iRacing Staff Member Profile: Marketing and Communications Specialist Justin Melillo

For this week of the iRacing Staff Member highlight series, everybody else was busy. Since we’ve got a free week, and I’m coming up on my first year here at iRacing, I decided to pull back the curtain a smidge and interview myself. It’s only fair, right?

A lot of people call me the eSports guy, but there’s a lot more here at iRacing that I have my hands dipped into, and I’m loving every second of it. While I’ll talk about what’s going on with me, I’ll also use the time to give some thoughts and premise on the questions I’ve been asking everyone else over the last few months as well.

Without further ado, here’s more about myself, iRacing’s Marketing and Communications Specialist, Justin Melillo.

• Who are you, and what is your job title at iRacing?

My job title reads Marketing and Communications Specialist, which, I think, makes me the 62nd member of the Marketing Department to do one of these profiles. My main focus is primarily on eSports communications, in writing up the many race previews and race recaps for each top-level sim racing series we put on.

What I’ve learned over the last year or so is that iRacing has a lot of different departments that all work symbiotically with one another to make this whole deal work. Every time I ask, I learn of a new piece of the iRacing puzzle that makes us continue to tick at the high level that we do. Engineers, programmers, managers, artists, and even other writers; all of this doesn’t happen without all of these incredibly talented people.

• How long have you been working at iRacing?

Here’s a question that I love asking everyone that does these. Being one of the newer staff members, I assume a lot of times that everyone else has been here since Day 1. Of course, that’s not the case. We’ve had people here since Day 1, like both David Tucker and Kevin Combs, but many of the folks I work with have only been here for a few years. Different experience levels bring different perspectives to the fold, which I love getting to hear about.

As for me, I’m coming up on my one-year anniversary in less than a month. It’s been an incredible year so far, and I’m excited to see how Year 2 and beyond will go.

Me, my brother Steven, my sister Alyson, and Maddie the pup

• What got you interested in working for iRacing?

I ask this because everyone comes from a different path, and it is interesting to see how everyone ends up here. A lot of times, the answer to this one is simply a love of motorsports or a love of simulated racing.

For me, it was a combination of the two sprinkled in with my prior work experience. If you want to put it simply, my love of the NASCAR Racing games from the mid-1990s really sparked my interest in wanting to get into iRacing as a member when it launched in the late 2000s. I followed what is now known as the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series when that first started because some of the people I knew from racing online in NASCAR Racing Season 2003, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was there too.

I followed the series loosely up until about 2019. At that point, I was working on my own dime for an outlet called The Racing Experts, and I had just earned an Annual Credential from NASCAR for that season. I was like many of the younger journalists in that time—we were all trying to get our foot all of the way in the door of the NASCAR Media ranks. I thought that complimenting my real-world coverage with virtual racing coverage for the TRE site would be something that would be fun, fresh, and different. That snowballed into being invited to the 2020 eNASCAR Media Day, which in turn, provided me with really neat opportunities during the pandemic, which led to me working for Traxion.GG in 2021.

I think last year, I was asked by my current bosses, Kevin Bobbitt and Chris Leone, to do some contracted work for eSports coverage on the iRacing site. I was still a Junior Editor at Traxion.GG and loving every second of that, but it was really cool to be asked to do the part-time work for iRacing.

At one point in my life, I was working the early morning loading line at FedEx, managing operations at Sprint/T-Mobile, covering real-world NASCAR for The Racing Experts, watching and writing about racing games and eSports for Traxion.GG, and also working on the contracted eSports work for iRacing and NASCAR. Thankfully today, I just work for iRacing. When Traxion.GG unfortunately went away for a bit last year, it was a rough couple of months, but it was definitely really cool to know that iRacing wanted me as much as I wanted to be with iRacing.

• What does your job entail, from daily tasks to larger projects?

The neat thing about when I ask this question is that everyone does so much more than what their job title says, and mainly for the passion of making this entity as great as it can be. Sure, we have departments and focuses, but that doesn’t mean that some people can’t dip into other projects outside their normal expertise. Sean Ambrose is a great example, as when he did his profile two weeks ago, he brought up how he mainly works on the Broadcast team, but now, he’s also going to tracks to capture eventual in-game sounds when he can, something he’s passionate about. Travis Sollenberger also wears many hats outside of his normal duties in eSports Competition, such as some of the development process in the World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing ’24 title that was just released.

For me, while my focus is primarily on writing, focusing on the many top-level eSports here at iRacing, I also do a lot of in-sim photography for those same eSports, and sometimes I need to do the whole live-Social Media posting thing, even though I try not to live too much on those platforms anymore. I’ve started lending more of a hand to the broadcast team as well, recently working the graphics station during the Crandon Off-Road Championship. I also lent my terrible voice for some voiceover work for the From The Vault segments in the eNASCAR Countdown to Green shows this year, expertly pieced together by Cisco Scaramuzza. I’m also helping directly with the eNASCAR College iRacing Series this season, working with Drew Adamson on things like the special paint schemes that the series will have this year.

