Is iRacing a game, or a tool to build success on the track?

A NASCAR writer started a community-wide debate about the legitimacy of iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations a few days ago on Twitter. Is he right for saying it’s just a game?

In the NASCAR community, there are always debates about NASCAR-licensed video games with regards to simulation and authenticity. It happens every single year with a new NASCAR video game release. People will question the legitimacy of the damage model. People will question the physics aspect of bump drafting, contact with other cars and the wall, among other things.

With every new NASCAR licensed video game, some tend to use it to comparing iRacing to a video game.

NASCAR writer Jeff Gluck discussed iRacing on Twitter three days ago when a fan responded to his criticism over a Deadspin article talking about former NASCAR driver Scott Speed’s suspension from the iRacing service.

This started a community-wide debate in which many people responded to Gluck over his criticism of the software. NASCAR drivers including Dale Earnhardt Jr and William Byron as well as iRacing’s Executive Vice President Steve Myers shared their views on the criticism on Twitter.

Here was Gluck’s criticism.

I can’t buy this. It is a game. Yes, some people like Byron go on to drive IRL. But let’s not pretend this is where future drivers are made. https://t.co/tv1764kXGw
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 3, 2018

Is iRacing just a video game or a tool to help young drivers transition to potential success in real-life racing? The best way to really answer this question comes down to two factors. Does practice on iRacing transition a driver to real-world racing? And how would you treat iRacing in terms of simulation versus game?

iRacing has seen quite a few users transition from success in the simulation, to racing in the real world. Ty Majeski has gone on from iRacing to win races in ARCA’s Midwest Super Late Model Touring Series. Josh Berry, a driver for JR Motorsports’ late model program, has won the CARS Late Model Stock Car Series championship in 2017 as well as track championships at tracks like Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia and Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The most notable and prolific user to make the transition to real-world success from iRacing is NASCAR Cup Series rookie William Byron.

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One iRacing user, Michael Conti, was interviewed by Yahoo in 2014 about iRacing and the realism that it provides. He went on to win the NASCAR Peak AntiFreeze Series championship that year. Yahoo Auto did a great job in showing the comparison of how it feels to drive an actual race car for the very first time compared to the iRacing service.

People speak about NASCAR drivers and their success coming from iRacing, but people don’t realize this young driver, who has never driven a stock car in his life, actually took visual cues and lessons he learned from iRacing and applied them to a real race car.

iRacing does provide you with the skill set necessary to be able to attribute success in the real world. Some skills such as situational awareness, car control, use of the clutch H-pattern shifts (if you have an H-pattern shifting peripheral for your wheel setup) are some of the skills users will have when they transition to real-world racing.

Having the skill set is vital, but the next question is how would you treat the software in terms of a game versus simulation?

The answer lies in the individual perception of the software and how serious users take it overall (and how far they want to go with it). Actually, the whole argument comes down to the perception of users. There are some who just want to go online, race other people, and have a great time. Then there are others who are there to compete and run for the NASCAR Peak AntiFreeze Series championship, which is NASCAR’s officially sanctioned series on the software. It all depends on the user and what they want to do with their time.

Overall, when you look at iRacing as a whole, despite the user perception, you can’t dispute the argument that iRacing is a tool for racing in the real world. Do I think Jeff Gluck is wrong in stating that it is just a video game? I think overall, yes he is. However, everything comes back to how users see iRacing as a whole.

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We’ve seen many people take what they learn with the software and apply it to racing situations. There are also people who have used the skills they’ve learned and even applied them to defensive driving situations. It’s just about how much time you put into it and what you want to get out of it that determines whether iRacing is a game or a simulation.

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