Indycar Video Game is a Reality, Kind Of

I’ve wanted to see a new Indycar video game since I started following Indycar in 2007.  I’ve seen a World Touring Car series of racing games come out, I’ve seen GT1 World Championship (In Shift 2 Unleashed) and ALMS (in Forza and GT5), and even the World Superbikes have their own racing game series. But Indycar’s been left out, aside from Iracing and some old IRL games. Now, Simraceway will build a new Indycar racing game.  It’s set to include the full Indycar and Indy Lights (all 5 of them) field and track set. Sadly for myself, and anyone who doesn’t have a gaming computer (and thus $800+) this game doesn’t appear to be coming out for the Xbox360 or PS3.  Also unclear is if this will be an online only game or if single player will be included.

FIA's GT1 and GT3 have a game presence, but Indycar doesn't

Just as worrying is who’s involved with the project.  Apparently Dan Wheldon was involved in the early stages and that’s good. However the current driver representative is Dario Franchitti. That’s a bit concerning. If Dario’s involved then should we expect a lot of rain, luck, and fuel savings but no close racing?

You can do some WRC on the Xbox360 but not run the Indy 500

That said it’s nice to get a new Indycar game, even if my odds of playing it are about 1/100. But who knows, maybe SimRaceway will work on my laptop. It’s too bad they didn’t release this game before all the ovals started to fall off…but I suppose if I ever find a copy of IRL 2005 (actually based on the 04 season) I’ll be good there.

Forza 4 Confirms Indianapolis Motor Speedway

From some leaked information plus some promotional material (and the fact that the famous Pagoda was on the cover) it looked like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was in Forza 4.  But nothing was confirmed.  Now that’s changed.  Forza 4 has confirmed Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be in Forza 4 with both the oval and infield road course.   No mention was made of including Indycar itself in Forza 4 yet.  So if you ever wondered what an LMP1 car or Bugatti Veyron would look like at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, now you’ll have a chance to find out.  And yes, I do know that the PS3 owners got to see this in GT5.

Forza 4 Confirms The Addition of Infineon to the Track List

Forza 3 is one of the best racing games available on the Xbox360.  It’s sequel Forza 4 is coming out this fall and looking to improve upon perfection.  A major part of this is including more tracks.  The Top Gear Test Track, Hockinhiem and now Infineon are three real life tracks joining the game.  It comes with 3 configurations, the full course, Indycar course, and NASCAR short course.  The obvious question to ask next is how will anyone pass?  Will it turn into a 16 car parade?  Probably.  According to many on Twitter Infineon, while unbearably boring to watch a race at is great to drive.  They say if you play it in Iracing you’ll understand.  I guess I’ll see if they are right this fall.

I feel like I've seen the track on the cover before.... can't put my finger on where

It’s also rumored Forza 4 has Indianapolis in it.  It’s not been confirmed yet but if you look at the Pagoda on the cover of the game… it looks familiar.  ALMS has already confirmed a partnership with Forza as it had in Forza 3.  The next question is whether Indycar will be next?  After all getting Indycar in a video game would be nice.  And Forza is going to have some Indycar tracks in it.  For fun, here’s a video of  Jeremy Clarkson commenting on Halo’s Warthog and the E3 trailer of Forza 4.

Interview With A Sports Car Writer

Sebring, its one of the crown jewels of sports car racing. For nearly 60 years it has captivated race fans with the Fresh from Florida 12 Hours of Sebring. This weekends 1hr of Sebring on iRacing lived up to its real life sibling with an action packed race. Speed.com’s very own John Dagys ran in the LMP2 class in a HPD ARX-01e and did something Simon Pagenaud/David Brabham/Marino Franchitti attempted to do in the LMP1 HPD this year. Win at Sebring. I got a chance to talk……ok ok e-mail the Sebring winner soon after the race.

1. How did you feel about your setup of your car going into the race?

I was fairly confident in the setup of the car. It was based off iRacing’s fixed setup for Sebring with some minor modifications. I also received help from fellow iRacer Joey Selmants, who is without a doubt more experienced than I am at this stuff!

The goal heading into the race was for a top-ten finish. Seriously. I was coming off two bad races last night, one where I was taken out while battling inside the top-five, and another which was my own fault. I wanted to play a conservative race and figured a top-five would have been possible if I stayed out of trouble.

2. Going into the race how did you feel about the longevity of the Michelin tires? Was there a concern among the other drivers?

I don’t think tires played a role at all, quite honesty. I haven’t done much racing lately, so it was more of making sure that I was confident in the car’s ability and its limits, along with the circuit. Sebring is one of my favorite tracks and probably the one I have the most laps on in iRacing. So I knew the circuit in and out, but the car was brand-new to me just five days ago.

Getting back to the tire question, I’m not really sure what the longevity of the tires are supposed to be. A full fuel run was 40 minutes, so I knew it would at least last that long. The only risk was that I had never double-stinted the tires before. So I was gambling a little but knew that If I drove a clean race, didn’t lock up my brakes etc, everything would have been fine.

3. Coming out of turn 17 were you nervous coming to the green with 16 LMP2′s?

The start of the races are always the most concerning times. With a bunch of cars all around you, not knowing their abilities, it can make for some frantic moments. I started in 12th, near the tail end of the LMP2 cars. That was by design because I don’t like having the pressure to perform on the first few laps, especially in an endurance race. I usually like controlling my own destiny, being able to run a conservative pace and keep out of trouble.

4. What happened in the race

After a trouble-free start, I moved up into the top-ten by the first lap and started closing in on the cars ahead of me. But I was surprised by the amount of early race accidents. While I no doubt had the quicker car, I decided to take it easy and lay low for a while. It proved to be the right call to make as a bunch of cars ahead of me ran into trouble.

By Lap 5, I was all of a sudden in the top-five! A few laps later, I heard the leader had a coming together with some GT cars in traffic. By then, timing showed me in third. I was pretty much besides myself knowing the goals I had set heading into the race! The car ahead of me was suddenly running in second and it was at that point that I realized that I may have a shot for the win.

However, I decided to play it easy again and while I was quicker than the car ahead of me, I stayed tucked up behind him, waiting for a mistake. Sure enough, that happened and I moved into second. However, it appeared he had a lower downforce setup on his HPD and was able to get past me on the Ulmann Straight a few times. It was actually a very clean and fair battle.

By the 20-minute mark, he pitted, and the leader must have hit trouble just around the same time. All of a sudden, I was in first! The strategy from the start of the race was to run my tank dry and pit with about 20 minutes remaining for fuel and tires. It looked like everyone else was on the opposite strategy, having come in for fuel and short-filling their tanks. I wasn’t sure how everything was going to play out, so I stuck to my plan.

