I just saw Tao Vantu's great post, Gran Turismo to Nürburgring. The part from 4:40-5:10 in his video really resonated with me, and I thought I'd share my own experience with Racing games, which ultimately contributed to an unforgettable racing bucket-list experience that I had this past year. It'll be a little bit of a read, but hopefully you find it worth your time when your through, because I'll basically include my history and appreciation of racing games and racing as a sport in general, as it largely ties to the GT series. (Tao's video was certainly worth the full viewing btw, so I figured I'd put a little effort in too!).
Hopefully I can keep you entertained with my lame attempt at jokes, and morseo some links of classic racing game footage and other things. So where do I get this journey started...
My dad surprised our family with our first PC with a GUI-style OS as a family Christmas gift in 1996 (jumping from MS-DOS/floppies to Windows 95 w/ a CD-drive). A few months later in April, I got Need for Speed 2 for my 11th birthday (lol @ 5:30... so much more air with a McLaren F1!). It was my first racing game that I put a lot of time into. (I played "Rad Racer" on NES a few times, and dabbled a fair amount with "Mario Andretti Racing" on Sega Genesis before this time). I played NFS2 non-stop, and immediately knew I wouldn't be happy in life until I owned a McLaren F1 (in orange) AND a Ferrari F50 (in red - I'll never be truly happy I guess
).
I received a Sony PlayStation the following Christmas, and a few months later, Gran Turismo was released. I grinded out the cash by mowing many lawns (and doing other chores) to buy the game. Then I got that '92 GTO Twin Turbo and grinded those 500,000 credits needed for my new digital automotive holy grail, the Toyota Castrol Supra GT (with green trim). I don't have a clue of I bought next, but what I do know is that I didn't stop playing until GT2 arrived.
Ever since then, racing games (mostly in the Sim direction) and motorsport in general have really been the one hobby/passion that has stuck with me all the way through. Gran Turismo has always been at the center of the gaming side (along with a few other series, like Codemasters' F1, and Forza when I went through my Xbox phase).
When I first played GT4, I too immediately thought the Nordschleife must have been some developers racing wet dream - but, there was something about the Karussell that seemed oddly familiar. Google helped me quickly confirm that there actually was heaven on Earth.
And even if I probably will never even drive millions worth of supercars, at least I could some day drive the 'ring! All jokes aside, it was this game, and particularly Mission 34 with the Mercedes lineup chasing the 300SL (NA/J versions with the 123 second wait time), that really taught me how to focus on technique when racing, and how to work a car to the edge. (By the time I finished that thing, I don't think I could ever forget the layout, and really appreciated the challenge of the Green Hell! 
)
It was around the same time of GT4 that I also took a liking to open wheel racing, namely F1, but I had also enjoyed watching the Indy 500 each year for a long time. I should also note that my dad also has an unmatched passion for motorcycles/dirt-bikes and all forms of 2-wheel racing. I started riding a dirt bike when I was 9, so many of my favorite memories with him have been created through those related activities, including an annual weekend trip to Indy Motor Speedway for MotoGP and AMA flat track events. (I grew up in Cincinnati, OH about 2 hours away)
With IMS being in a lot of racing games that I had played, actually getting out on the course for a few laps at high speed went right up on the bucket list, during my first time at the track itself. So last year, when I saw a 50% off voucher thru LivingSocial's deals, I couldn't resist the opportunity ($250 savings, so if you ever want to do this, consider scouring Groupon/LivingSocial/any other of those kind of sites for good deals - got mine in mid December). I was signed up to do a 3-lap (1 out + 2 at speed) ride along at Indy Motor Speedway (thru the Indy Racing Experience). The program touted modified Dallara 2-seaters driven by Indy car veterans (Davey Hamilton and Stéphan Grégoire) at 180mph (there is also a driving option but I believe it's a single gear limited to 130 mph, and it costs much much more). Once you initially sign up with them, you have to schedule a date from the list of track days. They had many dates available, but I chose a slot for the morning of "Fast Friday" on May 17, 2013. This is one day before Indy 500 Pole Day qualifying (way to go Ed!), and was coming only hours before the final practice for the real thing!
