I always wanted a band named "Robots on Segways" don't ask me why.

Quote from StableX :

2. if its a PRO license they are going to pass easy anyway, so let them go by or they'll run you over

Fixed.

True, Nascar is just too corportate now for the most part, and I can't see it every going back to the way it was unfortunately. I'm sure there are still drivers that will talk to fans, I'm just not sure how easy it is to get access to them now, compared to back when Sr. and Petty were driving.

Funny story I saw on the iRacing forums about someone meeting Justin Wilson of the IRL:

"At the Indy car race at Homestead a few weeks ago, I was standing in the pits for their second practice run. I was at the Z-Line car, and Justin Wilson walked up. He was talking to his crew chief and others, then started getting into his fire suit a few feet from me.

"Hi, my name is Jack Backus", I said to him. "Hi" he politely replied. I then said "Thanks for wrecking me at Indy". He looked at me puzzled, and said "Wrecked you?" "In the Lotus 79 at Indy during the practice on iRacing" I replied.

He started laughing loudly, took a few steps towards me and held his hand out. "Sorry if I wrecked you". As I was shaking his hand I told him all was fine. His crew had that look of 'who the heck is that guy?'."

Quote from AlienT. :

You are right. Begs the question as to what the point of licenses is?

There is no point really, especially when you get to the top. I do like the fact that you can't jump straight into the A class cars the first day you sign up, but any reasonable driver should be able to get to that level in a short amount of time. Really, the whole SR system is just a way to make people race smarter, and I think it works. A lot of people put importance on that number, as meaningless as it really is, and I think the driving is at least a little cleaner because of it. I don't think your actual license level means that much though.

One of my favorite quotes on licenses was on the iRacing forum, and it went something like "The only licenses that matter are Rookie and Pro, because if you see either one of those behind you, you have an equal chance of being wrecked". Classic.

Licenses aren't even an indication of how long you've been around now with fast track. You can still judge how fast a driver probably is by their number in race sessions since its based on their iRating. If I'm number #17 and I see #2 coming up behind me, then I know I most likely don't have much of a chance against this guy and give him space if he's all over my bumper.

Quote from anttt69 :

bunch o lazy ****s if u ask me. Could they spare five minutes to code a kick/ban option for server admin, nope they decide thats to much like hard work & give us a few 'pointless words' in some vain attempt to sort out an really simple issue.

way to go iRacing......

Yeah, this is why I hate the iRacing band-aids. I realize they're busy, but some of the stuff they don't fix is ridiculous. Kick/ban would probably take no more than a week to implement. Its the most basic of dedicated server functions. I can't believe they'd even consider adding hosted racing without that feature. How about steering offset for oval cars that has been requested for how many seasons now? Its a number, and you offset the steering wheel that many degrees. Its so damn simple, yet they can't take a day to add that to the garage, so we'll keep turning right to get left until they do. I'm not trying to belittle the complexity of their software, but I'm a software engineer and I know for a fact some of these things are not all that complicated. How many times have people asked for a freaking clock in the F-keys so we can see when races start? It's kind of a big deal when the whole system revolves around a very strict schedule, and its not rocket science to add to the game. Saving control schemes on a car-by-car basis...I could go on with the list of basic features they still don't have.

They seem to succeed on their big projects, but then they drop the ball on so many easy things. Its just frustrating for me to watch.

Last edited by UncleBenny, Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:54.

I don't know, I don't subscribe to the conspiracy theories out there saying Nascar is rigging races. I wouldn't put it past some of the higher ups at Nascar, but whether I like some of them or not, I do think the majority of drivers have some integrity and they would not stand for it if races were being rigged.

I don't like some of the forced competition things either. I don't like the chase. I don't like the lucky dog. I don't like the random "debris" cautions. I would argue the double file restarts one though. There are plenty of short tracks that have been using double file restarts forever, I don't think its just to increase competition, to me it just makes more sense to do it that way, and Nascar should have been doing that forever. I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they used to do it a while ago, I don't know though. Starting with the lapped cars on the inside always seemed like the dumbest rule to me.

I see F1 as just as bad though. Seems like every time I get a chance to watch a race, all they talk about are two things: who is on what compound tires, and who is carrying what fuel load. I realize this is "strategy" but I prefer actual racing to passing each other in the pits.

I don't mind the drama in Nascar so much as long as it doesn't get too out of hand, and this Brad/Denny thing hasn't gotten to that point for me yet. I enjoy the fact that some drivers actually have personalities, even if they are acting like spoiled brats all the time. Better that, than robots driving cars around in a circle. The fact that I have an opinion on most of the drivers on the track gives me something to watch no matter what's going on, even if its not my favorite guy who is involved in the action. Jeff Burton just made a pass? He's a respectable guy, I can support that. Oh no Michael Waltrip in the wall again? Good, didn't like him anyway.

People don't do it to gain positions most of the time though, they do it to salvage SR after someone takes them out lap 1 turn 1. I've actually never seen someone do this on a track that didn't have an apron, I could see it being a problem though if someone was dumb enough to attempt that. I'd like to see them put in a black flag if someone drives X amount of laps under a minimum speed like they use in real life, and tell the person to park it for the rest of the race.

