iRacer Profile – Scott McDonough
June 16th, 2012 by DavidP
It’s nice to share the wealth. After two seasons of utter domination of the Daytona Prototype class of the iRacing.com Grand-Am Online Sports Car Series, Scott McDonough is taking a bit of break in 2012 S3, contesting only a trio of races so far. At that he’s already added a couple of wins to his personal total of 76 victories in the past year, a year that saw him finish P4 in 2011 S3 before taking back-to-back titles in S4 and 2012 Season 1 . . . including a S4 “double” that also included the Time Trial title.
That’s not to say that current point leader Ronan Taugeron — or pursuers like Renato Dornelles, Cesc Riu, Tyson Cierppial and Joel Guez — won’t be a worthy champion inS4. But it is to say that McDonough certainly enjoyed an impressive run at the top . . . and will start as one of the pre-season favorites if and when the Lakewood, CA-based re-enters the iRacing.com Grand-Am Online Sports Car Series on something like a full-time basis, be it in S3 or later.
Q: How long have you been sim racing?
A: About six years
Q: What attracted you to iRacing?
A: I drove it for the first time at the SEMA show in Las Vegas and was hooked right away by how real it felt and how good it looked..
Q: What are favorite iRacing cars/tracks?
A: Riley DP and Mid-Ohio are my favorites
Q: What do you like most about iRacing?
A: The competition and the ability to race people from all over the world.
Q: What would you change about iRacing?
A: I would like to do away with all the fixed series, at least on the road side of the service. I think it would work better if there were setups available for those who didn’t want to or couldn’t make a set-up, but those that could would still be able to make their own.
Q: How many hours a week do you spend on iRacing? A: Probably 15 to 20.
Q: Tell us about the paint schemes on your helmet/car(s).
A: Our team, CTC Racing, runs a lot of different schemes. They are usually a real life scheme with our logo on it. I’m currently running the Ganassi Target/Telmex scheme painted for us by fellow iRacing member Sergio Roda Junior. But we also run SunTrust colors and the Action Express 2012 scheme.
Q: What other sim racing activities (Forza, Gran Turismo, etc.) do you do?
A: Just iRacing.
Q: What are your favorite video games?
A: I used to love MotoGp 2007.
Q: What is your most memorable iRacing moment?
A: Winning my first race when I first started and then winning back-to-back GRAND-AM championships in Season 4 2011 and Season 1 2012
Q: What is the iRacing moment you’d love to forget?
A: None really
Q: What car/track would you like to see iRacing add to the service?
A: More real life GRAND-AM tracks like NJMP and Miller Motorsports Park.
“(My dad) lost his left arm in a motorcycle accident when he was 26 and was still able to be a full time auto technician for 35 years. He could fix anything.”
Q: What person, living or dead do you most admire?
A: The first would be my dad. He was such an amazing guy. He lost his left arm in a motorcycle accident when he was 26 and was still able to be a full time auto technician for 35 years. He could fix anything. The second would be Ricky Carmichael. The dude was amazing, nobody in any sport comes close to what that guy did in his career. 15 straight championships and two perfect seasons.
Q: What’s your favorite real world racing series?
A: GRAND-AM and the ALMS series.
Q: Name the title of the most recent book you read.
A: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It really helped my wife and I get control of our finances.
Q: Name of your favorite movie/TV show?
A: Person of Interest.
Q: How many of your close friends are iRacing members?
A: All the guys on our team. John Cousland, Eric Bartlett, Kurt Gross, Christian Aranha, Jack Sloan, Loren Bateman, Cody McGee, David Scott2 have all become good friends.
Q: Has competing with iRacers all around the world influenced your opinions/outlook on life/world events? How?
A: It hasn’t really changed my outlook, but I have enjoyed racing with everyone.