That makes two of us - ugh. I've been to Watkins Glen and know how frustrating YELLOW LAPS can be - they just drag on and on, but rain delays are just dreadful, I wouldn't wish that on ANY race fan, in person especially.
Talladega is such a huge event too - people go a week or more ahead of time and stay equally as long after. At least the majority of people will be there tomorrow and hopefully they'll have it then!!! I love this race and hope to someday get to it.
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER DONE IT: I race it all the time ONLINE with force-feedback wheel, in hi-def resolution and wrap-around sound - trust me, with the physics of the car being NASCAR approved (since all the young guns race using it on their own Intranet) and of course Online with folks like me
I'm ranked a 7 on a 1 to 10 scale - this scaling is done through the software and measured when racing online in races against other real people. You actually have up to 43 real people from around the globe, all rated and no horse play. Races are typically setup so that you need a MINIMAL RANKING to even get into a particular race: let's say 4-10 ranking only, so anyone below a 4 cannot enter. When you get into a race 6-10 ranking only, you have really honed your skills and it is a pleasure to race with such talented racers.
I'm well on my way to an 8 ranking BUT there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between a 7 and 8 as far as wins and points needed to MAINTAIN the rank. Keeping a 7 is tough, climbing to an 8 is very tough, but maintaining an 8 is extremely difficult. I don't ever see myself a 9 ranked racer, they are a rare breed and less than .5% are 10s. Lucky for me, ranking is divided into TRACK TYPES: short, speedway, super speedway and road. I totally stink in short track and I stay away from most of those races, you are missing the one element which a simulator cannot give you - the feel of skid. Sure you get feed back in the wheel and screech of the tires in the speakers, but it isn't enough, you need a great car setup and something I'm missing - a 6th sense of control.
I have "borrowed" some extremely good setups - I have a GREAT Qualifying Car and a Great Drafting Car, but still missing a really great lead racing car. But I swear, you don't need a lead car to win at Talladega, you need a great drafting machine, and with the feedback wheel and the wrap-around sound, you feel and hear yourself slip into and out of the draft.
It truly is WHITE-KNUCKLE racing, in simulator at level 6 and above you find 3 wide and 14 deep racing sometimes - these are the races you SAVE and watch again and again. The neatest features of these programs are that you can jump into any car and use front, rear, top, side views of the race and also blimp, helicopter, nearly endless views to re-watch and replay in all speed modes, fast, slow, rewind, etc..
I'd love to see the day when WE HAVE HERE a league of player to race together - I need to take a poll on this to see who has every raced online, seen it or wanted to do it. It might just be feasible, I don't care if we only have 2 or 3 racers - you can ADD cars from the scheduled season, so a handful of us with the 17, 20, 88, 8, 29, etc., would make for really fun races.
The caliber of racers are incredible - they take this (as I do) very seriously, there are no games - this is a simulator, not a video game. Here is my page on my HANDICAP LEAGUE (which sadly isn't any more - it was fun though for over a year) but the rest of the page is interesting to race fans
www.beemaster.com/nascar.html - check out the 222 Beemaster Car
It is a sucky day for Nascar fans - I enjoyed the Busch race, but nothing compares to Cup racing at Talladega Super Speedway - nothing!