I had built up a 1 minute and 10-second lead by the time I pitted with just over 20 minutes to go. And despite the comfortable margin, I decided to take fuel-only. It worked out perfectly as I rejoined just 15 seconds ahead of second. A tire stop would have put me in a dead heat for the lead, if not dropped me to second!

From there, it was simply a case of cruising to the finish. I didn’t push the car very hard, knowing I had the buffer to second. If he got to within five seconds of me, I would have turned the wick up, but that wasn’t needed. I had a close call on the final lap, though, with a Ford GT, but managed to escape without incident. I ended up crossing the line some 12 seconds ahead of second.

It was a sensational win considering I never expected it!

5. Dealing with GT traffic is it as tough as it looks to the viewers at home?

One of the things I’ve learned the most from this experience has been how to deal with traffic. I give the real-life ALMS and sportscar drivers a lot more credit now, realizing what they have to go through, lap in and lap out. And in the real world, there is no reset button. It could be life or death in some cases. I had a few close calls, but I honestly can’t compare it to what guys like Allan McNish or Klaus Graf are faced with every race.

6. Was there another driver out there that gave you fits? Either GT or LMP2?

Actually, everyone was pretty fair. I’ve had races in the past where particular drivers really annoy me. Yesterday, one guy was blocking the entire race. I finally gave him a little nudge, which actually didn’t upset his car at all. But a few corners later, he was collected in an accident.

7. On Twitter you mentioned it was your first trouble free race in the HPD. Did the engineers at Dagys Motorsport find the issue? Did HPD assist in finding it?

I don’t know how to comment on this one as it’s all a virtual simulation!

(Editor: yes readers, I’m well aware of what I asked. It’s funny when you think about it )

8. You’ve now won at Sebring, do you as if you could follow the career path of Lucas Ordanez

Haha I don’t think so! Lucas has done an outstanding job in his transition from virtual to real racing and I think that rate of success could only be achieved by a few talented people. I do, however, believe that racing sims like iRacing are great tools to prepare drivers for new cars and tracks. Nearly all of the stars from road racing use it one way or another. I was in a race earlier this weekend with GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT points leader Jordan Taylor, for instance.

The realism in iRacing is what attracts me to the sim. If I can gain a better understanding of each track and how a car reacts to changes and how it feels to be on the limit, I can use those experiences to help bring readers into sportscar racing through my writing. While I may have enough money to be racing myself in real life, I feel I’m doing the next best thing!

9. One last question you just won at such a historic track like Sebring. What was you first thought?

Honestly, it didn’t feel any different with it being Sebring. Sure it holds a lot of history and prestige, but in the sim racing world, it’s like every other track offered. I was more excited for the fact that I did the unthinkable, in my opinion. If you would have asked me one week ago if that I’d think I’d be a winner in multi-class iRacing competition against 25 cars, I would have certainly said no!

I want to thank John Dagys for the interview. Good luck sir on the rest of your iRacing career.
Which this brings me to an interesting point. Will iRacing replace actual racing? It’s realistc enough. It would most certainly end injury at race tracks quicker than SAFER barrier, and a lot cheaper. It wouldn’t cost the racer much to get started. Ohh who am I kidding there is no replacement for the adrenaline rush felt when running flat out in Eau Rouge at Spa. Or heavy braking into the corkscrew at Laguna. What silly thoughts I have.

First Impressions of F1 2010 for the Xbox360

F1 2010 is one of only 2 racing games available on the Xbox360 that features open wheel racing, with F3000 Masters being seen in Race Pro by Simbin, which is a primarily World Touring Car Championship game.  So if you like Open Wheel (Indycar or F1) this is basically your only hope.  In fact, if you like road racing, this is your only full length game (including pit stops) for you, outside of MotoGP 09/10 (which isn’t good).

The game play itself is in between sim (Forza 3) and arcade (Need for Speed, outside of Shift), which is about like Dirt 2.  In fact, as I’ve just recently played to DIRT 2 demo, the two games are very similar, as they’re based on the same game engine.  Both split the difference between sim racing and arcade racing, and in F1 2010, they’ve hit a good middle ground.  For anyone who’s played Forza 3, and the R1 (LMP) cars, the decision to do this makes perfect sense, as a Forza style handleling model would make the game unplayable to all but the most hardcore sim racers.  Despite not being quite as simulation based as Forza, it does feature changing track and weather conditions, as well as the tracks getting rubber laid down from the tires.  And yes, this does have a significant effect on how the cars handle.

Wet Weather Racing

As with the DIRT games, you’re main menu is you trailer.  In F1 2010 that means whatever team you’re driving for in the career game is going to be what you look at every time you start up the game.  Time trial, options, and Grand Prix (single race or championship) are all accessed “outside” the trailer, while the career game and information are seen inside it.  Graphically, it’s very good, and if you’re thinking of buying for the PC, make sure you have a very strong computer, because you’ll want to get to enjoy how this game looks.

More impressively, the cars are different from one another.  A Red Bull, Lotus, McLaren and Mercedes each handle differently, and car choice will affect your speed and success.  Not as much as in real life, of course, as I was able to qualify 18^th and finish 6^th in a Lotus, but then in doing a single race at the same track in a Red Bull, I was easily able to put it in the top ten in qualifying, which shows the difference between both cars.

The full race weekend, with 3 practices, 3 rounds of qualifying, and the race can be selected, and the length of the race can, in career mode, be changed at any time in the main menu.  In the garage you can see a main screen which has track information, temperature, weather forecast, car setup, research and development information, and lap times, tire and teammate information, and an engineer which can give you a different list of setup options (very wet through very dry, which is the fastest but hardest to control).  Practice is important, and so far, through 3 career games, I’ve used a surprising amount of the practice time allocated to get up to a consistent speed.  That said, the AI on the track is not reflective of the lap times being shown on the screen.  This isn’t actually as bad as it sounds, though, as the AI times are dynamic and start out slow, and then pick up as the session goes on.  What it does mean, however, is that just because you’re passing cars on track in practice or qualifying, doesn’t mean that you actually are fast enough to get a good qualifying run or race performance.  And for whatever reason, the AI’s really slow in those sessions, because they’re literally all mobile chicanes, which can get a little annoying in qualifying, though because they’re so slow, you can often shoot past them on the straights.

