Real Racing, Serious Fun
February 18th, 2015 by Jaime Baker
What seems like a lifetime ago in 2003, the Premier Race Network had its beginnings as a recruiting series for what was then known as the Pro Racing Series. Running Papyrus NR2k3, the series needed someone to take over the task of attracting and grooming new drivers to reach their pro level. Ned Adams volunteered to have a crack at it and started the Semi Pro Racing Series. That series grew and in 2004 experienced a name change. The new Stock Racing Series was in essence the first prototype for the vision Ned had for creating a racing environment that fostered not just intense, hardcore, door-to-door style racing, but highlighted respect and clean driving as the most important element.
After a brief switch to EA NASCAR 2004, it was decided to go back to the Papyrus software simply because it was more of a simulation. In 2005, with a core group of founding members, Ned conceived the name Premier Race Network. This is when I first started racing with the group. Although I didn’t have much experience in a sim race car, the guys all welcomed me and immediately I felt a real sense of camaraderie. Even back then Ned knew that the key way to grow a league was to make the racing environment open and inviting.
We continued to run the Papyrus simulation all the way up to 2008 when the buzz about a new simulation called iRacing started. Initially, like many existing leagues at the time, we were hesitant to migrate to the new platform. The league continued on and after NASCAR and iRacing agreed to terms, the Premier Race Network made the difficult decision to move over and re-establish itself once again in 2010. We lost several members during that whole transition. But, the same hard work and dedication that started the PRN has seen the league grow from a small group of racers to well over one hundred members as of current count.
“The key way to grow a league was to make the racing environment open and inviting.”
In 2014, we celebrated our tenth anniversary as a league. We enjoy boasting a little about that number. Ten years in continuous operation is no small feat in the world of sim racing leagues. The formula for that is simple: Love what you do. Founder Ned Adams loves sim racing. He spends easily as much time compiling stats, schedules, painting skins, and maintaining the league website (www.premierracenetwork.com) etc. as most of us dedicate to our careers. Ned will also tell you that he owes a good deal of the leagues success to his fellow admins.
The league is widely known across the iRacing service as one of the best places for drivers to hone their skills. Our reputation is highly regarded among many of the best racers in the sim community. We have several pro level drivers who participate in our league races and have utilized our league to better their race craft as they ascend the ranks. Another perk you will find at the PRN is setup sharing. Our members freely share data with each other in attempts to have the highest level of competition. We learned a long time ago that the open exchange of information fosters the best possible racing environment.
Anticipation is high, and we are currently gearing up for the 2015 season, our eleventh. With the aid of some key sponsors and generous donations from league members, we run a full schedule of racing that follows the top three real world NASCAR series’ as well as some other series’ including Super Late Models, Modifieds and some really competitive road racing. We strive to give drivers what they want: a simulation. Even more important, we are a brotherhood of racers. We celebrate each other’s victories. We empathize with each other when we fall short of our goals. That is the true reason why the Premier Race Network has been around this long. Our league motto is “Real Racing, Serious Fun.” It’s what we are about and what we strive to provide to the iRacing community.