Who the hell am I?
My name is Drew and I’ve been sim racing since November of 2012.
To understand how I first got into the world of racing, please allow me to reminisce about my childhood and maybe we’ll find that we have some things in common.
I was born in 1987 in the USA and my parents didn’t raise me with an appreciation for the automobile, it was just something that hooked me at a young age.
Aside from my collection of 27 Hot Wheels, I first remember getting a toy called the “Fun to Drive Dashboard” from a Hong Kong-based company called Playmates.
As simple as it was to operate, it was tactile, it had speed, it had lights, it made sound, and I absolutely loved it!
Fast forward to ‘94 and I remember getting a Sega Genesis Model 2 alongside my very first racing simulator, a title called Hard Drivin’.
Sure, I had Sonic and other stellar titles like ToeJam & Earl, but even at the age of 7 there was something so satisfying about getting the speeds just right and watching my car explode when I didn’t.
Around that same time, my family met a man who participated in demolition races at the Findlay Stadium Stateline Speedway in Idaho. High on Pixie sticks and race fuel, I used to love watching my favorite cars as they traded paint and exchanged blows in the figure 8 races. It was a short lived 4th of July tradition for my family but nevertheless it was the first time I had ever felt the roar of V8 reverberating through my bones.
A few years later I was enamored by the car posters at my school’s Scholastic Book Fair. Cars like the Lamborghini Diablo, Dodge Viper, Ferrari F40, and the McLaren F1. I had no idea that “Supercars” existed, what they handled like, what horsepower did, or even what a 0-60 time meant -I just remember casting aside my love for dinosaurs that day.
A few years later still, I saved up enough allowance to buy a Sony PlayStation, alongside a game called “Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed”.
Not only were the graphics stunning but it contained some of my favorite cars including the Lamborghini Diablo VT and the Dodge Viper RT/10.
In June of 1998, I purchased my first gaming magazine, a GamePro, which included a full five-page ad for a strange sounding racing game called Gran Turismo that had an incredible 166 cars when NFS only had 9. The ad featured several Dodge Vipers and advertised a new game controller called the DualShock Analog Controller that contained two internal motors that could accurately simulate the thuds and crunches of racing from the palms of your hands. SOLD!
Soon, those meager thuds and crunches just weren’t enough though, I wanted to “feel” what it was like to drive a car so I bought controller called the Ultra Racer(Below, Left) which was effectively an RC controller for the PlayStation. Unhappy with it’s overall functionality and lack of proper support, I asked Santa for the amazing Mad Catz MC2 racing wheel. Unfortunately for me, Santa’s Elves weren’t privy to the differences and instead gifted the value model that was void of any haptic feedback.
While it’s hard to complain about a gift, the device was incompatible to anyone without a stable surface. See, the problem was that when the user tried to turn the wheel with the device resting atop the lap, it would cause the flat base to then rotate with it which was a problem that the more expensive MC2 model had solved. Unsatisfied, I returned to the game controller where it would take several more years for me to even consider using an additional peripheral to play my favorite types of games.
In 2000, I attempted to migrate into the world of PC gaming after reading about how superior the PC version of Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed was to the PlayStation version that was designed by a different dev team. Not knowing what a dedicated graphics card was, I at least managed to convince my parents that I needed a PC for school. Willing to help with my education, they purchased the most affordable Gateway computer and as a result, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, with all of it’s realism, eluded me still.
That same year while channel surfing, I happened upon a Dodge Viper sponsored by PlayStation, that had yellow headlights, sounded incredible, and was participating in a race on a channel called Speedvision. With nothing else on, I decided to watch the race and nothing could pry me away, I was captivated. There were so many amazing cars that I had never seen before, so many incredible sounds, and they were all racing through the night.
It was the 24 Hours of Le Mans and I’ve watched the race every year since.
In 2003, I built my first gaming computer using an AMD Athlon XP 2500+ and a BFG Asylum GeForce 5200 Ultra. I finally got around to playing Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed and what an impressive title that was. Not content to race using arrow keys, it would be a while before I considered playing another racing game on PC.
That year I turned 16. My first car was a 1993 Dodge Spirit 2.5L 4-cyl with an output of 100HP, which was subsequently replaced by a Suzuki DR650 in 2007, an enduro that weighed 9x less and had only half as much power.
In 2008, my girlfriend of three years(now wife) decided to lease an Audi A3 2.0T that could do 0-60 in 5.5 seconds after a simple ECU flash. Upon nearly violating the terms of our lease with too many modifications, I purchased a 2004 Volkswagen GTI with the rare 2.8L 24V VR6 motor and started building it for the track.
2004 Volkswagen GTI 2.8L 24V VR6
It was a surprisingly competent track car, often times putting down the fastest lap in the group.
After attending my first high performance driving event under SpeedVentures at Buttonwillow Raceway in September of 2012, I decided that I wanted to start sim racing as a means to expedite my abilities as a driver. I knew that professional drivers were practicing with rFactor Pro to great success so why shouldn’t I?
With access to so many amazing simulators like netKar Pro, Live for Speed, GT Legends, GTR2, rFactor, iRacing, and Richard Burns Rally, I decided that as a PC gamer, it was time to save up, build a rig, and buy a big boy wheel.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect!
Fanatec had just released their Fanatec CSW wheel/base lineup.
Power & Glory v3, a total conversion mod for GTR2 was going to release in October 2012.
The team behind GTR2 had a new title called Raceroom Racing Experience due in February 2013.
The team behind rFactor Pro had a new title called rFactor 2 scheduled for a March 2013 release.
The team behind netKar Pro had a new title called Assetto Corsa scheduled for a June 2013 release.
With a strong understanding of Autocad and woodworking, I set out to design the rig in Google Sketchup and fashioned 2 sheets of MDF into a cockpit using the dimensions pulled from my Volkswagen GTI.
It was resounding success! My lap times improved, my confidence on the track improved, and I had a much greater understanding of the handling tendencies of any vehicle. While G-forces couldn’t be emulated in the virtual world, the adrenaline that it produced made it clear that the racing was still very real.
My love for cars, games, and sim racing then spiraled out of control, especially during lockdown where everything remains a homogeneous blur.
2022 marked 10 years working as a technical consultant and system administrator. While the jobs had always paid well and I had a terrific team of people to work with, I had grown tired of troubleshooting servers and crawling under desks.
2022 also marked 6 years as a senior editor for Smallformfactor.net, an enthusiast website dedicated to building some of the most aesthetically pleasing and compact boutique computers. I enjoyed reviewing hardware and attending CES, but in the end I still desired something that I could call my own.
My wife pitched that I should pivot into CyberSecurity so that we could work remotely and travel the world together. It was a brilliant idea! She knew that I loved reading about CyberSecurity so why not pursue it? So I did, even making my way to the top 7% on tryhackme.com, but as I went deeper down the rabbit hole, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I wouldn’t find it fulfilling as a career. Ultimately, I was afraid that I would end up providing remote support again and much to the dismay of my wife who has always supported me in my passions, I decided to trust my gut on this one and cast that pursuit aside.
Now starts the most risky chapter of my new life.
I want nothing more than to share my passions with you, just as I have for all of my friends for ever 2 decades. I want to use my knowledge of computers, my love for cars, my passion for automotive racing, and my addiction for sim racing, to inspire others to join me in this grand adventure.
The goal is to make Sim racing attainable and enjoyable for everyone.
Welcome to Simaddict.