iRacing

It’s almost time for the first iRacing World Tour, the Rolex 2.4 Hours at Daytona (30 Jan 2010).

I’m really looking forward to the race although it’s significantly longer than anything I’ve ever driven in before.

Getting up to speed in the Riley hasn’t been easy as I haven’t driven it for some time but I’m hoping I can last the distance.

Getting custom skins in iRacing is a great addition to the serrvice, this is the scheme I’ll be running tomorrow;

Riley Daytona Prototype

I had to leave it pretty late this week to get my first ever race in the Riley DP under my belt.

Even though I felt I was driving pretty well and felt fairly comfortable in the car my qualifying time put me in the bottom third of drivers which I guess wasn’t too much of a suprise as I’d not had a huge amount of time in the car.

It was encouraging to see enough drivers registered for the race to split and I was looking forward to battling the slower drivers in the lower split and maybe getting a decent finish so I was rather dismayed to find myself in the upper split and looking at the qualifying times I was fairly comprehensively outclassed!

Sitting in 13th on the grid and ranked the #15 driver, the positive of being in a very strong field is that there isn’t much iRating to lose and there’s the potential for a big gain in iRating and championship points with a good finish so time to aim for consistent run and keep fingers crossed for a few mistakes from others.

The race turned out to be very uneventful. I jumped to 10th place after the first few laps as others span or left the track but as the race progressed my lack of pace was exposed and these drivers caught and passed me,  dropping to 14th with 10 laps to go and the prospect of a fairly poor finish.

The race isn’t over though until the finish line is crossed and due to others mishaps I finally took the chequered flag in a comfortable 11th place.

That doesn’t sound great but due to the strong level of competition, that was enough for +10 iRating and63 championship points.

Zero incidents pushed my Safety Rating from 3.89 to 4.55

Dale Jr. ran with an iRacing logo on his car at Daytona recently, here’s a link to a shot of the car;

http://www.iracingworld.com/_Dale-Jrs-Nationwide-car-at-Daytona/photo/2892897/57752.html

Check out the new screenshots page here for larger versions;

http://blog.popabawa.net/?page_id=591

How is this possible?

It’s the Daytona 500 today and our boy Dale Jr. has a decent shot at winning according to Lars Anderson at SI.com;
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/lars_anderson/02/13/inside.nascar/

Why does he think he has a great chance? iRacing of course!

My pick to win is Earnhardt. Seven of his 18 career wins have come on restrictor-plate tracks, and he’s spent more time preparing for this race than any other driver. This offseason Little E practiced for Daytona for as many as six hours a day from the comfort of his living room in Mooresville, N.C., while playing the racing simulation game of iRacing, the most lifelike, authentic game on the market today. “Every ripple in the concrete at Daytona is replicated in that game,” says Earnhardt. “I learned things about the draft and just how to get around the place on iRacing. I think it’s really going to help me once the race gets started.”

The Riley ROCKS. A lap around Daytona. Click through to watch the HD verson

I’m starting to think about getting some time in the Radical SR8 to prepare for next season. Here’s some action from a practise session I had with my buddy Don, he pulls a nice overtaking manouvre on the start / finish straight.

Don overtakes at Daytona from Iain Mabbott on Vimeo.

Posted by Dustin McGrew of Mid-Atlantic Racing

iRacing Silverado Truck Race at Daytona from Dustin McGrew on Vimeo.