HOW TO RACE SHORTCOURSE DURING LOCKDOWN

WORDS: Shaun Ochsner PHOTOS: i-Racing/Zac Drapkin/Luke Knupp Chance Haugen/Connor Barry/Trenton Briley Layton Kramer/Randall Alvarez

Every short course off-road track in the country suddenly went silent in March as states imposed strict “stay-at-home” orders. Race vehicles sat still in garages and shops. Off-Road race series had no clear picture when they would host events again. That is except for one. iRacing Short Course was in full overdrive. Yes, iRacing. The virtual SIM racing program iRacing is taking the country by storm and you never have to leave your house. There is a series for virtually every racing discipline. With just a computer,

program, membership and steering wheel, you can race all over the world at some of your favorite race tracks. iRacing Short Course takes things to the next level. Based on the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, iRacing takes drivers to many of the race tracks in the series. During the last 2 months of the lockdown, iRacing Short Course has hosted a race every Wednesday night complete with contingency money, prizes and product for the winners. . iRacing Short Course even has series sponsors. So, who is behind iRacing

Short Course? 15-year old Connor Barry. Barry is a modified kart driver in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Barry, just a freshman in high school is a Junior 2 Kart Champion who knows a thing or two about racing. He says he was goofing around one night with his iRacing simulator and decided to host a racing series. He procured sponsors and now has dozens of racers wanting to race his series. Barry says he immediately assumed the title of race director. Barry’s kart competitor Bronsen Chiaramonte is also a race director. “I can’t wait to see what the future has to hold for us and the series,” says Chiaramonte.The races are broadcast live on a Youtube channel complete with commentary from Dave Arnold, a well known voice short course off-road. iRacing has plenty of series in all disciplines. One simply plugs in their high-speed gaming computer which can consist of any number of screens of your choosing. Set-ups can be single monitor, or as elaborate as 4 screens and a comfortable race seat to feel like you are really behind the wheel. The iRacing website has system requirement guidelines for your computer online. Don’t forget your “controller” or steering wheel and foot-pedal. An iRacing membership is required. Each member is assigned a rookie license to start off. The better you do in racing will allow you to move up in license classification. The license classifications allow your participation in the different series in the iRacing network. The more “clean” races you run, the better your rating gets. The highest rating is a Pro license. CONNOR BARRY: “I never thought I would be this involved in racing using a simulator but with the world changing right now and being stuck at home, the simulator is the next best thing to being in my mod kart at the track. I feel the racing on the sim is just as competitive as in real life. The only difference is when you crash your truck you can hit a reset button and keep going.”

It didn’t take long for many “pro” short course drivers to achieve high ratings on their licenses to participate in the iRacing Short Course series. Pro-buggy racer, Zac Drapkin is one of those participants. Drapkin has brought some of his buggy sponsors over the iRacing platform. “I am able to learn tracks before I even get to go to them in real life” says Drapkin. Since Drapkin has not been able to get any track time, iRacing is keeping his skills fresh and ready when the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing series gets the green light to host events again at the end of July. 13- year old Mod Kart driver Luke Knupp is also a racer in iRacing shortcourse. Knupp is too young to drive a Pro-4 in real life, but with the simulator, he recorded the fastest lap on the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports track. Knupp is in the hunt for the iRacing Short Course Season championship. 2013 Lucas Oil Off

Road Prolite Rookie of the Year Trenton Briley has taken some time off from professional short-course racing. iRacing Short Course has allowed him to get back behind the wheel and re-sharpen his driving skills. Chance Haugen has raced on the world-famous Crandon OffRoad track. The pandemic has idled his Polaris Turbo 1000 race program. Haugen says he built his simulator piece by piece choosing the best components. Haugen says he is now using iRacing to practice every day with his race friends. “We help each other improve,” says Haugen. He also says iRacing is his current lifeline with the lockdown. Then there is 34-year old Layton Kramer. Kramer owns a team in the iRacing Series with 4 other drivers including himself on the roster. His Critical Hit racing team has garnered the attention of sponsors, much like a mini-super team in a regular off-road short course series.

iRacing has definitely created an outlet for racers to keep their skills sharp during the lockdown. When off-road shortcourse racing ramps back up to full speed, iRacing Short Course will be here to stay on those days’ racers can’t get behind the wheel of a real racecar.

iRacing Simulator Program: https://www.iracing.com/

iRacing Short Course: https://www.iracingshortcourse.com/

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