What have I been up to in sim racing?

^^ This.

So basically since the pandemic started, I’ve been heavily involved in sim racing. First, because for a while the outdoor race tracks hadn’t been open. Second, because I needed a change of pace. Third, because I’ve got some other stuff going on that I’ll talk about in a later post.

So, after getting a PC and getting some basic equipment, I started looking for leagues. I’m a big advocate for league racing, because when you find a good league, you’ll find a community of people who are interested in being competitive, and most importantly helping other people.

I stumbled onto the SimRacing604 league, honestly through one of my advocacy projects, Driven by Diversity. I had known about Mike/SimRacing604 through his videos on Youtube (check out his videos, as they are great), and he told me that he was starting an Assetto Corsa Competizione North American league. ACC is very popular over in Europe, and has connections with SRO/GT racing, but there haven’t been very many strong leagues in North America.

I figured I’d give it a spin, and found a really nice community of people. Also, I’ve found some great racing. It’s nice to be able to jump into a race of 40+ drivers, and know that there are good driving standards, and good racing on a regular basis.

After doing two seasons of league racing, the community has grown to over 1200 people, which is awesome to see. I volunteered to be one of the community coaches, helping out new drivers who are just getting into sim racing, find their feed on the the track. (Offering advice on how to practice, basic race craft, how to look at data, etc.)

Links to do stuff.

If you’re ready to try some online racing, start by joining the SimRacing604 Simracing.gp community.

There is an intake form that you can fill out, and the admins will provide you a SimRacing.gp invite within 48 hours. https://forms.gle/tv2fqk6Hh1cZ1FiUA

Whether you join the race series or not, come hang out with the over 1,200 likeminded sim racing folks in our Discord. This is where you’ll find more info about coaching, signing up for one-off races, race series, sim hardware, and more.

Join here: https://discord.gg/K2nw6eysARS

What is Project D_RS about?

Accept the things you cannot change. Have the courage to change the things you can. Have the wisdom to know the difference.”

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Writing about why I’m doing these things, in as few words as possible,  is always the hardest part for me. The last few years, I’ve been trying to create platforms to help people be more accessible in motorsports. For the last ten years, I’ve written articles, then I helped build a platform for grassroots karting. I’ve also done some consultative work on the side of my 9 to 5 day job.

However, during the first 2020 lockdown, the world changed.  I needed to start to work in a space that’s more virtual, more accessible and more fun.

So, I decided to create an esports team. Honestly, it’s probably a little overdue.

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Don’t call it a comeback – Part 2.

So, I guess I’m back here blogging again.

My dad always tells me that I don’t acknowledge my wins often enough. Recently, I’ve started to think that he’s got a good point.

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Speed Secrets Podcast #2!

A few weeks ago I made a post call “That One Day that I did a podcast with Ross Bentley”, and then ironically, I got a chance to do another one!

Ross invited me back for another episode of the Speed Secrets podcast to talk about karting and how sim racing was keeping me sane during COVID quarantine.

We also had a chance to talk about the Motorsport Book Club Facebook Group that I’m working on, which I’ll talk about later.

I don’t know why I wrote this, but this has been what’s been going on in 2020.

(I probably shouldn’t be writing this, but I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. So here we are. It seems that every time I post something, I end up making someone upset. So now, I just go along for the ride after I hit ‘publish’.

But that’s why I have a blog…)

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I get it. 2020 has been a crazy year.

I know that everyone has been dealing with being stuck inside, the shutdown of their country and the related pandemic in different ways.

However, “being yelled at by ignorant white people about how ‘racism is a myth on Facebook’ ” was not on my bingo card. I’m going to call a spade, a spade. It’s hasn’t been fun.

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Words Matter. Beginning to understanding Diversity discussions.

FYI: Spotify recorded a weird audio spike in the last 30 seconds, so I apologize for that burst. We never really got that fixed here, so hopefully that’s not a turn off.

Conversations around diversity and inclusion are hard, but necessary. I’ve been trying to get more engaged in these social conversations, and trying to take the conversation one step at a time via a few different platforms.

Of course, I’ve been wanting to having these conversation with a lens of diversity in motorsport, so that’s what this podcast episode is trying to start.

I wanted to take some time to talk about the importance of how the words we use matter, as I start along this journey.

“Send It” NKA Podcast – Christian, Race and I talk about TAG and stuff. #keepkartingfun

Just around the time that COVID quarantine and esports races really picked up, I did a podcast with Christian, and Race Liberante with National Karting Alliance to talk about local and regional kart racing. (Probably because we were all missing our karts)

It was good episode (at least I thought so) and conversation, so I wanted to get this onto the blog.

We also talk about how karting could be using technology and social media more in 2021, to help promote and grow the sport.

Don’t call it a comeback. Although I just might…

 

So, I just realized today that it’s been almost three years since I’ve written a post for this blog. Three years.

I remember, when I used to post here three to four times a day. Although it’s not like I haven’t been busy. A lot has changed, largely for the better.

7 Key Elements that make for good teamwork

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about an experience I had earlier this year, that albeit frustrating, provided some key takeaways that I wanted to share.

I had volunteered to help a grassroots race team get off the ground earlier in the year. It was an interesting experience, because I was working with someone new to me who had asked for my help. It was different from working on a project with my friends. (Honestly, it was more like working with a client from my day-job, as an consultant.)  I was only around for about two months. It didn’t really work out, just really due to an improper character fit with  the people involved.

I’ve cropped this photo to remove the ‘team owner’s’ name/face from the original photo, but we definitely had the pace for a victory here, if the exhaust had not failed. (We didn’t know that we had to safety wire them, as it was my second 206 race ever!)

After a few races:

There aren’t many black people at the racetrack

*Not going to lie. I’m not sure how long this post will stay up. But, it is a matter of ‘my site, my rules’, so here we go.*

There aren’t many black people at the racetrack.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a matter of safety or acceptance. Some of people I’ve met while racing have been some of the nicest, and most understanding people I know. I’m just saying when I go to the racetrack, there aren’t very many black people there.

I’m not angry about it. It’s just something I want to see change.

Just a little update #keepkartingfun

So, it’s been a little bit since I’ve done an update. So what have I been up to?

For the last three months, I’ve been working with Ched Follis and Leonardo Borrego to form a karting team. We called it ‘Ched Follis Racing’ and we’ve been racing and testing in LO206 (Really,  the class name is just 206 now, but I keep calling it by the old name) at a few of our local tracks. It’s been a complete blast.

Honestly, it’s been one of the best experiences racing that I’ve ever had. The three of us meet weekly to prep and setup the kart and do testing between races to fine tune the setup. (We try to take the tips and tricks from practice days and apply them wherever we can.)