One of my favorite shots from ExoCross. Seriously, this game rocks.

I’m still handling some screenshots for ExoCross every so often, mostly now for a lot of the Special Events that change out in the game. I played a lot out of that game, even before I started working here, back when it was still called DRAG. It’s incredible to see where that came from and where it ended up. I am still trying to learn the system for taking World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing ’24 game screenshots, but thankfully Alex Patzke and Larry Fulcher are masters at taking simulated photos as well, and they’ve done all of those images for the new game that came out this week. I really enjoyed the first one, also having played it before I started working here, and hopefully I can find some time over the fall months to start a new WoO career on my PlayStation 5.

• Are there any projects you’ve worked on that stand out above any others? Something you are proud of?

Some of the most well-known features and completed projects for iRacing have been mentioned already in these staff profiles. I think my favorites may have been mentioned by Jimmy VanVeen, who had a hand in the 3D car modeler in the UI, something I use daily, and both Christian Challiner‘s and Kevin Combs’ roles in bringing the iRacing Weather System online. Rain racing is so much fun, and if my office didn’t get so hot with my sim rig on, I would definitely race it more. Perhaps during the winter, I can open some windows and enjoy more rain racing.

As for the projects I’ve worked on, I do have to tip my cap to the ExoCross team, as working on that was definitely something to be proud of. Learning a different system to work in was challenging, but rewarding. Those images I was able to get were some of my favorites I’ve ever captured, and the process to getting them was anything but straight-forward, which made it more rewarding in the end.

The 2020 Daytona 500 TRE crew – Dominic Aragon on the left, Matt Courson on the right. Two of my biggest rocks when I was doing that whole NASCAR reporter thing.

I also think that this College Series season is going to be something I’ll be super proud of at the end of the day. Learning new tools and tricks is something I always look forward to. In terms of writing, getting to cover these eSports is always a blessing. Also, writing these Staff Profiles has been really cool, and really awesome to get to know who I work with.

• Are there any future projects that you can’t wait to jump on?

Asking this question is always a lottery among my colleagues. There’s so much going on, that a lot of times, those things haven’t been properly announced, or the details can’t be shared just yet. Most of my projects usually happen as I get them, which I prefer, so while there’s still likely something I do have to worry about working on in the future, I’m not going to get properly excited for it just yet.

Right now, the start of the INDYCAR ButtKicker Pro iRacing Series is my main focus, and as an enthusiast of the American open-wheel genre, I’m beyond excited to see this series unfold over the next 10 weeks with some of the best in the business to do it behind the wheel. I’m also excited that I get to work with Cory Vervynckt again, who is now over on the Support team. He’s flying in as I type this to help with the first race of the season at Indy on Thursday night.

I’m also excited to be heading down to Charlotte again in a few weeks to cover the eNASCAR finale in-person again, this time officially on the iRacing staff.

• What are some of your favorite car and track combinations on iRacing to participate in?

I’ve gotten a lot of different answers on this one, which is very cool because iRacing has so much to offer for so many different fans of motorsports.

I personally like a lot of wacky combinations. Not nearly on the level that Chris enjoys with his #Yes2Motorsport series, but if it’s different and unconventional, and mostly on pavement, I’m usually in.

Working at the 2020 Daytona 500 Media Day. This was a whirlwind of a day, having just covered the 2020 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series opener the night before in some hotel in upper Florida.

I’ve enjoyed a number of private leagues that have done things like this, and I’m always looking to do more fun things. Probably my favorite combination has been the Dallara iR-01 on any big oval, and that was even true before the oval update to those cars. Jake Poulin and I ran a league together at FTF.gg that showcased the Dallara iR-01 when it first came out, and I remember specifically doing a packed-up Michigan double header and the whole thing being extremely fun.

You’ll often find me in the fixed setup NASCAR iRacing Series races on Wednesday afternoons. I’m in the midst of a heated battle against Larry for the title in our staff member series. Somehow, I inflated my iRating enough to be stuck in the top splits on most Wednesdays, so I’ve been running in the back half of the field most of the time. The last thing I ever want to do is make a mistake at that level, so I usually just chill until the end. I like the Superspeedways mostly, but tracks like Pocono and Indy are also really fun for me in the Next Gen cars.

I also enjoy the 1987 NASCAR Legends and the Dallara IR-18 a bunch, although I haven’t found time to run either of them lately. The iRacing Indy 500 is my favorite iRacing Special Event every year.

