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SIM (simulated) racing games for computers have been out for years. In the mid-to-late 1990's, it became an option to play these games over the Internet. This allowed 'drivers' from across the country, and the world, to join hosted events and race against each other in a common arena. These arenas became the virtual tracks of the NASCAR circuit and the virtual racers could live out their fantasy of being a NASCAR driver - the Petty's and Earnhardt's of the Internet.
Today, the online racing community includes many of the professional drivers from the Sprint Cup series, such as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and more. The graphics and physics in the NASCAR 2003 game by Papyrus so closely mimic the actual tracks that these drivers use it as a tool to gain more practice time on the track, learning braking points, corner entry and more.
I began racing online around in the late 1990's. At the time, I only dabbled in the hobby using a off-the-shelf racing wheel and pedals setup and a copy of Papyrus' NASCAR 2002. We used a pay-for-play service called TEN (Total Entertainment Network) to use the Internet to join other racers in an open arena format for pickup racing.
Soon there were 5-to-10 of us meeting regularly for racing on a specific night of the week - Wezbad1, NDE, Buck_Nekid, CmptrGuy, MonTCarlo, Scotter, Shysty, myself (Qn_Shysty) and others. I probably spent equal amounts of time in the live chat arena as I did racing, getting to know the racers.
By 2002, I had kicked the hobby up a few degrees and had purchased a new wheel and pedals setup from Thomas Enterprises (a TSW2) and we had moved to the newest version from Papyrus, NASCAR 2003. TEN was gone and some of my fellow drivers had joined the Western States Racing League (WSRL) and/or On-line Racin' (OLR) to get their racing fixes. In July, 2002, I ran my first 'official' race, a Powderpuff (women only) event on OLR. Otherwise, I used OLR's pickup arenas the same as TEN's to occasionly race.
It wasn't until mid-2004 that I was able to race more regularly. I was now working from home, able to rid myself of a 2- to 3-hour commute home from work. The last you want to do after that is get behind another wheel of a car - simulated or not! Wezbad1 (Ted), NDE (Rob) and Buck_Nekid (Bob) were now regulars of the WSRL league, racing Tuesday and Friday nights. I wasn't ready to commit to a weekly league, but joined in on non-points, Craftsman Truck Series events.
In the fall of 2005, I dove in and joined the WSRL as a Busch series driver in the Tuesday league. It was a great entry-level league, run with fixed setups (meaning each car has the same characteristics) and set weather (so the conditions do not change from practice to qualifying to racing). I have since expanded my WSRL league racing to include the Friday series which uses forecasted weather and allows the drivers to tweak the car's setup towards their own driving style.
In November, 2005, I was invited to become a full-fledged team member of MountainWest Motorsports (MWM). The majority of our team continues to race with the WSRL, using Teamspeak 2 to communicate with each other during practice and races to share driving lines, braking points and other racing tips to improve our driving and share in the camaraderie.
The realism in NASCAR Racing 2003 is impressive, with various views allowing for the full effect. Here are view of the same instance - the first from the Far Chase camera, the second from the In Car (cockpit) camera and, yes, the gauges really do relay accurate information (oil and water temperatures, fuel load).
Different racing lines are available as seen between myself and the #20 Raiders truck. Longer races also require pit stops for tire and fuel.
Screen shots really don't do the actual racing justice, so courtesy of Paul Fimpel, Jr. (another WSRL driver), I have linked to a movie file posted on YouTube that he has created from WSRL races.
From (I believe) August 22, 2006, at Darlington (Tuesday Busch/Cup series). I'm in the #015, purple-and-white, American Cancer Society Relay for Life car. Paul refers to this movie as 'Thrills and Spills'. The best part is, no driver was injured in the making of this movie (pride excluded).
It's safe to say that everyone's goal is to race clean (not wreck), but wrecks make for good movies!
In any race, my three goals are the same:
| League/season | Series | Conditions | Finished | Stats |
| WSRL / Fall-Winter 2005 | Tuesday - Busch division | Fixed <FAST> setups, Cup cars, 65°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 5th of 16 - Busch standings | Individual |
| WSRL / Spring-Summer 2006 | Tuesday - Busch division | Fixed <FAST> setups, Cup cars, 65°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 4th of 10 - Busch standings | Individual |
| WSRL / Fall-Winter 2006 | Tuesday - Busch division | Fixed <FAST> setups, Cup cars, 65°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 4th of 7 - Busch standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Spring-Summer 2007 | Tuesday - Busch division | Fixed <FAST> setups, Cup cars and CTS trucks, 65°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 5th of 14 - Busch standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Spring-Summer 2007 | Friday | Open setups, Cup cars, forecasted weather, realistic damage | 10th of 20 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Fall-Winter 2007 | Tuesday | Open setups, CTS trucks, 65°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 12th of 21 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Fall-Winter 2007 | Friday | Open setups, Cup cars, random weather, realistic damage | 5th of 20 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Spring-Summer 2008 | Tuesday | Fixed <FAST> setups, Cup cars, 90°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 8th of 22 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Spring-Summer 2008 | Friday | Open setups, Cup cars, forecasted weather, realistic damage | 7th of 18 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Fall-Winter 2008 | Tuesday | Fixed <FAST> setups, Cup cars, 90°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 15th of 22 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Fall-Winter 2008 | Friday | Open setups, Cup cars, forecasted weather, realistic damage | 11th of 22 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Spring-Summer 2009 | Tuesday | Fixed <FAST> setups, Cup cars, 90°, clear, no wind, moderate damage | 11th of 16 - Standings | Indiviual |
| WSRL / Spring-Summer 2009 | Friday | Open setups, Cup cars, forecasted weather, realistic damage | 5th of 19 - Standings | Indiviual |
Papyrus' NASCAR 2002 and NASCAR 2003 programs both allow for customizing paint jobs. Below are the cars I've painted (or had painted for me).
Driven: Powderpuff event on onlineracin.com
Talladega superspeedway - Qualified: 1st; Finish: 9th (blew a tire)
July, 2002
Sub-sponsors: Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Starbucks
Driven: Various non-points events with the Western States Racing League, Tuesday series Summer/Fall 2007
2003-2007
Sub-sponsors: Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Starbucks
Driven: Western States Racing League - Tuesday series, Busch division
Fall / Winter 2005 season
Sub-sponsors: McDermott (billiards cues)
Driven: Western States Racing League - Tuesday series, Busch division
Spring / Summer 2006 season
Driven: Various non-points events with the Western States Racing League
2006-current
Driven: Western States Racing League -
Tuesday series, Busch division - Fall / Winter 2006 season - Spring / Summer 2007 season
Tuesday series - Spring / Summer 2008 season
Friday series - Spring / Summer 2007 season
Driven: Western States Racing League -
Friday series - Summer / Fall 2007 season - current
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