[Buffy's Shadow]

Hello everyone! As you might know, I'm a big of auto-racing. Mostly NASCAR and ARCA, but really racing in general. Since getting back into gaming seriously about a year or so ago, I've become pretty enthralled with SimRacing. For those of you who don't know the term, Sim-Racing is basically racing in a simulator. These simulators typically replicate what a racecar would feel like during a race. Most professional drivers use simulators, including some of the biggest names, such as Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Dillion, just to mention a select few. Since I doubt I'm ever gonna reach the top of the NASCAR food chain, racing virtually is the only way I can really have any kind of idea what it's like to race competitively. So, given that I've become pretty much immersed in this whole thing, I thought it might be cool to start a journal of sorts on here, just chronicling what I do and such, while also giving out bits and pieces of autoracing history, which is a fascinating subject, if I do say so myself.

The Basics:

When it comes to Sim-Racing, a keyboard or a controller isn't something you wanna use, since, quite honestly, you're not ever gonna see them in a real race-car. Thus, there are sets for the PC that are steering wheels, pedals, and a shifter. This, in my eyes, is the only way to accurately get the feel for what a race-car is supposed to be like. Not to mention, it allows you far more control over the car while you're driving than a controller would. You wouldn't put a steering wheel in a plane, so why would you try to play a racing simulator with a keyboard? Common sense.

In addition, on my wheel, I have a piece of red tape in the center of the wheel on the top. Why do I do this? Well, when you're tuning the car, it's best to know where the center of the wheel is when you're turning. Having a piece of tape there makes it a bit easier, plus it lets you know just what you need to do to the car to get to perform how you'd like.

There's a variety of simulators out there that you can run on. I mainly use NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, which has a number of mods out there for many different series, from NASCAR to ARCA to Trans Am to even Formula 1. Other ones I use include ARCA Sim Racing X (which is free by the way), rFactor, and Sprint Cars: World of Outlaws.

The Series:

NASCAR:



There's been a lot of racing series over the years, some more successful than others. NASCAR is probably the most well known out of the bunch, given that it's the biggest racing series in the history of the sport. NASCAR was formed in 1948 as an attempt to make the racing that was going throughout the South post-World War II a bit more organized. It has since transformed into a huge franchise of series, which most drives aspire to compete in. Most of the biggest of racing names have raced in NASCAR, such as Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, AJ Foyt, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, David Pearson, and Mark Martin.

NASCAR hosts a number of different divisions. The Sprint Cup and Whelen Modified Tour date back to 1948, with the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series following in 1983 and 1995 respectively. Sprint Cup is the flagship division, and it's the one most race their way up to get to. Most typically start out in the K&N Pro Series, which is a development series. After that, most while try to get a Truck Series ride, with some ARCA starts, in order to find a ride with an Xfinity Series team. After that, Cup is the ultimate goal. But just getting to Cup doesn't guarantee success. For every champion, there's 42 other losers. in the field. With everyone racing for one goal, there's only one spot everyone wants to be in, and that's first. Second is just the first loser.


NASCAR in 1970. Winston Cup Series (Now Sprint Cup)


Sprint Cup Series today.


Xfinity Series


Camping World Truck Series


Modified Division

ARCA:



ARCA is, for all intents and purposes, NASCAR's little brother. Most drivers enter ARCA with a hope to break into NASCAR, while some drive ARCA for the entirety of their careers. The series serves, in terms of NASCAR, as a development division. This has led to the coining of the term 'ARCA Brakes', which applies to wrecks in which the drivers in training refuse to slow down and avoid the wreck, but instead try to avoid it while becoming part of it.

https://youtu.be/cNnTWVQZZAY
An example of ARCA Brakes, from the 2005 season opener at Daytona.

The series is one of the oldest surviving Motor-Racing series in the United States, alongside NASCAR. Unlike the latter, however, it's prize-winnings are not as large, nor does the series have every race televised. The ones that are shown on TV are generally on the same weekend as a NASCAR event, thus having the two series helping one another.






ARCA Brakes. Don't let it happen to you. Hit the brakes!

More to be added later!

[Buffy's Shadow]

Series: (Continued)

Trans-Am Series



Left and right turns! All joking aside, road-racing is as old as oval racing. Trans-Am racing started in the late 1960s, featuring muscle cars of the era, such as the Ford Mustang Mach 1, the Plymouth Roadrunner, Dodge Charger & Challenger, and the AMC Javelin. Most of the teams to a point had factory support. This series is still going strong today, with the usual manufactures battling it out on the track.