Then there’s the race itself.  To start out, you need to select your race strategy, when you’re planned to pit (though this can be changed in race) and whether you’re starting on option tires or primes.  Any game where you’re racing 20% or more of the distance of a Grand Prix requires you to run both soft and hard tires (assuming no weather issues) and scales the wear, so that in a shorter race (say 40%) the option tires should (and the AI will) be changed within the first 8 laps.  Tires both wear and take time to heat up (like in Forza 3) and so the first laps on the track, and the laps right before a pit stop can get pretty intense.  The AI is very good, and pretty realistic, and is capable of some incredible blocking, the Schumacher style of blocking will be seen, ironically, I’ve twice nearly been run off track by Ruben Barichello.   Penalties will be given for rough driving, cutting track, and speeding on pit road, and even more realistically, they’re incredibly inconsistent.  I’ve cut corners and gotten warnings only, a stop and go penalty, and even disqualification, all for about the same move.  To be fair, on the one where I got disqualified I was DQ’d for multiple overtakes, but I’d done something similar before and only gotten warning.  Contact penalties almost always come from front/rear contact, side to side is almost always allowed.  These inconsistencies could be frustrating, but I find them an incredibly realistic feature.  Also, you can get grid penalties in practice.  You’ll get between 0-4 flashbacks, which I like, but especially with the cold tires/worn tires, I’d prefer a few more, as it’s easy to spin repeatedly going into/out of the pits.

Starts can be messy

As with most racing games (Forza 3 being the only exception) the AI don’t start very well, and it’s possible to make quite a few very aggressive and slightly unrealistic overtakes in the first lap or two.  After that though, the AI’s up to speed, and provide a nice challenge to race against.  Especially if you advance into the top 10, you’ll find that the overtaking gets much more difficult, as the pace of the leaders is so much better.  Even better, the AI cars at the back of the field often are on an optional strategy which adds another level of interest (and passing) to the game.  Unlike real F1, passing is fairly possible, although it requires a lot of aggression (side to side contact).  Things will get a bit spread out though as the race progresses and pit stops start occurring, but you can still get in some very interesting battles late in the race, made more interesting by the combination of worn tires and lighter (due to fuel loss) cars.

I managed to score points in this!!!

One last thing, unlike any other racing game before, I spend a majority of my time in career mode.  In most racing games, you have to “develop” the car, which means it starts off slow and then progressively get’s faster, but in F1 2010, it actually makes sense (as real F1 cars develop, and you’re required to start on one of the 3 new teams).  I’m not in love with how you’re forced to start at one of the three new teams, as they’re all kinda slow, but then, the goals that are set forth are usually pretty doable, which is a nice compromise.  Things such as the engine rule (though engines don’t break, they just get slow) and competition with your teammate come into play, and to unlock R&D, you must meet specific goals in practice.  So far, I’m in the middle of my third race (yes, I’m kinda slow) and have had a spectacular start in a Lotus, and am about to take the team leader role from my teammate.

I’ll do a full review latter (I promise) but I would highly recommend this game. Only real complaint is that the Tilke tracks suck.  But it’s still a fun game, and when you get to Melbourne or Spa or Montreal, things get even better.  If any readers have any last minute Christmas shopping to do for an Indycar or F1 fan who has an Xbox360, PS3, or high end computer, well… this is it.  This game is the complete opposite from MotoGP 09/10, and where that game fell flat and was borderline ridiculous with the bump drafting down the straights, this game manages to appeal to both sim and arcade racing fans, and should appeal to fans of both Indycar and F1.  Now, bye, I’m off to Sepang!

Team Meeting Weekend in Review: Italian Dream Edition

An Italian Dream

MotoGP:

Valentino Rossi was officially announced for Ducati.  It’s a 2 year deal, and is going to be a major storyline for all of his fans to follow.  Joining Rossi at Ducati will be Nicky Hayden, whose deal is likely to be announced at Indy.

Since Rossi’s leaving Yamaha, Spies is heading up to the factory team.  The announcement, like Hayden’s, is likely to come at Indy.  If you didn’t believe Spies was headed to the factory team, during today’s open test at Bruno, Spies ran an all black prototype that was covered until he got on to run.

Speaking of Rossi, he had a scary fall in practice, luckily, Rossi was unhurt, but he didn’t have a great weekend, finishing 5^th, behind Ben Spies, who had a great weekend, and qualified 2^nd.  Lorenzo won by a mile, beating the pole sitter Pedrossa by a massive margin.  Overall, it wasn’t the greatest MotoGP race of the year.

Randy De Puniet recovered from his broken leg and finished 10^th.

Eventually, I’ll have my review for MotoGP 09/10 for the Xbox360.  My impression of it is that if you enjoy MotoGP and you enjoy racing games, then you should buy it, as long as you can update it, because the base game locks the races in at 3 laps, which is pretty short, a MotoGP bike laps Laguna in like 1 minute 20 seconds, so that’s about a 5 minute race.  However, if you’re an open wheel fan who’s not so into MotoGP, perhaps you should wait and see how F1 2010 turns out.

NASCAR:

Juan Montoya finally got his second cup win at Watkins Glen, fighting a hard battle with Marcos Ambrose.  At Michigan International Speedway, Kevin Harvick beat Denny Hamlin for the win, his third for the season.

There’s been a lot of silly season announcements in the last two weeks.  Kasey Kahne was announced for Red Bull next season.  It will only be for one season as he’ll be joining Hendrick in 2012.  Whether it will be the 83, 82, or a third car is unknown.   Scott Speed’s ride appears to be in danger, although he claims that he’s got a contract for next year.   Marcos Ambrose is leaving JTG Racing for RPM, and his RPM ride will be announced tomorrow, most likely.  Replacing him is Bobby Labonte, whose being given another chance to save his career, with the Michael Waltrip Racing group.

In some concerning news, Paul Menard was hired by RCR to run a fourth car.  This is concerning on multiple fronts.  It’s never a good sign when a top level team higher a ride buyer, and it shows how bad of shape NASCAR really is in.  Not only that, but RCR was at four cars last year, and struggled badly.  They claim that the extra car was not the problem, but considering that 08 and this year both have been great years for them, you’ve got to question this move.  Plus, Menard may be improving, but he’s still not that good.

The battle for the Chase is still relatively close.  Dale Junior is in trouble, in 17^th about 140 points out of 12^th, and while things look grim, 3 good runs and some struggles of the people in front of him and he’s in.  Sadly though, if you look at Junior and his team, it’s hard to be very confident in them rallying and making it.  Bowyer and Martin are trading 12^th back and forth right now, with Newman and McMurray running right behind them.

