NASCAR: The virtual world has become more realistic than reality

In an obscure way, the virtual world of racing has been proven to be far more realistic than real life when it comes to NASCAR.

During live races, NASCAR Cup Series drivers get heated. They lose their cool. They have short tempers. They say NSFW things on the radio. It’s the norm. It’s expected.

So with the 2020 NASCAR season indefinitely suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, drivers haven’t had this opportunity, right?

There hasn’t been a Cup Series race since Sunday, March 8 when Phoenix Raceway hosted the pre-pandemic “finale”, and that race provided plenty of those exact short tempers and NSFW bleep-outs on the radio.

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But they have had this opportunity, thanks to iRacing, a virtual racing simulation platform that allows the professionals to still compete against one another from the comfort of their own homes as fans watch from around the world.

And this “opportunity” has proven to be even more “real” than real life in an obscure way. This opportunity presents the same ultra-competitive drivers competing against one another, and in a very similar manner to what they do regularly. They are still able to “drive” cars in simulator rigs, and they use real steering wheels and real pedals — not joysticks and buttons on controllers.

iRacing, given the technology that goes into making it as real as possible, is more than a video game; it’s not up for debate at this point. Anybody who has driven any kind of racing simulator as well as a true racing “video game” knows that there is a huge difference.

But what makes the virtual world even more realistic than real life?

Real races are broadcast live on networks such as Fox, Fox Sports 1, NBC and NBC Sports Network. Sure, the same can be said for the races of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, which NASCAR and iRacing introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

But the pros compete in more than just the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series when it comes to iRacing. While the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series races have also been broadcast live on Fox and Fox Sports 1, the other races in which they compete are typically streamed live on drivers’ Twitch accounts, utilizing their own cameras and microphones.

So as real as it can get on Sundays, it doesn’t get nearly as real as it does in these situations when there are no filters.

With that same level of emotion, this just screams disaster waiting to happen.

It has happened, and it has happened regularly over the last few weeks, first with Bubba Wallace rage quitting at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway and losing sponsor Blue-Emu because of it. Yes, this race was broadcast live on NBC, but it was his unfiltered reaction to what happened that cost him this sponsorship deal.

Then there was Kyle Larson in the Twitch-streamed NASCAR race at virtual Autodromo Nazionale Monza. When he said the N-word, he really said the N-word. He didn’t say “bleep”.

And because of the realism, we all heard that word.

And rather predictably, he is now unemployed.

Yes, unemployed, a real-life concept; a real-life concept brought about by the so-called “virtual world” — crazy how that works.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The virtual world is as real as the people who are in it, whether that be in a virtual NASCAR race or in an MMORPG. These last few weeks have shown that maybe it’s the real-life competition that is less realistic.

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