Dirt Track Series:

Late Models



These are the kind of vehicles you'd see around your local dirt-track, along with Sprint Cars. They're fast and hard to control, so much so that you're turning right in the corners to keep the car from completely spinning out.

Sprint Cars:



These are what the World of Outlaws Series race. They're a little less powerful than Late Models, but still very fast and hard to control.

Defunct Series:

ASA



ASA was a proto NASCAR like series. A lot of major stars in NASCAR started out in ASA, which although not anywhere near as big as NASCAR, it was still an influential series until financial difficulties forced them to scale back dramatically in 2004. They still sanction short-track races, but nothing on the National level as they once did.

[Frog]

Like this

[Buffy's Shadow]

You'll probably like the next entry, Frog I'll be dealing with the NHRA Drag Racing stuff I told you about

[Buffy's Shadow]

Drafting:



When it comes to Superspeedways, drafting is the name of the game. What exactly is drafting? It's all about one thing. Air. Because of the size of the two superspeedways on the NASCAR schedule (Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway), the cars are run largely full-throttle 24/7 during green flag laps. This enables the cars to commonly reach speeds around 201 mph. The cars raced today are capable of going faster, but because of safety concerns, there are restrictor plates placed on the engines, which restrict the amount of air that is allowed into the engine. This, as a result, evens the speeds out to a pace that is considered to be 'safe'. These plates were brought about after a car got airborne and flew into the catch-fence at a Talladega race in 1989. In the interests of safety, the cars were forced to slow down.

These restrictor plates also brought fully up to the surface the idea of 'drafting'. The central idea behind this is that two cars that are running nose-to-tail with one another can go faster than one car running by itself. The first car is cutting the air in half in front of them, while the car behind them pushes, which increases the speeds of both (as shown in the drawing below.) The more cars lined up, the faster that line will go. At superspeedways, it's not uncommon to see a line that is better connected prevail over one that isn't.





Drafting was largely discovered by Junior Johnson in the 1960s. Faced with the issue of being unable to keep pace with the other manufactures (The Dodge/Plymouth cars had a more powerful motor, the Hemi, at that point in time, which allowed them to dominate the NASCAR schedule). By tucking in behind another car, however, he found that it would enable him to not only keep pace, but also pass said cars during therace.

There are dangers with this tactic though. Pushing in the corners is typically frowned upon, as the banking on the track can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Because there is so much air packed in between the cars, the slightest unbalance between any car can easily cause it to spin out. As such, many drivers choose to push only on the straightaways, although when the laps wind down, anything is considered to be an advantage.

Drafting has also changed somewhat with the evolution of the cars. The car models used prior to 2008 were situated much lower to the ground, and the front of the cars were hardly as tall as the bumper. As a result, bump drafting was made a little more tricky. In 2007, however, a new car model, mandated by NASCAR, was put into place. These vehicles were much taller than their predecessors, and made drafting a lot easier. In time, it was found that two of these cars could hook up and take off. This, for a brief time, eliminated the idea of 'pack' racing, shown below. As of 2016, however, this has been eliminated, due to the unpopular feelings of it amongst the fans.


The 2008-2012 mandated NASCAR model. Notice the height between rear-bumper and front-bumper.




Two-Car Tango (2011-2013)


Pack Racing (1989-2008, 2013-Present)

Drafting does not mean that the car that is behind the leader is forced to stay there, however. If timed right, the car that is gaining on the one in front can use a move called a 'sling-shot', where the air is manipulated to give more speed to the car behind. As a result, that car is then able to move past the leader with a great difference in speed. This tactic is what makes being the leader at a superspeedway both a benefit and a curse. The benefit being that one can make a move to block the car behind them, or manipulate the draft to not give anyone else an advantage.

[Buffy's Shadow]

Note: I haven't forgotten about this, just haven't been up for writing much as of late.

[Buffy's Shadow]

In the words of Robert Duvall's character from the 1990 movie Days of Thunder, "tires are what win a race." In racing, there is hardly a truer statement. While most think that going out and running fifty or so laps on the same set of tires is a picnic, it's far from it. Each lap one puts on their tires makes the car harder to control. You may be able to drive the car deep into Turn 1 and get back to the gas automatically, but twenty laps later, you'll find it harder and harder to do so. By the time the fuel-run is done, the driver is practically begging for fresh tires. The same goes for a restart late in a race. Have a worn set of tires, and the restart can easily lose the leader a race.