CONCORD, N.C. — In the midst of a public health crisis, one would think motorsports had ground to a halt.
Well, it did, in the real-world sense of it. There aren’t any 410 sprint cars ripping the fence, no exotic sports cars slashing through the night at Sebring (Fla.) Int’l Raceway, or Indy cars snarling their way through a road course in a brightly colored conga line.
In the real-world sense, that is true.
In the virtual sense, however, there has been much racing, some of it on TV, and that is an amazing story all in itself.
First of all, iRacing.com is the leader in racing simulation. It was founded in 2004 by Dave Kaemmer and John Henry, the same John Henry who is the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and a partner with Jack Roush in Roush Fenway Racing.
Kaemmer has real-life racing chops, too. A 19-time winner in the Skip Barber Racing Championship (having done some SBRC racing, I can attest it is indeed as real as it gets), Kaemmer co-founded the Papyrus Design Group, which produced the NASCAR Racing: 2003 Season and Grand Prix Legends sim games.
What he and his team at iRacing have brought to the table in this trying time is the opportunity to continue racing, albeit indoors. It keeps the flame alive, if you know what I mean, because a spring without racing is like … well, you know what it’s like. It’s like Bill Murray’s character in “Groundhog Day,” when he was talking about winter: “It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.”
This is not about winter. It’s about surviving a global pandemic while still keeping one eye on what gets you through the day. Racing does that for many of us and if you’re reading this, you’re one of the many of us.
So, iRacing, in combination with FOX Sports and NASCAR, brought the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series to television sets around the world. The series of events matches real NASCAR drivers on virtual tracks with all the bells and whistles of a normal NASCAR broadcast.
Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Gordon … they’re all there — not sitting side by side, of course, with the social distancing requirements. But they call the race just like they would if they were at Texas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway or Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
As an aside, Clint Bowyer is the usual in-race reporter and he’s worth the price of admission. I’m just saying.
IndyCar did its own televised event from virtual Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l and it was a blast as well. Sage Karam put on a whale of a show over on NBC. Emotionally, watching the race helped, especially after we received the news that the Indianapolis 500 would be postponed until Aug. 23.
If you don’t compete in iRacing, it’s difficult to relate how real the simulation is. The “car” acts just like a real race car, or as close as it can get without wheels on pavement (or dirt, because there are rally and dirt-racing sims as part of the overall iRacing umbrella. Shoot, ice racing is probably in the works!)
Case in point: If you think driving a winged 410 sprint car in simulation is easy, you haven’t tried it yourself. I did, and I gave up in embarrassment after blowing turn one on consecutive laps and never completing a lap at speed.
The upshot of this is, in the absence of being able to go to the track and watch your drivers actually strap into the car, iRacing is the best thing going. The TV races have been solid and the interest is very, very real.
Sponsors are getting real-life benefits from virtual competition. That is the most important part of this because it is a tough old world out there for people who invest in just about anything during this health crisis. It’s all about weathering the storm at a time when everyone is in it with you.
Making the best of things is an American trait. Not exclusive, mind you, but it’s something we’ve always done well. People have to have something familiar, something fun, to survive whatever the crisis may be. This, iRacing on TV, is fun and it’s getting to be familiar.
Any port in a storm isn’t the appropriate way to describe what is happening now, but facing the prospect of lockdown until the situation is resolved, any port in a storm will do.