Danica Patrick ran the Nationwide race at MIS, and was horrific.  Yes, she’s new, but she’s in one of the best cars on track, at a track that is ALL about your car and engine.  And guess what?  She’s got a great car and engine!  The biggest difference between Danica and other open wheeler’s is they went in with mid pack teams in Cup; she’s on a top level team in Nationwide.  But Colin Braun, Shelby Howard, Joe Nemecheck, and even Jon Wes Townsley beat her!  She messed up on a green flag pit stop by not following the blend line, which really is strange, seeing how Indycar’s on ovals have the same thing (I think).  That, is not good, at all.

Indycar:

Speaking of Danica, to all the obsessed Fanica’s who’re upset with my article on Danica, can I refer you to the Mid Ohio race???  One of the complaints was how I said Danica has been hurt by Unification.  Let’s see, in 07, she qualified on the front row twice on a road and street course, since Unification, she’s not had a single front row start, in fact, she’s never made the Firestone Fast 6, although she was close one time.  The Fanica’s whined about comparing Simona to Danica, and they’ve got a point, it’s not fair.  It’s not fair to compare a rookie on a 1 car team with funding that probably is equal to what Danica spends on shoes (sarcasm, but they’re a VERY low budget team), to a veteran on her 6^th year with the third best team in the series, you’re right, it’s not fair.  Ranting about how Danica is an “American Icon” doesn’t help your argument…  It’s worth pointing out, this is DANICA’S SIXTH YEAR!  She’s no rookie, she’s one of the more experienced drivers in the field, but she DOES NOT ACT OR DRIVE LIKE IT!  In 2005, Kyle Busch was a rookie in Sprint Cup, and Denny Hamlin was just making his first few NASCAR Sprint Cup starts, with his rookie year coming in 2006.  In F1, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were two years away from their F1 debuts.  Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrossa hadn’t joined the top level of MotoGP, and Indycar’s Will Power had just made his first few debuts Champcar races… yet all of these people have multiple wins and championships… Danica?  She’s got Motegi, on fuel.  Look at Michigan in the Nationwide car!  Look at Mid Ohio!  She’s completely lost out there, and there’s really NO EXCUSE!  Now, when Indycar gets back to the ovals, she should look a lot better.   But it’s pretty pathetic for a veteran driver on a top team to struggle this badly.

Mid Ohio was not a good race.  As usual, the Big Two completely dominated, holding every spot in the top 6 except for 4^th, held by Tagliani.  There were about 9 passes for the entire 2 and a half hour race, with only about 4 televised.  There really wasn’t a lot to be excited about… compare it to MotoGP, WSBK, AMA, or ALMS and see which is better… A complete snoozefest!

Onto Baltimore, the site of yet another street course, the track map, which recently was changed, doesn’t bring a ton of hope.  Either design, old or new, looks like passing will be difficult to say the least.  I would like to believe Baltimore’s date will come from another street course, but sadly it’s looking like next year’s going to have even fewer ovals and more street courses, and if Watkins Glen falls off, likely the only road courses will be the non passing parade ground!  What a great way to “sell” road racing to oval fans!

We’re on rant mode, so here’s another.  I am SO SICK AND TIRED of hearing Indycar fans, mainly IRL diehards; hold NASCAR up as an example of racing done right!  We NEED more ovals, we NEED more Americans, we NEED better ratings, but to hold NASCAR up as an example of everything that’s right in racing is ridiculous, they are facing MASSIVE issues, yes, they’ve got more money, but it also COSTS a lot more to be successful, Hendrick spends over 300 Million, not including Stewart Haas and JRM.  So yeah, they’re ratings are higher, but falling ratings is falling ratings, and when sponsors expect more, that’s still a massive issue!  But you get these idiots who say “Nationwide is a bigger series” and while the TV ratings are better, Nationwide is NOT a healthy series!  And anyways, the 500 destroys Nationwide in ratings, and Indycar has a numerous races that outdraw Nationwide.  Again, I don’t get why these people hold NASCAR up as racing done right, because it’s everything but that!

Tony Cotman was announced as the technical director for the 2012 car and engine.

The debate about production based versus race based engines continues.  I’ve heard many positives about production based (especially from Declan Brennan of Midweek Motorsports) and I’m starting to agree, although I’d be happy if LMP1 engines could be converted over, or the Corvette and Mustang engines were used.  I like the quote about Corvette from the Vice President of Global Vehicle Engineering for GM “The customer always wants power. That will not go away.” And I’d replace customer with fan.  That said, if the inline 4 and V6 production based engine can reach a high horsepower, and actually attracts 4 or more engine makers, well, then it’s probably the best move.   And no matter what, engine rules wrote by Honda are NOT the answer.  If it indeed is going to be stressed engines, they need to allow a wide range of displacement and cylinders so that automakers can refit current race engines.

The best story out of Mid Ohio was another good run by Simona De Silvestro.  Hopefully she’ll move up to a strong team next year, maybe KV?  They could use someone with talent who doesn’t wreck a lot.  They’ve been top 3 on ovals and road courses, so maybe Simona could actually win some for KV.  Also, Panther or Newman Haas would be better with a full time second car….  Although according to Miller, there’s interest from F1…

ALMS:

While the Indycar Mid Ohio race was a snooze fest, the ALMS race was very good.  Sadly, the race could only be watched online, as they ran a tape delayed docu drama that was shown at the same time as the Cup race…

Patron Hydcroft looks pretty good for the title as the Muscle Milk Porsche missed the Mid Ohio race due to a massive wreck in practice.

AMA:

The first race from VIR was very good.  Ben Bostrom passed Josh Hayes, and forced Hayes wide, allowing Tommy Hayden to catch up and coming to the checkered flag, Hayden beat Bostrom to the line by .005 seconds!  Race two was won by Josh Hayes, who was able to lead by a larger margin. The title fight is Hayes and Hayden, with Bostrom and a few others still in contention.

Forza 3 Review

  I’ve been playing Forza 3 for just over 4 months, and there’s still a ton of stuff that I haven’t done.  I haven’t played online, I haven’t downloaded any of the DCL, and I haven’t bought the Mclaren F1 yet, because it costs over 3 million in in-game money. 

  I have to say, I highly recommend this game, it is the best racing game I have ever played. (note, I have not played IRacing or Rfactor, or played more than a few minutes of Grand Turismo, so this isn’t a completely accurate statement)  It mixes Euro Hatchbacks, SuperCharged SUV’s, M5′s, Corvette’s, Porsches, Muscle Cars, Bugatti Veron’s, GT1, GT2, GT3, Porsche challenge, ALMS and Le Mans Prototypes, and more.  They even have DTM, NASCAR, and V8 Touring car style cars! 

