All News: Sim Racing News

Thompson International Speedway Joins iRacing.com

March 18th, 2010 by

Historic Connecticut Facility is Latest Online Racing Short Track For 70 years Thompson International Speedway has challenged New England’s finest racing drivers.  With the announcement that iRacing.com will add the legendary Connecticut track to its inventory, fans of the legendary high-banked, five-eighths mile oval and short-track online racing enthusiasts around the world will soon be able to measure themselves against a track that in its history has sent drivers to the winner’s circle in the Daytona 500 and success on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to put together this alliance with iRacing.com,” said Jonathan Hoenig, the track’s director of business development and marketing and the fourth generation of his family to be involved with Thompson International Speedway.  “The timing couldn’t be better as we use innovative technology and other modern business management tools to move the sport of short-track racing forward for the benefit of both fans and participants.” “Our fans are loyal and enthusiastic,” Hoenig said.  “Many of them would be on the track racing if they could – and now through iRacing.com, they will be able to race on an exact digital duplicate of the speedway when they’re not attending races. We look forward to our local fans and racing game enthusiasts from all over the world being able to participate in online racing series that include Thompson International Speedway.” Hoenig, who holds an MBA degree from Pepperdine University and whose great-grandfather began construction of the speedway in 1938, also noted that as host to a NASCAR touring series and seven of its own racing classes, each year the track saw a number of drivers make their maiden appearances.  “Just as many NASCAR Sprint Cup stars such as Joey Logano and Martin Truex, Jr.

iRacing.com Sponsors Ben Kennedy’s Mark Martin Performance Super Late Model

March 12th, 2010 by

Great Grandson of NASCAR Founder Bill France Will Carry iRacing.com Flag in 2010; First Race Tonight His racing roots go back three generations, and now 18-year-old Ben Kennedy is making his own mark in the sport that’s virtually synonymous with his grandfather and great-grandfather’s name – France.  Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and son of International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy, is already a champion in the Pro-Truck class at Orlando Speed World and New Smyrna Speedway.  The 18-year-old high school senior’s next step up the motorsport ladder, aboard a Chevrolet Impala SS super late model fielded by Mark Martin Racing, will be sponsored by iRacing.com, the world’s premier online racing simulation service.  Kennedy’s first race in iRacing.com livery is scheduled for this evening at Orlando Speed World.  Saturday he’ll compete at New Smyrna Speedway. The announcement was made by Tony Gardner, iRacing.com’s president and Benny Ertel, business manager for Mark Martin Performance.

Q&A with NiCWS Winner and Pro Road Racing Champion Richard Towler

March 11th, 2010 by

Over the past seven years Richard Towler has emerged as one of world’s top sim racers.  Based in Hull, England, the 26 year old Towler traveled a well-trodden online racing path from Gran Tourismo 2002 to NASCAR 2003 and has been a member of iRacing.com since June of 2008.  In that time he has won … Read the Rest »

Safety Ratings—a cure for the mayhem in online racing games?

March 10th, 2010 by Dave Kaemmer

Back when sanctioned multiplayer online competition at iRacing was still just a plan brewing, we faced a difficult question: How do we keep people from overdriving their virtual cars and wrecking everyone else (or at least minimize it), in order to make online racing more like real world on-track time? Our answers to this question … Read the Rest »

2010 iRacing.com World Tour Features 120 Minutes of Online Racing at Sebring

March 8th, 2010 by

Same-Day Tribute to 58th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Revisits Legendary GT1 Corvette C6.R The 120 Minutes of Sebring, a tribute to America’s oldest sports car race, is slated to run concurrently with this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 20.  The third stop on iRacing.com’s 2010 World Tour, the two-hour online racing event is a chance for iRacers all over the world to celebrate the 58th running of this classic endurance race and to experience the awesome performance of the American Le Mans Series GT1-class Corvette CR6.

Circuit Park Zandvoort Now Available to iRacing Members

March 5th, 2010 by

Virtual Version of Historic European Circuit Open to Online Racers World-Wide Circuit Park Zandvoort, one of Europe’s most historic motorsports venues, is now available to online racers around the world through iRacing.com’s internet-based virtual-racing service.  iRacing’s first offering on the European continent is a millimeter-precise rendering of the undulating Dutch seaside circuit, from the famed Tarzanbocht hairpin to the daunting Scheivlak curve and the Arie Luyendijkbocht honoring the two-time Indy 500 winner who cut his racing teeth at Zandvoort. “Circuit Park Zandvoort is one of Europe’s most iconic race tracks,” says Divina Galica, iRacing’s director of partner relations and former Formula One driver. “There’s some great history at Zandvoort, with new history being made every year with the Formula 3 Masters and DTM events, together with a full schedule of national and club events

Bringing Back the Thunder from Down Under

March 2nd, 2010 by Dave Moulthrop

This fall’s trip to Australia has so far been one of the most enjoyable trips in my five year tenure as the Laser Scan Project Manager for iRacing.com. After getting over the six hour flight from Boston to San Francisco, followed by another fourteen hours to Melbourne and a two hour drive to Phillip Island, I ended-up at what has to be one of the most breath-taking racing facilities in the world. Phillip Island is just off the southern coast of Australia and connected to the mainland by a bridge. It is bordered by cliffs that drop of into the Bass Straight between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

A Day in the Life of a Cat Herder: XII

February 24th, 2010 by Steve Myers

It’s always very exciting to me, living in the Northeast, to hit February with the prospect of heading south for the NASCAR Super Bowl at Daytona International Speedway. This year was no different, only I was greeted on my arrival with colder temperatures than what I left in Boston. Thankfully, it was a somewhat cold … Read the Rest »

I love cars

February 17th, 2010 by John Hughes

I love cars. As long as I can remember, I’ve loved them. As a boy of 14 I purchased my first car, long before I had a driver’s license and I had my 2nd car, a 1971 Firebird, the very next year. Even though I never got to drive either of those cars, it instilled … Read the Rest »

iRacing.com Expands Partnership with Lyn St. James Foundation Through “Women in the Winner’s Circle” Exhibit

February 16th, 2010 by

History of Women in Auto Racing Documented in Five-Year Traveling Interactive Exhibition iRacing.com is joining the Lyn St. James Foundation in support of “Women in the Winner’s Circle,” a five-year traveling exhibition that recognizes the past history, the growing achievements, and the future growth of women in racing.  iRacing.com’s support of the exhibit marks an expansion of the company’s relationship with the foundation, which was initiated last year through the company’s involvement with the Women in the Winner’s Circle Driver Development Academy