William Byron & iRacing

[29-4]

On a hot day, it's 140 degrees in the cars. Please don't reference the old days. ****pit heat is mostly a function of horsepower. Driver cooling now is essential.

Another power steering reference to the good old days ... an "urban myth" and completely wrong. It took no more strength to turn with a 36:1 steering box and no ps than it does to turn a 14:1 ratio WITH ps.

And drivers no longer need relief drivers anymore merely because there in so much better shape? I certainly will admit you know more about race cars than me, but I think to claim that NASCAR is as hard on drivers as the old days strains credibility. A closed-off car is hot whether you have 100 HP or 800.

 

[aunty dive]

I made no such claim.

Lateral g's and terrible, non-supportive race seats had a lot to do with driver fatigue in the past. Not an issue now.

Yes, they're both hot. One Is far hotter than the other.

 

[Greg]

I agree with the vast the fact that Tony Stewart could ever race competitively with Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson is all the proof needed.
... Eventually iRacing will probably become more physically immersive to simulate the effects and forces drivers feel. It will never be the real thing, because that concrete wall will never be real, which Byron mentions in the article. For me that's why I just can't get into it on anywhere near the same level. There is no reset button in real life, that's why big events are big.

I get the point about Stewart, and I agree that racing doesn't require some of the typical physical requirements.
But I dont think it is absolutely non athletic. I believe that drivers like Johnson and Edwards get a lot driving benefits from having a good physic.
And while Stewart won at Sonoma in 2016, I would still argue that his skill set was no longer the same as it was in previous years.
His injuries and other distractions had to hurt too. But you could probably also correlate a graph that matched his younger trim outline to a better performance and results, and then contrast another one with the belly that also corresponds with a more frustrating set of results.

Or look at Morgan Shepard, the senior citzen that couldn't get out of the way. While the younger, won cup races, and even finished well in the points, he probably had a top 5 point season with Bud Moore in the 90s.
Drivers do have a shelf life, there are no cup champions who won it all past 45 y/o. And the skills do fall off, some like Martin, and Gant did a lot past their 45th birthday. But I would still think their best actual driving skills happened prior to those years, in spite of stats to the contrary .
I am nitpucking some and probably being a nerd about it all, I am betting you would agree, hopefully I am not too presumptuous.

And again I agrree that the physical conditioning isnt as critcal overall when compared to other sports like football, basketball, or soccor.
Tim Richmond was able to win his last few races in a very weakend state. I am just a little over doing it, due to the Donovan McNabb types.

Really just bored with some insomnia and just yapfesting on my part.

About Iracing and the immersed thoughts. First a disclaimer, I have never iraced, I am just interested.

I think it could only happen on a limited scale. A wall slap or just a quick 180 spin will really be hard to ever truly replicate imo. If they could just encapsulate the driving station to feel like the real interrior, with sheet metal rattling and just the violence to the senses during a routine practice lap, it would be an incredible accomplishment. I think you gotta to have those sensations, the noise and the actual things assaulting the senses is a big deal imo. . Plus the more obvious things like the thrust of the HP, and the Gs from the braking speeds.