  All this said, the game isn’t the perfect for a race fan.  The only enduro races are about 1 hour long, and they only have one enduro race per class, so that’s 9 enduro’s.  There’s no rain, no yellows, only 8 cars on track, and even though there’s pretty good damage, no DNF’s, so you are forced to either quite, rewind or restart after major wrecks. 

  The worst thing is sometimes a car ends up completely wrecked and stays on the track, which requires you to dodge them for the rest of the race.  With all the real race cars in the game, it makes you wonder what could have been. 

 Visually, it’s really good.  Not quite to what the demo’s of the much delayed Grand Turismo 5, and visually a little calmer than Need for Speed Shift, but they look quite nice.  Some of the backgrounds aren’t great, but who cares, unless you are using the photograph feature and staring at the backgrounds you won’t notice.  When you do a close up on the race cars, the amount of detail in the liveries is impressive, and equal to any liscnced racing game. 

  How does it control?  Great.  Using the Xbox360 controler feels incredibly natural.  The right trigger accelerates, left trigger brakes, A button handbrakes, B button upshifts, X button downshifts, left joystick turns, and right joystick turns the view.  The only control issue is the clutch.  Clutch uses the LB button, and I just found it uncomfortable to use, and thus used auto clutch.

  Driving wise, again it feels very good.  There are huge differances in differant cars, even within the same car class.  A Mustang Boss 439  is an E class car, but it feels completly differant from the Pontiac Solstice, Range Rover Supercharged, and Fiat.  All class E cars, all completly differant, as they should be.  The driving feels great, and it can be fun to just run hot laps, in any type of car.  The rumble feature of the Xbox control is used a lot, and I like how it’s used.  Except on the Afmani Coast rally track, because it rumbles through the portion of the track that runs over cobblestone roads.  Otherwise, it rumbles when you make contact, rumbles when you start, rumbles when you go off course, hit rumble strips, or slide/drift, or enter the high end of the revs.  All of which just adds to the immersion into the game.  The cars, with just a little practice, are all easily drivable without any driver aids, until you reach the Race classes, R3,R2, and R1.  I was easily able to handle the Bugatti Veron around Nurimberg and Laguna Seca, but taking the 09 Rahal Letterman BMW around Road Atlanta and I was in the wall a ton.  The race cars are a completly differant animal, and almost like a differant game.  I had to turn traction control on the make the R classes enjoyable.  Except for the race classes, keep the driver aid’s off so that you can really enjoy the differant feel of the cars.  If your struggling, use the rewind button and lower AI instead. 

  Event wise, the game struggles a little until you unlock the more of the catagories in the race event mode, who’s results give you the same money/experince points as season games, and allows you to use cars you have bought/been given.  Because you start off using F and E class hatchbacks on .8 mile Kart tracks starting dead last.  Not the best fun, but not a bad way to get introduced to racing.  Just don’t expect to win.  Sadly, you can’t make your own events unless you race online.  The quick race feature lets you use any car at any track, but won’t let you adjust AI strength, race lenght, or car mix.  Still, the huge mix of events give most cars a chance to be useful.  Be careful though, that you don’t take a car that’s too good or one that’s too bad into an event, because you’ll either win by a minute or look like Milka, no matter how good you are.  Be careful with overupdating because agian, the races might get too dull. 

  Now onto the AI.  On the high settings it’s great.  It’s very racy, setting up good passes, not being too rough, or too weak.  The AI has a “pressure” system under the hood which means they will sometimes make mistakes when they are packed up.  The AI races well in packs, and is a ton of fun to race with.  There’s only one problem, and that’s that sometimes the AI is a little too reactive to your blocking.  Sometimes, you can do a massive block and the AI just slams on the brakes, both on the straights and in the corners.  However, if the AI is right behind you and you block, they may just turn you, which is a good thing.  Just don’t throw massive blocks and everything will be fine. 

  You can do a lot of car tuning, with mixed results.  When you up a car a class, usually it becomes worthless, and often times undrivable.  I used the auto upgrade and maxed out a Pontiac Trans Am, and it was useless, since as a Class S car it had to race Bugatti’s and Ferrari’s, not to mention it was undrivable.  And sometimes you can over upgrade within your class which can make the races boring.  But done right, updgrades can turn a non competive car you like into a racy, win capable car.  Use it wisely, and it will pay off. 

  Career mode isn’t that great, luckly after you unlock the race events option, you don’t actually ever have to use it, as you can gain experince and money through these events.  You can just free load off the 50 cars your gifted for each experince level you gain.  Be careful NEVER to buy a car that will be gifted to you, because gifted cars cannot be sold for their real value, instead they only give the value of any upgrades.  Still, the gifted cars give you a great baseline, and allows you to enjoy cars you may not have tried otherwise.  You’ll still want to buy other cars, however.  And while most cars are under $500,00, which is reasonably attainable in the game, some cars are over a million, and one Ferrari is $ 20,000,000! 

  Race Car wise, DMT, Rally and NASCAR cars are involved, but have no single player class and are thus not usable in single player.  Multiplayer, however, these three car classes have potential. 

  Tracks are fun, although the Monseratt fictional track is overused.  Three “rally” circuits, Nuremburg, Arfmani Coast, and Fuji Kujimo are fun, and come in multiple rally segment and in a full lap course.  Also included, Le Mans, Sebring, Road Atlanta, Mungello, Silverstone, Barcelona, Road America, Laguna Seca, Suzuka, Twin Ring Montegi(oval and road), and Tsubaska.  As well, some of the fictional tracks resimble real tracks.  Sunset resimbles Daytona in the oval configuration and Homestead in the Roval, while Sedona resimbles Homestead in the oval configuration. 

  Plenty of DCL is availble for a relitivly low price, and you can pick and choose, so even if your favorite car isn’t here, there’s plenty to enjoy.  There are a few reservations you must be aware of, but otherwise, if you’ve got a 360, buy this game.  Be aware, though, if your deciding between Gran Turismo and this, Gran Turismo has more cars, but it keeps getting delayed, and who knows, will it be as much fun to drive and race?

Looking Forward to 2010

 

  So, it’s a new year.  Here’s my thoughts as we enter into the new racing season.  I’ll do more in depth picks and predictions as the racing season gets closer. 

NASCAR: 

  Um, nothing good.  The car’s not going to be updated, they still run on all the same tracks, races are still 3+ hour parades.   The list goes on.  Start times will at least go back to reasonable times.  Worse, next year they’ll probably add 2 more 1.5 races. 

