iRacer Profile: Kevin Parrish

Kevin Parrish is a racer.  Gee, what a shock!  inRacingNews digs deep into the personal life of an iRacing member and discovers he’s a racer at heart . . .
But wait, there’s more.  In addition to being an accomplished sim-racer – witness his recent win in the Roar Before the 2.4 and victory in last year’s SSCA 2.4 Hours of Spa in the HPD-ARX-01C to go along with more than 275 wins in official iRacing competition – Parrish autocrosses and hillclimbs his tricked-out Formula Vee.  And when he’s not hustling his tangible and virtual race cars around, this Hoosier whose nickname is “Chaos” competes in a more “elemental” form of racing:  on obstacle courses.

Oh yeah, Parrish also competed in DirecTV’s Championship Gaming Series . . . in the Playboy Mansion no less.  Told you there’s more to this sim-racing thing than meets the eye.

Happy birthday Chaos!

Q:     How long have you been sim racing?

A:    I have been sim-racing since GT3. I caught the competitive bug when my cousin and I would trade the controller back and forth and try to best each other’s times around the test track. I’ve played and competed in many titles between than and now, I still haven’t been able to scratch the itch apparently  😆 .

Q:     What attracted you to iRacing?

A:    I was drawn to iRacing by the the opportunity to race in as real a setting as possible. The best physics, the best tracks, the best sanctioning.

Q:     What are favorite iRacing cars/tracks?

A:    This is probably the hardest question you could ask me  😆 I can’t single out anything. I run the HPD, Daytona Prototype, Mustang, Jetta, Corvette, and McLaren all pretty frequently. As for tracks, I really like the challenge of VIR and Infineon (Sonoma).

Q:     What do you like most about iRacing?

A:    The competition. I’m very competitively natured, without it, I get bored. Back in 2007, straight out of high school, I was able to make a comfortable living off this competitiveness. I was signed to compete professionally in the Championship Gaming Series on DirecTV, the draft was held at the Playboy Mansion. For two years, I was treated as a professional athlete, living with expenses-paid for in California while competing live on DirecTV in front of a studio audience.

The Championship Gaming Series: Not your average man-cave.

Q:     What would you change about iRacing?

A:    The protest system is too cumbersome and the judgements are too lenient.

Q:     How many hours a week do you spend on iRacing?

A:    Time varies from week to week. I try to get at least one race in each day, but don’t always manage to accomplish that. I really only set aside time specifically for iRacing when I have a major race that week.

Q:     Tell us about the paint schemes on your helmet/car(s).

A:    My paint schemes are for the team a fellow Indiana member and I are starting. We want to establish a group of racers who make their mark on track with their attitude first and their results secondarily.

Our sponsors are a company my family and I started (SimGarage.com), we specialize in sim-peripherals for all applications and custom orders. And Welch Designs, Randall Welch’s own design firm.

Parrish has some 230 road racing wins on iRacing, many in his VW Jetta TDi.

Q:     What other sim racing activities (Forza, Gran Turismo, rFactor, etc.) do you do?

A:    None anymore. I only have enough time to devote to one.

Q:     What are your favorite video games?

A:    Besides racing titles, I love shooters. CS:S, COD, Battlefield, TF2, etc. but once again, my time is limited these days and I’m pretty much exclusively on iRacing.

Q:     Do you do any real world racing? Has iRacing been of any benefit?

A:    Yes, I have a vintage Beach Automotive Formula Vee. It’s a one-of-a-kind build with full front and rear aero, a stroked motor cranking about 170hp, and racing slicks. No longer legal to race in FV, it’s used for hillclimbs and autocross. iRacing keeps my mind sharp.

Parrish puts lessons learned on iRacing to use in his Formula Vee.

Q:     What is your most memorable iRacing moment?

A:    I hate when I have to choose one  😛

Most recently, would have to be the Targa Virginia. I had a great race going with Riku (Alatalo) for the lead in the first third of the race before I bobbled. I spent the next two hours in full-attack mode. Going that long at that level of intensity on VIR Grand West with traffic from two slower classes thrown in the mix was a rush I wont soon be forgetting.

Q:     What is the iRacing moment you’d love to forget?

A:    I’ve had more than my fair share of “easy wins” thrown out from pushing myself to unnecessary levels while way ahead.  😥 I guess it’s just that competitive drive again, always trying to go faster.  😆

Q:     What car/track would you like to see iRacing add to the service?

A:    I don’t have any specifics, but I think it would be great if they added hillclimbs and other types of point-to-point time trial racing. We already have a TTrating (that is really confusing), seems logical to re-work that segment of the service.

“We want to establish a group of racers who make their mark on track with their attitude first and their results secondarily.”

Q:     What person, living or dead do you most admire?

A:    Senna.

Q:     What’s your favorite real world racing series?

A:    I will watch any racing that’s on TV

Q:     Name the title of the most recent book you read.

A:    You’ll know at the Finish Line: The Spartan Guide to Obstacle Course Racing. Obstacle course racing is another hobby of mine.

Parrish also enjoys racing without horsepower.

Q:     Name of your favorite movie/TV show?

A:    Fight Club.

Q:     How many of your close friends are iRacing members?

A:    Zero. But I have made a handful of great friends through the service, just separated by distance.

Q:     Has competing with iRacers all around the world influenced your opinions/outlook on life/world events? How?

A:    Absolutely. It’s kind of funny that at the office, I often have more to contribute to discussion of world news than the rest of my coworkers because I am dealing with people internationally daily. You realize that we truly are global in this day and age. Something may happen overseas, but we are still influenced over here and vice-versa.

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