iRacer Profile: Shawn Maier

Shawn Maier races just about anything he can get his hands on:  go karts, radio-controlled cars and for nearly a decade, virtual race cars of many shapes and sizes.  That should be no surprise, considering he hails from a state synonymous with auto racing:  Indiana.  Although he mainly sim races the VW Jetta TDI in the iRacing Grand Touring Cup (he’s P10 in Division Two with a pole and six top fives in eight starts this season), the Mustang FR500S, and FG Falcon V8 Supercar, Maier hopes to one day compete in the real world GRAND-AM Rolex Series.

Q:      How long have you been Sim racing?
A:     I have been racing with a wheel and pedal set for about 3 years. But my sim racing starts all the way back about 8 years with a Playstation one and GranTourismo 2.

Q:      What attracted you to iRacing?
A:     iRacing caught my eye when I was looking for a better PC-based racing game. After being frustrated and disapointed with Need for Speed, I was looking for something that had more relistic cars and tracks.

Q:      What are favorite iRacing cars/tracks?
A:     Unfortanatly I don’t own all the cars and tracks, But from what I do own, my favorite would have to be Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. As for the cars, probably the Jettas then the Solstices, then the Corvettes. In that order.   It’s tough to pick just one when you can race about three series or more at once.

Q:     What do you like most about iRacing?
A:     The chance to drive cars that react almost the exact same way they would in real life.

Q:      What would you change about iRacing
A:     I would have to say the timing of there race events, makes it hard to run three series at once every week.

Q:     How many hours a week do you spend on iRacing?
A:     About three  hours everyday at the least, sometimes more on weekends.

Q:      Tell us about the paint schemes on your helmet/car(s)
A:     The paint schemes on my helmet is an attempt to copy my real helmet that I use for go-karting.   The paint schemes on the cars are what I feel make the cars look fast or look good when they are sitting at the starting grid.

Q:     What other sim racing activities (Forza, GranTourismo, etc.) do you do?
A:     GranTourismo and Need for Speed, but I spend most of my time on Iracing.

Q:      What are your favorite video games? Other hobbies?
A:     My favorite video game I would have to say is Donkey Kong. And my hobbies are RC car racing in the winter, and Go-Karting in the summer.

Q:      What is your most memorable iRacing moment

A:     I have many but the one I love the most would have to be going three laps side-by-side with another Solstice around Summit Point Jefferson without touching each other during an inRacingNews Challenge race. So it was tough to not touch each other and stay out of the way of the SpecRacer Fords at the same time.

Q:      What is the iRacing moment you’d love to forget
A:     Running out of fuel half way around Watkins Glen on the last lap in the Mustang after starting from the pole leading every lap and while leading second place by 24 seconds.

Q:      What car/track would you like to see iRacing add to the service?
A:     I would love to see some ALMS prototypes, maybe a Ferrari or Lamborghini. And I can’t really think of a track that they don’t have or are not already adding.

Q:     What person, living or dead, do you most admire? Why?
A:    Person I probably most admire would have to be Scott Pruett.  Although he is well “over the hill” he can still move just as fast if not faster than most of the young guns out there.

Q:      What’s your favorite real world racing series?
A:     GRAND-AM Rolex and the ALMS series.

Q:      Name the title of the most recent book you read.
A:     Beginners Guide to iRacing. But the most recent book that I have read is part of a series called Mechwarrior.

Q:    Name of your favorite movie/TV show
A:    Favorite movie:  Days of Thunder and Surfs Up; favorite TV show: Family Guy.

Q:     How many of your close friends are iRacing members?
A:     Some friends have joined iRacing, but I have made several more from iRacing.

Q:     Has competing with iRacers all around the world influenced your opinions/outlook on life/world events? How?
A:     Competing with people around the world has helped me to reopen my eyes and show me that although we celebrate a holiday doesn’t mean that the other people I race with have the same holidays and life as I do.

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