Late Models At Lowes

[Hazelb]

Fark!

I just had a run with 22 others at Lowes...

That has got to have been the best Nascar experience i have ever had...

I played a lot of N2003, this is just way way better...the sound of these things, the feedback from the car...the detail in the track, the bumps, nothing short of awesome!

Had a sensational run with 2 other guys fighting for 5th, 6th and 7th, all I can say is WOW!!!

Managed to finish 5th, by a whisker...

Bloody Awesome, me might have to buy a couple more tracks

[NeilPearson]

Yeah i done a few all day, but sadly got wrecked in each one

Last one i had i got wrecked then managed to find Hz who was in 5th at the time, and teamed up with him and drafted him upto 2nd and we were catching teh leader when i made an error and crashed myself, and thus negating any chance Hz had of catching teh leader. We would have caught him aswell. Oh well

[thornz]

Could someone explain in simple terms, how when you are running in the draft of another car, it actually speed up the car in front as well? I cant think of a a logical explanation for it.

[pab]

Could someone explain in simple terms, how when you are running in the draft of another car, it actually speed up the car in front as well? I cant think of a a logical explanation for it.

Well, I'm no aerodynamicist, but here's my understanding of it. The aero drag that a car feels isn't just a matter of pushing against a wall of air at the front of the car. The turbulence behind the car (created as the air rapidly fills up the low pressure area immediately behind the car) also creates drag, basically the car is being pulled from behind by the turbulent air (as well as having to push away the air from the front). That's (from my understanding) why a golf ball with dimples flies further and straighter than a perfectly round one, the dimples smooth out some of the turbulence behind the ball, reducing it's drag.

So two or more cars lined up in the draft means that not only are the cars behind having a nice big hole punched in the air for them, the car in front feels less of an effect of the turbulent air dragging on it from behind (because the air from it flows straight onto the car behind rather than swirling into the space behind the car). The end result is that both cars are a little faster.

That's my layman take on it, I'm sure anyone who actually knows what their talking about will immediately shoot me down in flames

[Righteous]

That's the way I understand it too Pab, but does iRacing do that? Or is it just old school style drafting where you need to keep passing each other? I hadn't paid enough attention to the speeds difference when I have been followed closely.

[thornz]

It seems to work like that in iRacing, I was in a train of three cars, and was lapping in the low 33s. Never had a enough of a slipstream to really pull out and overtake on the straight though

[Speed]

Staying in line is the fastest way.
If you keep passing each other you'll only slow youselves down.

[pab]

Well, the fact that Neil said that he and Hz hooked up and drafted form 5th to 2nd suggests that it is simulated to a certain extent (otherwise it would have been more of a matter of Neil saying he spent half of each lap off the throttle and they would have stayed in 5th), but, like you, I haven't paid too much attention to it during an actual race yet. I'm just guessing here, but I'd think that the track is a little too tight and flat to the floor for the old "I pass you on the front straight and then you pass me back on the back straight" to work well enough to make up 3 spots on the leaders, Neil?

*Edit* Like they said

[Speed]

I had a race last night where I was by myself after hitting the wall avoiding someone who spun.

The 3 cars that were about 4 seconds back from me were able to pull me in by about .4 or .5 seconds per lap until they caught me , at which point my lap times came back to theirs & I was able to race with them.

[Righteous]

Cool, ok I will keep that in mind. I accidentally punted someone following yesterday, I was really surprised I thought he just lost it, but then he started carrying on about being hit. Any who's, look at the replay and find that there was a decent gap between us, then his rear bumper dents and he shoots off, I wasn't close enough to do that, nor did I hit in with much force. I think that there still are some lag issues, or perhaps collision detection issues? It only happened once though I was doing the same thing in races before and after with no dramas. They guy said it had happened a few time which perhaps meant that he just had a shit ping or something?

Also, is anyone else sick of people talking constantly during the race? Friggin yanks are having conversations about random shit while they are racing.... sooo annoying.

[thornz]

Cool, ok I will keep that in mind. I accidentally punted someone following yesterday, I was really surprised I thought he just lost it, but then he started carrying on about being hit. Any who's, look at the replay and find that there was a decent gap between us, then his rear bumper dents and he shoots off, I wasn't close enough to do that, nor did I hit in with much force. I think that there still are some lag issues, or perhaps collision detection issues? It only happened once though I was doing the same thing in races before and after with no dramas. They guy said it had happened a few time which perhaps meant that he just had a shit ping or something?

Also, is anyone else sick of people talking constantly during the race? Friggin yanks are having conversations about random shit while they are racing.... sooo annoying.

Yeah I have had the same problem a few times, sure that I was sitting just off his bumper, only to see him loose his tale, and then abuse me. I think it must be to do with the pings we are connecting at causing slight lag in car position etc. i hope they can fix whatever it is, because i'm beginning to enjoy some oval racing i these late models.