• Are there any other video games, racing or not, that you enjoy playing currently?

I’ve always been a racing game and driving enthusiast, so chances are, even if I haven’t played it, I would still probably like it. Grand Theft Auto V and Wreckfest are two that I’ve played a ton  that come to mind. ExoCross was a big one for me more recently, I was able to get the Red Diamond trophies on all of the challenges, which was a big nightly commitment for a few days. I got addicted to Bryan Blackford’s DRAFTYCAR mobile game for the last month. I just made it to the Pro Cup level, and I keep getting wrecked out, and I am struggling for funding.

I’ve always been a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda series, and I recently learned how to get an item randomizer installed for two of my favorite games in the series—Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask—so that every time I pick those games back up on my Nintendo 3Ds, it’s a different experience each time. Also, I relapsed back into Azeroth over the last few months with Cataclysm Classic on World of Warcraft taking up many of my nights. For the Horde.

The man, the myth, the legend. John A “Buddy” Melillo, a.k.a. my Pop-Pop, and his ’69 Chevelle SS. I have this car parked next to his 1985 El Camino in my garage currently!

• Outside of iRacing, what other hobbies do you enjoy?

It’s weird for me, because iRacing, and sim racing in general, was my hobby and still has been my hobby for most of my life. My Pop-Pop brought home a Macintosh Classic with an old racing game on it when I was four years old, and since then, racing games have been a major hobby in my life.

I do enjoy football a ton, and I’m a huge fan of the New York Giants. I’ve already set myself up for a disappointing 2024 season though. I’ll probably hit up a game in October with my family. I’ve also golfed in a past life, closer to my high school days. I keep telling myself that I’m going to get the clubs out of the garage and hit the links again. I never figured out how to calculate my handicap though. All I know is that I was an alternate on the varsity team for reasons, and it was never any good ones.

I like to drive, and that is mostly because I don’t like to fly, or take any forms of public transportation, really. I am a control freak. I drive up to the Chelmsford office once a month, and while the last few drives have had their share of stresses, when the roads are open, the views are immaculate and so peaceful. Again, I’m looking forward to driving down to Charlotte in a few weeks! I do like the outdoors too, even if I am mostly inside nowadays with work and life in general. I did a lot of camping and hiking in my younger days, and maybe I can get back into that again as well.

• What are some of your goals you hope to achieve, either at work or outside of it?

Like many of my fellow iRacing-employed constituents, the end goal is that we want to make this service, this simulator, this community… everything the best that it can possibly be, right? That has been the most common answer in most of these staff profiles, but it’s always good to ask as some people might have more specific answers.

My focus is to make our eSports shine the best they can, in terms of stories, content, and whatever else I can help out with. I also want to help any way that I can to make everything in the company better, which is why I’m always keen to learn new things and lend a hand where I can.

Outside of work, I just want to live my best life. Those who know me, know that I often make work my life in general, so as long as my family, friends, and I are all happy and healthy, those are goals met.

This may have been the last time the New York Football Giants won a game, not sure anymore.

• Anything else we should know about you?

I get a lot of great answers at the end of these. While the other questions are good to summarize the basics of everyone’s story, this last one is simple, and can really flesh out whatever anyone wants the world to know.

The basics are that I love NASCAR, I’ve been a fan my whole life. I was an Earnhardt fan as a kid, and a Dale Jr. fan growing up. While the shtick in being in the NASCAR Media was to not show personal bias or favoritism, everyone who knew me then or now knows that I’ve pulled for Justin Allgaier in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the last 15 years or so. I’m also a big Will Power fan in the NTT INDYCAR Series. Something about #12 Verizon vehicles back then made me root for them both to begin with.

I’ve done a lot of cool stuff in my short life, and I try not to take any of it for granted. I graduated with a B.A. in Print Journalism in 2012 from Hofstra University, and I’ve done part-time reporting at multiple NASCAR races from 2015 to 2022. I used to manage some RadioShack stores, one of them I got to be one of the Top 100 stores in the entire company one year.

I was fortunate enough to be awarded a number of National Motorsports Press Association writing awards, including a first place trophy for some real-world race coverage, a story I wrote about a Pocono race in 2022. There are a couple of eSports writing awards on my wall as well. I also won a VCO Simmy Award for my iRacing photos somehow, and I’ve been a proud Eagle Scout since 2009.

I like taking real pictures of real race cars with my ancient Canon DSLR camera. I also have a dog named Maddie and if you follow me on social, besides reposting iRacing-related posts, I just can’t help but post pictures of her.

Sometimes I wonder how I got here, but every step has been worth it to be where I am today. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy all of these other bi-weekly stories on many of the way more incredible people here at iRacing.

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