  Will Jimmie Johnson get 5 in a row?  It’s possible, likely even, but I say no.  Three reasons.  First, no one’s perfect every time, and 4 Chases in a row of near perfect luck makes 5 seem unlikely.  JJ’s luck isn’t so much perfect, he’s wrecked, but other drivers always get caught up in stuff at like Talladega, that he avoids.  I don’t see that continuing.  Second, other teams, particularly Gibbs, Roush, Penske, aren’t going to let it happen.  They’ll do anything to prevent 5 in a row, and they’re hungry.  Third, and this get’s into black helicopter territory, but will NASCAR even allow it?  Or, will JJ find a lot more speeding penalties, aggressive driving, bump drafting or other such things called on him?

  On that thread, everyone’s predicting Hendrick success, but, realize even though JJ won in 08, Hendrick wasn’t the most dominate team the whole year, and they dominated in 07.  I really  like Gibb’s chances of catching back up.

 More field fillers.  Sadly, three to four quality teams look about to die, and will be replaced by Start and Parks.  The best case scenario is that they are replaced just by field fillers who run the whole race, but end up 10 laps down.  Not good, but better than many other series. 

  Still, I’m not that pumped for NASCAR.  The races are too long, and they repeat the same tracks over and over.  If they’d move to 32 races at 29 different tracks, then it would be different.  The COT sucks, and it’s not getting better.  Nationwide and Trucks look to be even worse, although at least Trucks won’t have those insane pit road rules. 

    Danica to NASCAR, how will it go?  I’m hopeful, personally, and maybe it will be the only exciting thing during the even more boring Nationwide races. 

  NASCAR writers will still read PR.  They will try and force down are throats that NASCAR is the greatest racing in the history of the world, that JJ is the worlds greatest driver, that oval Enduro racing is exciting, that the COT is the safest car in history, that NASCAR created SAFER Barriers, ect.  Sometimes, they’ll break the mold, but they’ll be right back to the Kool Aid, stronger than usual.  ESPN holds a couple of decent writers, probably because NASCAR cannot threaten ESPN, since they are such a major sports channel.

IRL:

  Red car domination.  Unlike NASCAR, I have a sick feeling that Penske and Ganassi will dominate, unless Andretti Autosport or Newman Hass Lanigain step up, or Dayle Coyne and KV get to two full time teams, with non pay drivers.  

  Boring road races.  Barber, Infenion, Mid Ohio.  There is no way these will be compelling races.  Any Indycar road races is a scary proposition, because there is always a high likelihood of it sucking.  But these tracks, there’s not a likelihood, there’s a guarantee.  Expect the blogs to light up after these events.

  Montegi sucks.  Montegi will suck, too.  Both because it’s on at 2 in the morning, and because it’s always a damp, one groove racing with zero passing and almost always a fuel race.

  Chicagoland will be great though. Hopefully Texas, Kentucky, Homestead, ect will be great too.  It will make Infenion worth it, to see an actual race. 

  The Month of May has been shortened, we shall see if it’s a positive or negative.  I like the idea, but I worry about how it may hurt the last minute rides.  Plus, it was nice to see the cars on track for a month, because they usually don’t run that many weeks in a row.  Overall, though, this is a positive change.

  Will Brazil happen?  Who knows.  It might, but it’s crunch time.  If it doesn’t happen, then will there be a replacement race, or will we be down to 16 races?

  Delta Wing!!!  I love this idea.  If, when the car is revealed, and track tested, it works, Indycar had better adopt it.  If they go with another Dallara, and the Delta Wing is a good and safe chassis, I will lose it.  I can promise that.  If Delta Wing isn’t good enough, or safe enough, then okay, Dallara is you have to.  I’d still prefer someone else though.  Delta Wings should take to the track sometime this year, I can’t wait.  If this works, that could be the shot in the arm Indycar needs. 

  How will the Izod thing work?  I hope they activate well, but will they?  Yeah, they are a major company, but will they get anyone interested in Indycar who’s not already?  I don’t know, if it does great, but I’m not completely sure.  The on track product needs to be good if it does, so that the fans stick around.

  If Direct TV doesn’t get Vs. back, then I’ll be without a way to watch Indycar on TV.  Online, that’s another story…  Also, will the ratings go up?  They need to, Indycar Vs. ratings were below the TRUCK SEREIS!!!! 

  Hopefully the Indycar blogging community continues to be strong.   I think Indycar has the best online community, even with the split and stuff, most of it is a lot more fun and smart than NASCAR’s community. 

F1:

  Ferrari and Mclaren will be making there return to the front.  Can Red Bull and Mercedes keep up?  I hope they will, and a good 4 way fight will go on.  Schumi is back, and that should to a ton for Mercedes, as well as Mercedes money, Brawn should continue to be strong.  Lewis and Button, that’s a strange team.  Button’s not that good, in my personal opinion, but then again, he’ll probably not mind being the second child to Lewis.  Alonso in  a great car, that has to scare Schumi, Vettel, and Lewis.  I’d guess they’re all having nightmare involving a Spaniard in a red car. 

  F1 2010 game from CodeMasters.  I’m hopeful.  I’ve got high expectations, based of playing Forza 3 on the X-Box360.  So, F1 2010 better be good.  Graphically, it should be good, because it’s based off of DIRT 2′s game engine, and DIRT 2 has great graphics.  But, how will it race?  I’m worried, though, because DIRT is more of an arcade game than a Rally sim, hopefully they don’t do the same thing to F1.  But, it would be nice if they added a couple of historic years to it, just for fun. 

  Will the Korea GP happen?  It got a date, but the tracks not finished yet!  Plus, I’ve heard it’s in the middle of nowhere, so will  anyone show up, even if there is a race?  It’s a Tilke Track, so there’s no point in even hoping for a compelling race. 

  Will they add ANOTHER street course!  I pray not, but like NASCAR, they probably will. 

MotoGP: 

  How will Ben Spies do?  He’s at Tech 3, and they’re not a top team, although Edwards did finish 5th last year.  If Spies does well, then he’s the next big thing.  I’m going to try hard to watch next year, it’s an international road race series with 2 American races and 3 American riders, if only F1 could do the same. 