So I arrive, sign in, and they direct me into a trailer to put on my fire suit. I go in, there's an area to sit down and change and whatnot, and it's empty. As I finish up, I'm putting my shoes back on, and someone else walks in with a suit and suits down to my left. I look up, and then immediately looked away because I wasn't sure if I believed it, but I thought Mario Andretti was sitting next to me. I looked again as I stood up to walk out, and scurried away, afraid to ask, because being wrong through some odd crazy coincidence would have been super embarrassing, and I didn't want to bother him anyways. Maybe it was just intimidation after being exposed to his legacy (around the same time I was playing his game as a young kid). My grandparents were 100% 1st generation US-born Italian-American immigrants. They were also from Pennsylvania, only about an hour from where the Andretti's relocated. This meant I got to hear a lot about the family and their racing exploits from my grandparents
. But my relatively new-found interest in open-wheel and F1 racing has really made me truly appreciate his place in racing.
So I go outside, and it's confirmed - it's definitely Mario Andretti. Oh, and he's going to be driving us today, and filming a bit that they would edit down for the 500 broadcast on the following Sunday. I ended up waiting to be one of the last one's on track, so I could get a few videos of other people at speed before actually going myself. I realized the spacing and sequence was setup so that I'd get to ride with Mario at the wheel. I was absolutely giddy before I even got out on the track as a result, but the experience itself was absolutely incredible: the g-forces are intense, and the speed in the corners (and also on the outlap in the infield) is mesmerizing. I was able to get a quick photo-op and a few words Mario shortly after we got out of the car at the end of the day. The whole experience is something I will never forget:
Hopefully I have a similarly memorable experience traveling to the Nürburgring in my future. Until then, I'll continue to play my racing games and enjoy the thousands of combinations of cars and tracks that I have at my hands, and can't really complain all that much.
I gave myself another treat last year an upgraded to a Playseat Evo + Fanatec CSW setup - and I feel like a kid all over again.
All that being said, I highly recommend this "Indy Racing Experience" thing for anyone else interested in IMS, Indy Racing, or just an incredibly exhilarating experience in general. If you do it, it's probably best to (1) look for a rebate coupon, they probably aren't hard to find, and (2) go around the same date, the week of the 500, because their website confirms that there are often "surprise" drivers who show up to give rides (although not guaranteed, you'd assume they're usually there the same time as the 500). According to their website:
Below is a list of Indy 500 winners who have also toured the famous Brickyard with an IRE passenger:
Hopefully I can keep you entertained with my lame attempt at jokes, and morseo some links of classic racing game footage and other things. So where do I get this journey started...
My dad surprised our family with our first PC with a GUI-style OS as a family Christmas gift in 1996 (jumping from MS-DOS/floppies to Windows 95 w/ a CD-drive). A few months later in April, I got Need for Speed 2 for my 11th birthday (lol @ 5:30... so much more air with a McLaren F1!). It was my first racing game that I put a lot of time into. (I played "Rad Racer" on NES a few times, and dabbled a fair amount with "Mario Andretti Racing" on Sega Genesis before this time). I played NFS2 non-stop, and immediately knew I wouldn't be happy in life until I owned a McLaren F1 (in orange) AND a Ferrari F50 (in red - I'll never be truly happy I guess
).I received a Sony PlayStation the following Christmas, and a few months later, Gran Turismo was released. I grinded out the cash by mowing many lawns (and doing other chores) to buy the game. Then I got that '92 GTO Twin Turbo and grinded those 500,000 credits needed for my new digital automotive holy grail, the Toyota Castrol Supra GT (with green trim). I don't have a clue of I bought next, but what I do know is that I didn't stop playing until GT2 arrived.
Ever since then, racing games (mostly in the Sim direction) and motorsport in general have really been the one hobby/passion that has stuck with me all the way through. Gran Turismo has always been at the center of the gaming side (along with a few other series, like Codemasters' F1, and Forza when I went through my Xbox phase).
When I first played GT4, I too immediately thought the Nordschleife must have been some developers racing wet dream - but, there was something about the Karussell that seemed oddly familiar. Google helped me quickly confirm that there actually was heaven on Earth.