I don't like how iRacing seems to just update the sporting code and doesn't actually fix problems. Recent examples:

-Club points reward you for finishing high in lower splits compared to mid pack in higher splits, which caused sandbagging. Instead of fixing the club points to reward you for finishing as high as possible, they just update the sporting code to say stop sandbagging, now users have to police the system when they see it happening.

-People are wrecking each other in hosted races. iRacing does not want to police hosted races, so they say you can't protest in hosted races any more, makes perfect sense to me. But instead of giving people options to control the race they paid for with kick/ban options, iRacing's solution is simply to set a password. Which means you can't just set up a fun open hosted server on a weekend without the fear of wreckers doing whatever they want. Kick/ban for you server is a basic option and I can't even wrap my head around how iRacing couldn't include the most basic functionality for this on the first roll out.

-People running damaged on the apron. Instead of putting in a black flag rule to stop this, again make the users police it themselves.


You know, as much as people complain about the development speed here at LFS, at least when Scawen does something, he does it right the first time and doesn't half-ass it through three builds until he gets it right. I have to give him credit for that.

Last edited by UncleBenny, Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:27.

Quote from DieKolkrabe :

NASCAR goes WWE

Right. How is this any different than any other sport? In hockey teams carry grudges all the time. Football rivalries? Guys getting pitches thrown at them in baseball?

Oh, because its Nascar, so we should compare it to the made up sport of wrestling.

Quote from PMD9409 :

Well, he says he is going to intentionally take him out. Rather messed up IMO.

Seeing as Brad intentionally wrecks someone every week it seems, I don't feel all that bad about it. It's one thing to rough a guy up and move him up the track to make a pass, its another to dump them week in week out. You'd think with all the work Brad does with his bumper, he'd be better at it by now. Of course, Denny intentionally wrecking him won't actually fix anything, would still be a little satisfying to see though. I don't think he'll actually follow through on it.

Last edited by UncleBenny, Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:41.

I can't wait for the Nationwide race next week now, take him out Denny.

I actually kind of liked Keselowski at the beginning of the year, but he is quickly becoming a huge prick.

"I'm just going to be the first to the pay window" hahaha. I love Nascar. Denny is going to look like a wuss if he doesn't follow through on it though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8k92DBinVE&NR=1

I love the people cheering when Jimmy crashes hahaha. Also the sound on that video is excellent.

I think Johnson is usually pretty decent at Phoenix, but Martin did win here in the spring. Come on #5! Now that Stewart is out of it, I'd really love to see Martin win the championship.

Guess this means its time to fire up LFS, my old pal that has never let me down.

WTF iRacing, I wanted to run the 9:45 Impala B race but once again the site is down.

As I was scrolling down I thought to myself, just use Apple, and there it was already suggested. iCar should be a cakewalk, do it.

Quote from Intrepid :

To have a benefit system you need high taxes. High taxes are proven to de-motivate people from earning. Sometimes forcing them to move away and that means you get zero income from taxation.

So by taking all the money from the rich you force them out of the country. They take their money and their jobs to somewhere else. Suddenly your precious welfare system can't sustain itself.

It goes in cycles. We are now at a point where we can't sustain welfare payments in the UK. Either taxes go up and force business (and jobs) abroad, or you cut welfare. I know which is more sustainable.

What most people need to realise is we do not live in poverty in the UK. I spent much of my youth in hardcore council estates. There are MANY people on easy street The idea some can't help being poor is utter bullshit. Work hard, and focus and you can do anything.

While I find it hard to justify no welfare in some form it is good to quote good ol' Maggie: Socialism only works until you run out of other people's money

Totally agree with everything you said, I see the same problem over here. When you let people live off of welfare for their entire life, why would they even bother trying to work? I have no problem with people who are having a tough time getting help from the government, but there are so many people who just leech off the system its ridiculous, and all you're doing is rewarding their laziness. Handing out free money solves nothing in my opinion.

My roommate came from a pretty low income family. He got a scholarship to a good engineering school, got a great job after school, and is doing very good for himself. Like you said, don't tell me that people are stuck being poor, because I've seen people get out of that situation. The problem is, too many people would rather take the free ride than do a little work for a better life for themselves.

Slightly off topic, but an interesting thing one of my friends brought up during the last election over here when we were talking about socialism. We're pretty sure that if today you took all the money in this country and divided it up equally to every person, the same people would end up rich and the same people would end up poor down the road. I'm sure there are some exceptions to this, but for the most part rich people get rich because they know how to get money, and poor people are poor because they can't hold onto it.

He's still up by what, like 80 points? I was so happy when he wrecked, then I realized he still has a pretty healthy lead in the championship. This is why I hate Jimmie Johnson.

Newman didn't hit Stewart until Ambrose plowed into him, he slowed down as he caught Stewart's bumper and Ambrose kept going. I don't really blame Ambrose so much I guess, he obviously couldn't see anything but Newman's bumper, his spotter probably should have warned him how fast Newman was closing in on Stewart so he had time to react.