ALMS:

  How will the new GT3 and Daytona Prototype like class work.  Will anyone even show up in those ugly cars?  Will there be any proper Prototype cars?  De Farren is gone, Hernadez is gone, and I’ve heard Patron Hydcroft is moving down to GT2.  On the other hand, GT2 should be great.  BMW’s, Porsch’s, Corvettes, Ferrari’s all race against each other.  It’s great, and it’s funny how close the racing is with distinct cars and enduro racing.  Too bad NASCAR can’t do the same.  Really, GT2 is similar to what NASCAR fans claim to want, distinct cars racing against each other. 

Grand (Sh)Am: 

  The cars will still be ugly, and slow.  All Grand Am really does is cut into ALMS to the casual observer.  And waste a date at Watkins Glen and Montreal. 

Blog Stuff: 

  Expect more of the same, although I’ll try and continue to improve.  Thursday Thoughts, Team Meeting, and Pre Race Picks and Predictions will be weekly features, with other stuff in between.  Keep reading and commenting, and have a great new year.

Team Meeting: Week In Review; Christmas Edition

 

 

NASCAR: 

  The big NASCAR News is the Budwiser Shootout reformat.  Again.  Since the Manufacturer system failed, because there are only 3 cars who run for Dodge left.  Now, the format even more contrived.  All drivers who made the Chase, all drivers who have won a race at Daytona and have attempted a race in the last three years, Past Series Champions, past Budwiser Shootout winners, and the current Rookie of the Year.  So, in all, up to 28 cars, depending if a Derrick Cope, John Andretti, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, and Ken Shrader get a ride.  I really enjoyed the Bud Shootout when it was Pole based, it was cool, and it gave some of the underdog drivers who won a pole a chance to get some of the spotlight in Daytona.  Last years format was dumb, and this years is insane.  Over half the field will be here, it’s basically just another race!  If I were a team owner and my driver wasn’t in the race, I’d be sending a ton of hate mail to Daytona, since pretty much EVERYONE IS IN!! I don’t get the point to this at all, why not just add another points race and take this one out, since the Shootout is so out of control. 

  Kyle Busch is rumored to have resigned, or be about to resign with Gibbs.  Really, Busch had no choice.  His problem is he’s burned a lot of bridges in the Hendrick and Roush camp, and Childress is in a major slump, so where would he go?  Of course he’ll get a ton of money from Gibbs, but probably not as much as if he had better options. 

  The Kentucky Speedway lawsuit ended.  So, that means that SMI will do whatever it takes to get a cup race for 2011, and of course they also want Vegas to get a second race.  ISC also wants to add a date to Kansas for the 2011 season.  This is NOT GOOD!  The last thing NASCAR needs is another 1.5 cookie cutter.  The hope has to be that Kentucky’s date comes from Atlanta, and that Kansas’s comes from Fontana, but rumor has it Martinsville will be where Kansas’s comes from.  The Kansas thing is insane, I don’t think they sell out now, how are they going to sell out 2 dates?!  I stick by what I said earlier, 1 date per track except Daytona and Bristol, 34 races at 32 tracks, and ratings will go up. 

IRL: 

  Brazil is still not confirmed. 1 month since Sao Pablo was confirmed, and the location would be confirmed within a week.  It’s been a month.

  Robin Miller had something interesting in his Mailbag, he said that Indycar won’t run Road Atlanta because it’s too fast, at least that’s there excuse.  That is insane!  Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, and Cleveland need to be put in place of Mid Ohio, St Pete, Infenion, and Barber!!!!! 

F1: Where the real news was.

  The good news is USF1 has a website up.  Finally.  The bad news is this http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-usf1-car-also-designed-without-wind-tunnel/.  Seriously, they designed it without a wind tunnel. And the Windshear Windtunnel was one of the biggest selling points of the team when it was announced.  Peter did say they would test the actual car in the tunnel, and that they didn’t build any model car, they’ll just build an actual car based off a computer model.  So, wow, I think Lotus will outrun these idiots!!!!  So, this team might actually make the Grid, although if they do, they’ll be lucky to ever score points with the new system!

Sim Racing:

  So I’ve finally got Forza 3 for the X-Box360.  I’ll review it latter after I’ve progressed far enough to do the enduro races.  But, I’ll say its great, and the graphics are amazing.  Also, why the F*ck are Road America, Road Atlanta, and Sebring not Indycar tracks?  

General:  I’ll try and post a year review, a look forward into next year, and a New Years Resolutions soon, but I’m not completely certain.

How to sastify your racing addiction during the off season

  Okay, so the off season is officially upon us with Homestead ending today.  For many, a little time away from racing sounds like a good thing, particularly for NASCAR fans, who’ve been watching 38+ races since February.  Of course Indycar, sports car, and F1 fans probably aren’t feeling burnt out right now.  So, what can people do to satisfy their racing hunger?  Here’s some ideas I’ve got. 

  Keep reading the blogs:  Some blog go sort of into “hibernation”, but most don’t.  To be fair, and I didn’t understand this until I got into full time blogging, but, blog post can be a little hard to write on weeks were there may be zero news.  Still, a lot of blog’s will keep content up.  This one, for instance.   Besides me, check out everyone on my blog roll.  To be more specific, My Name Is IRL  , Pressdog, and Curt Cavin’s Q, as well as Speedtv’s Robin Miller keep good Indycar stuff coming even in the off season.  For NASCAR, just go to Jayski, and check out any links that look interesting.  I’d recommend Bump Draft and Frontstrech, personally.  Oh, and don’t forget Oilpressure, the Indycar blog, it’s got around three articles a week, and they’re all very good Indycar stuff!  Yahoo sports have some good stuff, too. 

Podcasts:  Another thing to keep racing in your life is podcasts.  Indycar Trackside, Live Fast Racing, Rowdy, Mid Week Motorsports, and, sadly, Planet-IRL the most.  Here’s a breakdown of each podcast.

Livefast Racing:  My favorite, and the one that got me into listening Podcasts.  It’s a general racing show, with a lot of motorcycle stuff, including World Superbike, street bikes, Moto GP, as well as NASCAR, F1, and sometimes Sportscar and Indycar.  Very funny, and a more laid back, conversation type format, then many of the others.    The only down side is that, because they’re busy, the wait between shows can be rather long.  The wait is worth it, though. 

Rowdy:  This is a daily podcast about NASCAR.  It’s interesting, and has good interviews.  Of course, it’s a NASCAR only podcast, so you get the usual lines about how NASCAR is the best racing and such.  Still, I’ve got to say I do like it, they are very fair and don’t put out the NASCAR Pr like a lot of site, or the conspiracy stuff. 

MidWeekMotorsports:  A weekly Motorsports online radio show that gets turned into a podcast.  I’ve only recently started to listen, but, I do like it.  Lot’s of sportscar, with a fair amount of F1, Indycar, and  even some NASCAR.