[Bauer]

for what it's worth, dont forget this is iRacing (i being internet) not real racing. Yes it would be great to have lag/ping/warp issues fixed but it has always been an issue.

my advice is simply dont get too close. give iRoom to the driver in front. Oval racing is all about close fields, high speeds and turning left. When you add variables like internet connections, the wise head will prevail. Dont put yourself on the bumper of the car in front just in case. Sure you may not win all the time by being too careful but your finishing average will be high

[Speed]

I just got a PM from a guy I raced with yesterday.
He sent me a youtube link of our finish.

Not that interesting if you weren't involved but we were side by side for the win after 50 laps. Was awesome.
I covered him pretty hard on the last 2 laps, before that we were swapping positions regularly.
I just let him pull up on me on the run to the line 'cause I knew he couln't make the pass in time. haha.
0.030 difference at the finish, 36 car field.

[dvestate]

I found last night when I was following or had a car on my tail we would get some extra speed, when I was following I was very slightly off full throttle and maintaining my pace. It sure was fun hooking up with guys and running down others in the field, made the racing pretty good even though after the usual first few laps of crashing the field was spread out

I had a problem last night that we were drafting along with 2 laps to run, had to both jump high to miss a slow car through T4 and my drafting buddy collected the wall and I clipped him from the rear which shoots me to the bottom of the track and through the Pit Lane. Went from 5th to 8th 'crabbing' around the track to the checker.

[thornz]

Well i have to take back everything ive ever said about oval racing. Just had a awesome race, 5 of us nose to tail for about 40 laps, battling for 7th position. Was great fun, one guy at the front ran the low line the whole time till he pushed wide on a corner, managed to get ahead of him, and then I just sat on the bottom line for the last ten laps and managed to hold on, was soo much fun.

Question: Is running the low line the whole time frowned upon? Or is it fine when it comes down towards the end?

[pab]

Yeah, I was in that race too (finished 8th, 3 laps down after getting caught in two wrecks). I thought I recognised your name from somewhere.

You can really see which guys have been involved in oval league racing and which ones haven't. Lots of people thinking that if they get a run on the car in front they HAVE to keep their foot flat and get past no matter where they are on the track. I'd love to do some league style racing with about 20 cars on the track in this type of car/track combination with 150 or so laps to work on your position. It would be awesome!

Question: Is running the low line the whole time frowned upon? Or is it fine when it comes down towards the end?

IMHO, it's frowned upon early, but generally accepted at the end of the race. I you get two or three good guys who get hooked up up high they can potentially draft past on the outside, if that heppens then jumping up high and trying to block the train is definately going to be frowned upon.

[Righteous]

I asked the same question. I guess if it's towards the end then it's ok. With all this talk of drafting, maybe it's possible to get more speed and go high around someone doing that anyway?

I dunno, staying low on the back straight the whole race is a bit shit, but if you have fought your way to the front with a few laps to go, I think you have the right to hold on.

Some of the other oval gurus could probably tell us though, I reckon if you teamed up with someone you could go around the outside..

[dvestate]

Righty 100% correct, if you can get a few cars running the high line and some on the low you should be able to make the pass. By running the 'high' line you should be able to use the extra momentum down the straights to pass the other cars, that works well at Daytona and Talli but not too sure about Lowes.

On the set I'm running I tried the high line and was not holding the speed at Lowes to make it work alone, in saying that I was passing a few of the slower guys on the high side as they seemed intent on holding the white line even when a few laps down

[KNAPPO]

Had a blast in the 2 races i had last night

Only gripe is how hard it is to notice a car in your mirror as the rear wing blocks a fair chunk of your view. Apart from that its a bloody great hoot!

[Righteous]

Yeah I thought the mirror was crazy too. For the sake of those around me I conceded, for the price of realism, that the best way to go is the virtual mirror. I'd rather not be mad-core than run into everyone from lack of vision.

[KNAPPO]

Goog idea mate, i forgot it had a virtual mirror.

Schweeeet!

[Speed]

I don't normally run the virtual mirror but I do in iRacing for a couple of reasons.

I get better FPS & I like to run 60 degree FOV so I can't see the actual mirrors without using the "look left, look right".
The 60 degree FOV gives me a more realistic cockpit view. 78 degrees makes me feel like I'm looking through a fisheye lense, I hate it.

[Righteous]

I prefer a slightly wider view, I think I am running 72 or something. I ran 100 on LFS, so I guess I am just used to it. I seem to be able to judge corners a bit better that way. Was a real shock a while back when I went from a 4:3 monitor to a 16:9 setup, all of a sudden I could nearly see the whole other side of the car

[thornz]

Just snared my first oval victory
Nose to tail for 40 laps, running in second, managed to get down the inside with ten to go, and then just ran the low line to claim victory. I really don't like running the low line, kinda feels like cheating lol
But i chatted to the guy afterward and he said it was all fair, and he would a done exactly the same, so all good

[Righteous]

I'll have to remember to get past you asap in a race then Thornz