the most realistic environment for racecar setup work on a simulated platform.  In older … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com – Seconds, please

May 20th, 2015 by

I built this one setup.  It was awesome, if I’m allowed to say that about my own work.  Purpose-built specifically for the virtual high-banks of the Daytona International Speedway, it was meant to run in one, and only one, race of the 2015 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series.  I built it knowing that once the checkered … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series – Goodbye My Friend

April 29th, 2015 by

I can still remember those days as a child. My mother picking me up from school, pulling into the driveway at my house and seeing my neighbor, a mid-30s man with dark hair, gym shorts, and a pair of well-used sandals, tending to his garden, simply enjoying life.  He would stand up from his work, … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: NASCAR Peak Antifreeze Series – Into the Wild Unknown

March 23rd, 2015 by

I’ve had this article planned for a while and I’m very excited about it.  Honestly, I do not want to write a single word about the Las Vegas race.  But I will, if for no other reason than to put a period on that and go into what I actually want to discuss.  If you … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com – New Build, Same Plan

March 12th, 2015 by

A few weeks ago, I had a chat with an old friend.  He’s an old “iRacing buddy” of mine, one of the big-wigs at the team I was part of before joining Gale Force Sim Racing.  The two of us are great examples of how iRacing has developed its own types of members, very similar … Read the Rest »

Behind the Scenes: The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series powered by iRacing.com – Two Wide and Handsome

March 4th, 2015 by

We had this grand plan laid out last month:  We’d get a decent finish at Daytona and use that as a springboard into a good season.  Instead of wadding the Daytona car up before the first pit stop, we’d just sail under the radar, get away with a few dents and scratches and start the … Read the Rest »

The Sun that Never Set – Our Win in the 24 Hours of Daytona

February 5th, 2015 by

Look for the brake point… Downshift to 2nd… “That was a 1:48.5, need more of that.” Anyone leaving pit road?  Nope, set up here… Watch that dirt on the outside…Any HPDs behind? Nope… Oops, bad entry…slight understeer…watch the wheelspin… “2nd place hit a 1:48.2, at the line now” Man I hate this corner…tiptoe a little … Read the Rest »