Indycar Trackside:  It’s an actual radio show, at least for those of you who live in Indiana.  It’s most thursday nights, although they’ll take off Thanksgiving, and I would guess Christmas.  It’s Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, with emails, call ins, and guest interviews.  It’s a very good IRL show that covers pretty much everything you could hope for.  It can also be listened to online, but you’re required to sign up to the station online. 

Planet-IRL:  Yeah, I’ve had problems with this place, and the PT hate from a certain person is insane, yet, they somehow get very good interviews.  Including Tony Kannan, Lindy Thackston, Curt Cavin, and Speedy Dan Clarke.  Also they often have different bloggers who aren’t as know for podcasting.  They sometimes do F1 shows as well. 

  Racing books:  Okay, to be honest, I don’t have any good racing books to recommend.  And, remember, most NASCAR books are mainly just PR stuff.  Still, they can give you some insight into the past.

  Video Games/Simulations:  For those enjoy racing, racing games can be both a lot of fun, and very frustrating.  Indycar hasn’t released a new game since 2005, NASCAR since 2008, and F1 since the 06 season, except for the new Wii and PSP game.  Forza, Gran Turismo, and Need for Speed don’t always have the most accurate racing compared to what real racing fans would expect.  Iracing takes too much time/money, SimBin is to plain, and RFactor relies on mods, which I don’t enjoy as much as some people do. 

  All that said, these can still be a lot of fun.  I’ve not tried most of these, so this is all second hand, but, if you own a X-Box360, buy Forza 3.  I may be buying it, if I do, I’ll put a review up on it.  It’s got lot’s and lot’s of cars, all of them licenced.  Also, they’ve got race cars, including current Prototype cars, including the 2009 DeFerran Acura.  There’s also stock cars that are licenced by Chevy, Ford, Dodge, but not NASCAR. And, V8 Touring Cars, but, no Australian tracks. Lots of tracks, some real and some not, including Road America, Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Silverstone, the full Nurburgring track, longest in the game, and Le Mans.  The game can be set from arcade to ultra realistic, very good graphics, and good control’s, so I’ve read.  However, damage is there, and it affect’s performance, but, the damage model, like all production car based games isn’t quite what you’d expect.  Running a car straight into the wall visually just makes it look dented, although the performance will drop in a big way.  Also, only 8 car fields, and no rain or night races, but, there are enduro races. Here’s some pictures:

  Need for Speed  Shift is available on all systems but Wii, and is an okay game.  Again, haven’t played it, but, from what I’ve read, it’s fun, but it has fewer cars and tracks then Forza, and doesn’t represent any real series, either.  The damage doesn’t do much, and AI is weak, but, the in car view is supposed to be great, with a major jar when you wreck.  It’s not sold well,  so you might find it on discount fairly soon.

  F1 2009 is only out for the Wii and PSP.  It’s got terrible graphics, not good AI, and a fairly plain game.  But, if you own either of these systems, and like F1, I’d say I’d probably suggest buying it, I know I would, although I’m looking forward to next year’s F1 2010 more.  First row of picture is PSP, second is Wii.

 Rally fans will like DIRT 2, a rally game that’s not quite sim, although there are sim parts.  A lot of events are races with multiple cars racing for position instead of the proper timed rallies, although they do exist. 

 SimBin’s RACE On for the Pc and RacePro for X-box360 are both realistic games based of the World Touring Car Championship.  They also have a F3000 or Formula 3000 International Masters, as well as some other cars.  I’ve played Race 07, the base of Race On, and it’s fun, although it is all sprint racing, and it lacks any of the flashy stuff.  Still, it has a lot of cool tracks, such a the Macau Street course.  If your a serious race fan, you might enjoy this. 

  For the super Hard Core Racers, Rfactor and Iracing are for you.  Iracing is lisnced by NASCAR and Indycar, and have a ton of tracks and cars, including the Trucks, Nationwide, Cup, IRL car, Corvette GT1 car, Star Mazda, 1979 Lotus, and more.  But, it’s all spec racing, as in only 1 make per race, except for special events.  And, each track and car has to be bought separately, after the starting pack that comes with the subscription, which also costs money.  All racing is online, and thus it’s not for the faint of heart, or those without lots of time.  And, you have to get licenced to race the faster cars, so at first your stuck with very slow and boring cars.  However, more and more features are coming out, and they have done a price drop.  This is one I’d advise buying if you’ve got the money, time, and skill.  Otherwise, just wait around, because stuff keeps getting added,  and maybe there will be another price drop.  Oh, and some real driver play this game, including Dale Earnhart Jr. 

  Rfactor is, in itself, not that great.  It’s in the mods were the fun is.  Current and former F1, Indycar, CART, CHampcar, NASCAR, sportscar, ect all exist on it.  For more, click the link to virtual r on my blog roll for more info on the mods.  Some are higher quality then others, and I’m not the biggest fan of mods, but I know most people love them, and racing enthusiasts speak very highly of this game.

  NASCAR 09 is based off the 2008 series, and it’s not the greatest, and the Nationwide and Truck stuff is really lacking, some tracks are missing, and many drivers aren’t there.  Still, if your a NASCAR fan, and own a PS3 or X-box360, buy it.  I’ll do a review if I buy this game.

  Finally, BATracer F1 management game.  I’ve already done a review, check it out for more info.  Because of the Ferrari issue, all the names have been changed so it doesn’t infringe copy rights.  This can be confusing if you don’t know a series enough to follow the hints.  For instance, Red Bell instead of Red Bull.

  Twitter:  Twitter is a great way to get in touch with Bloggers and fans, and follow drivers and journalists.  Just remember, sometimes the celebrities and most journalists will read tweets sent to them, so keep that in mind when you tweet.  Don’t be like a certain blogger, who got in a twitter war with Paul Tracy. 

  Sadly, I can’t really recommend anything on TV.  Speedtv sometimes has stuff, but most of it is just boring “reality” TV.  There are sometimes racing stuff on it, though.

  Also you can watch highlights on Youtube and, more than just highlights on certain places. 

  That’s how I’d suggest racing addicts keep satisfied during the off season.  Again, some people just want to get away from racing, but, a lot of people are going to miss racing.  Keep checking in here for more stuff, and, oh yeah, you can thank me for helping with Christmas shopping on the racing games, hope everyone enjoy’s the off season!  And, of course, most of you already know all of this, and likely know more than me, so this is written for someone with no exposure to any of this, like any casual fans who find this site!