I used to autocross a lot until I started wheel to wheel racing. Autocross is more available, cheaper and much less demanding on resources. It may not be as exhilarating as racing; but it is a great way to learn and practice car control, hang out with gearheads and in my case … finally test the Lotus.
Road Atlanta always contains teachable moments for me and this year is no exception. Even if some of the lessons may be self inflicted.
It’s that time of year again to play in the summer heat of New Orleans. Every year tells a different story making this event one of the highlights of the Mid South calendar.
World Wide Technology Raceway or WWTR is located just outside St Louis on the Illinois side of the Mississippi river. Previously known as Gateway due to it’s proximity to the St. Louis arch. The main track is a NASCAR oval with an infield road course section. World Wide Technology Raceway from Google Earth This was a new track for me and my fist time running a roval. A nice blend of the...
It’s the end of April, I’m 2 events and 6 races into the 2021 season and I’ve been MIA since the end of 2020. A new business opportunity presented itself early 2021 and pretty much consumed my life. It’s one of those high risk high reward moments with potential to fulfill every gearheads dream, to play racecars all day. I’m not quit there yet but I am at a point...
Racing in town is always a welcome break from the ‘go go go’ usually associated with travel events. Sleeping in my own bed, eating my own food and generally taking a slower pace throughout the weekend is a nice respite; although a lot of credit goes to the crew that runs the NASA Midsouth region as well.
I find it hard to write an introduction for my latest trip to the National Corvette Museum so I will say this; I have always had a love hate relationship with this track and this weekend was particularly difficult. Preparation I always stress having a plan for a race weekend and this weekend was no exception. NCM is a complex 23 turn course in it’s full configuration with a mix of turns...
Back to the swamp for round 3 of the NASA Midsouth 2020 season. And following the established trend, this year was tamer than last with all of the excitement reserved for the track.
‘Holy Shit it’s great to be back at Barber!’ Yep, that’s what I’m starting with.
What better way to reignite the 2020 season than a trek to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the annual Turn 7 Girl memorial event hosted by NASA Southeast. This year was unique with the addition of a few Covid-19 restrictions that everyone was more than willing to comply with in order to race.
VR resolutions are improving rapidly leaving the narrow FOV (Field of View) the biggest drawback in sim racing. Most mainstream headsets are in the 100 to 120 degree range limiting peripheral vision dramatically. This is fine in a lot of VR games but in sim racing, peripheral vision is a huge component to immersion. Something serious sim racers traditionally remedy with a 3 screen build. Enter...
I’m not sure I actually enjoy sim racing yet. I’ve used sims such as iRacing to learn a new track in the past but never jumped in the competitive ‘deep end’ of the sim so to speak. I’ve always been more drawn to the fps and arcade style genres. Games where you function at 100 percent intensity. Perhaps that is where a distinction could be drawn as iRacing isn’t...
Chris Simmons is a race car driver, instructor, business owner and all around gearhead. His passion for motorsport started in the drifting community and progressed into wheel to wheel racing of all kinds. When off track Chris can be found training and working on a myriad of projects. After a hiatus from writing, he is back to share his passion, knowledge and experience in regard to motorsports on and off the track.