Only way I see that happening is if they gave them points for their position every lap of the race so there is no riding around and you have to get as far forward as you can and stay up there. Would be interesting to see, but will never happen.

Quote from Vendetta :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... Wv7rI&feature=related

anyone find it odd how similar this glitch is to the one in LFS?

Haha wow, must have looked great from the in-car.

When Newman said drivers used to be allowed to respect each other, that was awesome and I totally agree with him. Nascar should not be stepping in and telling them how to race, they should be able to police themselves. If the bump drafting through the corners was getting out of hand someone should step up and say we have to stop doing this. Problem is I think there are too many drivers out there that don't have enough respect, and would just do it anyway.

I think shorter races would be awesome, but it would cut out too much advertising time so it will never happen.

Last edited by UncleBenny, Wed, 4 Nov 2009 01:46.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Lack of time will hinder actual online races. I might squeeze a couple in, but most of it will be 'tests'.

I have the advantage of knowing Silverstone. Hence why I wanted to play there. I also have Laguna from my previous go at iRacing, but haven't played it yet this time. I also (again) have the Radical from the last time.

The trouble so far seems to be a complete lack of feeling in the steering. Sure, there is the odd kickback (mainly from unrealistic 'bumps' presumably caused by poor mapping). If I could work out how to make it better that would help. Do I need spring and damper settings in the profiler? I'm using 450° lock (which makes the Radical seem like it's got a rack and pinion from a truck it's so insensitive), and maximum caster to try and get some feeling.

Sounds like I'm being overly critical too early, but I'm just trying to resolve issues quickly, as well as writing what I think. And what I think is very likely to change.

What wheel do you have?

For the G25 I found through the forums that to get better feel you need to turn the FFB down in game(I'm at 8) and up in the profiler(Think I'm at like 110% there).

Quote from PMD9409 :

No no, not the end, the WHOLE race was terrible.

Yeah, sure.

I don't know what people expect from Talladega? There were plenty of racey portions when they were getting ready for pit stops, or after cautions. Any 4 hour long race is going to have boring parts, whether they're running single file at Talladega or just riding around at some other track. I'm just really getting sick of the bitching about restrictor plate races being boring. This is not directed towards you particularly, but just a general statement since I see this attitude everywhere.

What exactly do you want them to do?(this part is for you to answer) Let them ride on people's bumpers whole race so there's a wreck every 10 laps? Oh I know, take the plates off, so then the whole field gets strung out, because that will be waaaaayyyyy more exciting than what we have now.

Whatever, its a plate race, and if you don't like it then it only happens 4 times a year, just tune in for the end if you want and maybe you'll get a good finish. Chances are you'll just get a big wreck though.

I'm not saying its the most exciting race out there, but none of the races really are. Nascar won't be thrilling until they shorten every race to a 100-150 mile shootout where guys have to get up and go from the drop of the green flag. I don't care what race I'm watching throughout the year, it gets boring in the middle of the race when nothings going on. Talladega is no different in my opinion. When they get strung out single file, I turn up the sound and go about cleaning my apartment or something while I'm listening to the race. Perfect Sunday for me.

Again, not trying to be harsh towards you, I see the "boring" complaint all over the place and this is just my general opinion on the matter.

Quote from Flame CZE :

Well, the Talladega race was my first NASCAR live streamed race I watched on the net. Despite of the fact that I didn't watch the entire race but only cca last 80 laps, I was fairly thrilled of the race, because I has used to watch only Formula 1 so far. The last 20-10 laps were quite interesting for me, especially the 4-wide or single-file situations. And I love the mass pitstops, when the teams are fighting for every hundredth of a second! It's good they have those extra wide pit lanes, unlike those for F1

I will try to not miss the next race in Texas (if I read correctly)

Cool, its always nice to see people give Nascar a chance and realize that its not just cars going in a circle like it gets portrayed all the time. Well it is cars going in a circle, but there is some excitement in there too. Definitely watch Texas, its a whole different kind of racing than Talladega.

Last edited by UncleBenny, Tue, 3 Nov 2009 18:54.

The "FastTrack" promotion system is temporarily disabled due to some database issue they were having. They said they're working on a fix for it.

The end of the Talladega race was pretty terrible with everyone running out of fuel under caution and the two wrecks. I was really hoping they were actually going to make it through those last 10 laps without a big wreck, but I wasn't all that surprised when they started wrecking. I was pretty pissed at Ambrose for taking out both my guys (Newman and Stewart). Also, Johnson didn't get taken out which I was really hoping for. He's pretty much got the championship wrapped up now unless something goes terribly wrong, which doesn't seem to happen to him in the chase. Time to start looking forward to next year.

Also, who else thinks its complete BS that Addington is getting replaced on the 18? I thought he was a real good crew chief and seemed to keep Busch relatively under control, and they miss the chase one year and he's out? Oh well, I'm sure he won't have trouble finding another job, always seemed like a smart dude to me.