And even if I probably will never even drive millions worth of supercars, at least I could some day drive the 'ring! All jokes aside, it was this game, and particularly Mission 34 with the Mercedes lineup chasing the 300SL (NA/J versions with the 123 second wait time), that really taught me how to focus on technique when racing, and how to work a car to the edge. (By the time I finished that thing, I don't think I could ever forget the layout, and really appreciated the challenge of the Green Hell! )It was around the same time of GT4 that I also took a liking to open wheel racing, namely F1, but I had also enjoyed watching the Indy 500 each year for a long time. I should also note that my dad also has an unmatched passion for motorcycles/dirt-bikes and all forms of 2-wheel racing. I started riding a dirt bike when I was 9, so many of my favorite memories with him have been created through those related activities, including an annual weekend trip to Indy Motor Speedway for MotoGP and AMA flat track events. (I grew up in Cincinnati, OH about 2 hours away)
With IMS being in a lot of racing games that I had played, actually getting out on the course for a few laps at high speed went right up on the bucket list, during my first time at the track itself. So last year, when I saw a 50% off voucher thru LivingSocial's deals, I couldn't resist the opportunity ($250 savings, so if you ever want to do this, consider scouring Groupon/LivingSocial/any other of those kind of sites for good deals - got mine in mid December). I was signed up to do a 3-lap (1 out + 2 at speed) ride along at Indy Motor Speedway (thru the Indy Racing Experience). The program touted modified Dallara 2-seaters driven by Indy car veterans (Davey Hamilton and Stéphan Grégoire) at 180mph (there is also a driving option but I believe it's a single gear limited to 130 mph, and it costs much much more). Once you initially sign up with them, you have to schedule a date from the list of track days. They had many dates available, but I chose a slot for the morning of "Fast Friday" on May 17, 2013. This is one day before Indy 500 Pole Day qualifying (way to go Ed!), and was coming only hours before the final practice for the real thing!
So I arrive, sign in, and they direct me into a trailer to put on my fire suit. I go in, there's an area to sit down and change and whatnot, and it's empty. As I finish up, I'm putting my shoes back on, and someone else walks in with a suit and suits down to my left. I look up, and then immediately looked away because I wasn't sure if I believed it, but I thought Mario Andretti was sitting next to me. I looked again as I stood up to walk out, and scurried away, afraid to ask, because being wrong through some odd crazy coincidence would have been super embarrassing, and I didn't want to bother him anyways. Maybe it was just intimidation after being exposed to his legacy (around the same time I was playing his game as a young kid). My grandparents were 100% 1st generation US-born Italian-American immigrants. They were also from Pennsylvania, only about an hour from where the Andretti's relocated. This meant I got to hear a lot about the family and their racing exploits from my grandparents
. But my relatively new-found interest in open-wheel and F1 racing has really made me truly appreciate his place in racing.So I go outside, and it's confirmed - it's definitely Mario Andretti. Oh, and he's going to be driving us today, and filming a bit that they would edit down for the 500 broadcast on the following Sunday. I ended up waiting to be one of the last one's on track, so I could get a few videos of other people at speed before actually going myself. I realized the spacing and sequence was setup so that I'd get to ride with Mario at the wheel. I was absolutely giddy before I even got out on the track as a result, but the experience itself was absolutely incredible: the g-forces are intense, and the speed in the corners (and also on the outlap in the infield) is mesmerizing. I was able to get a quick photo-op and a few words Mario shortly after we got out of the car at the end of the day. The whole experience is something I will never forget:
Hopefully I have a similarly memorable experience traveling to the Nürburgring in my future. Until then, I'll continue to play my racing games and enjoy the thousands of combinations of cars and tracks that I have at my hands, and can't really complain all that much.
I gave myself another treat last year an upgraded to a Playseat Evo + Fanatec CSW setup - and I feel like a kid all over again.All that being said, I highly recommend this "Indy Racing Experience" thing for anyone else interested in IMS, Indy Racing, or just an incredibly exhilarating experience in general. If you do it, it's probably best to (1) look for a rebate coupon, they probably aren't hard to find, and (2) go around the same date, the week of the 500, because their website confirms that there are often "surprise" drivers who show up to give rides (although not guaranteed, you'd assume they're usually there the same time as the 500). According to their website:
Below is a list of Indy 500 winners who have also toured the famous Brickyard with an IRE passenger:
- Al Unser (1970, 71, 78, 87)
- Johnny Rutherford (1974, 76, 80)
- Arie Luyendyk (1990, 97)
- Al Unser, Jr. (1992, 94)
- Mario Andretti (1969)
- Buddy Lazier (1996)
- Buddy Rice (2004)
- Dan Wheldon (2005)
- Dario Franchitti (2007)
- Michael Andretti
- Ryan Briscoe
- Sarah Fisher
- Robby Gordon
- Tony Kanaan
- Vitor Meira
- Danica Patrick
(I honestly have no clue where I stand at this point, but worst case, I just get to have a load of fun!)
