Latest news with #iRacing
Fox News
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox News
NASCAR Ponders Unique Elements Of New Course On Naval Base
CORONADO, Calif. — As Ben Kennedy described the roughly three-mile course where NASCAR Cup Series cars will weave through Naval Base Coronado next year, he mentioned elements that don't sound typical of a NASCAR course. There will be a turn by the aircraft carrier. Maybe some by helicopters and F-18s. Another turn onto the tarmac of the naval base, a tarmac area that could include a chicane or some esses (quick, multiple turns). Kennedy, NASCAR's chief venue officer, doesn't have the course finalized yet. He's having drivers work through a variety of elements on iRacing, the racing game simulator that has helped NASCAR work on designs for street courses and other track reconfigurations. The June 19-21 race weekend next year will be NASCAR's first on a military base and will coincide with the 250th anniversary celebration of the U.S. Navy. "You have the tarmac, which is as wide as you want to make it," Kennedy said while standing near the top of the base's control tower. "And then a lot of the roads and streets that we drove in this morning, they're five or six lanes wide. So this is going to create for some really good passing zones." Kennedy says there will probably be 10 to 15 turns on what will be a relatively flat course, with a slight decline on the frontstretch and a slight incline when they get to the road by the bay. "I don't know all the challenges they're going to face with the location," said seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who will possibly compete in the event, as he grew up in the San Diego area. "I'm highly confident we're going to have an incredible venue, incredible backdrop and great racing." Drivers who visited the base on Wednesday didn't seem too concerned about the design of the track. "I have heard a rumor that on one of the straightaways, we will be going by a couple aircraft carriers, so that's going to be hard not to pay attention to going by those on the sea," said 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney. "I don't have any expectations. I know it's going to be a great layout and a great course and just a special place to be able to go run here at such a famous base. "I'm honestly really honored that they are having us and letting us do what we're going to do. And I think it's going to be a heck of a time. I'm incredibly excited about it." All three NASCAR national series will compete on the track, with the course finalized sometime this fall. "I have no clue," said 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson. "I haven't seen any drawing or anything of anything yet. But I don't really care what the course is. I'm just happy that we're doing this. "It's going to be a fun event no matter what. It's a beautiful part of the country. You're racing on a Navy base. This is pretty surreal." Larson indicated that they won't know how the track will race until they race. "A lot of times, the weirder and crazier the tracks are, the better racing we have," Larson said. "When we think things aren't going to be right, it creates chaos and whatnot. ... We could build an oval right here. We can build a road course. I don't care. "I'm just glad that we're here racing on this base, and it should be fun." One thing that probably won't be possible (and won't be a goal) is to design a course that could limit the dominance of Shane van Gisbergen, who has won the last three road courses this year. The three-time Supercars champion has won at Mexico (where he battled stomach issues), the Chicago street course and Sonoma in the last couple of months. "Food poisoning still won't get the job done so we've just all got to get better," Blaney quipped. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
NASCAR Ponders Unique Elements Of New Course On Naval Base
CORONADO, Calif. — As Ben Kennedy described the roughly three-mile course where NASCAR Cup Series cars will weave through Naval Base Coronado next year, he mentioned elements that don't sound typical of a NASCAR course. There will be a turn by the aircraft carrier. Maybe some by helicopters and F-18s. Another turn onto the tarmac of the naval base, a tarmac area that could include a chicane or some esses (quick, multiple turns). Kennedy, NASCAR's chief venue officer, doesn't have the course finalized yet. He's having drivers work through a variety of elements on iRacing, the racing game simulator that has helped NASCAR work on designs for street courses and other track reconfigurations. The June 19-21 race weekend next year will be NASCAR's first on a military base and will coincide with the 250th anniversary celebration of the U.S. Navy. "You have the tarmac, which is as wide as you want to make it," Kennedy said while standing near the top of the base's control tower. "And then a lot of the roads and streets that we drove in this morning, they're five or six lanes wide. So this is going to create for some really good passing zones." Kennedy says there will probably be 10 to 15 turns on what will be a relatively flat course, with a slight decline on the frontstretch and a slight incline when they get to the road by the bay. "I don't know all the challenges they're going to face with the location," said seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who will possibly compete in the event, as he grew up in the San Diego area. "I'm highly confident we're going to have an incredible venue, incredible backdrop and great racing." Drivers who visited the base on Wednesday didn't seem too concerned about the design of the track. "I have heard a rumor that on one of the straightaways, we will be going by a couple aircraft carriers, so that's going to be hard not to pay attention to going by those on the sea," said 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney. "I don't have any expectations. I know it's going to be a great layout and a great course and just a special place to be able to go run here at such a famous base. "I'm honestly really honored that they are having us and letting us do what we're going to do. And I think it's going to be a heck of a time. I'm incredibly excited about it." All three NASCAR national series will compete on the track, with the course finalized sometime this fall. "I have no clue," said 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson. "I haven't seen any drawing or anything of anything yet. But I don't really care what the course is. I'm just happy that we're doing this. "It's going to be a fun event no matter what. It's a beautiful part of the country. You're racing on a Navy base. This is pretty surreal." Larson indicated that they won't know how the track will race until they race. "A lot of times, the weirder and crazier the tracks are, the better racing we have," Larson said. "When we think things aren't going to be right, it creates chaos and whatnot. ... We could build an oval right here. We can build a road course. I don't care. "I'm just glad that we're here racing on this base, and it should be fun." One thing that probably won't be possible (and won't be a goal) is to design a course that could limit the dominance of Shane van Gisbergen, who has won the last three road courses this year. The three-time Supercars champion has won at Mexico (where he battled stomach issues), the Chicago street course and Sonoma in the last couple of months. "Food poisoning still won't get the job done so we've just all got to get better," Blaney quipped. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Item 1 of 2 Get more from the NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
USA Today
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
NASCAR reveals new street course race in San Diego for 2026
Two years ago, the NASCAR Cup Series made history with the sport's inaugural street course race through Chicago. Since the first race in 2023, the course's been a unique challenge for drivers on the grid. Next year, they'll have a new street course to prepare for. NASCAR officials announced that a new street course in San Diego will debut in the 2026 Cup Series season. The race will be held on Naval Base Coronado and replace the Chicago Street Course on the calendar. There will be three days of action from San Diego next year with the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series all competing in NASCAR's second-ever street course. It'll be a historic venue in its own right; this will be NASCAR's first race on a naval base. The race weekend will mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy. 'What a special way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Navy, 250th anniversary of our country and put on what is going to be undoubtedly the most anticipated event of 2026,' NASCAR executive vice president Ben Kennedy said in a statement. 'And I'm bullish on it being the best sporting event of the year.' Lawsuit latest: Updates on 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR lawsuit Here's what we know about the event. When will NASCAR race in San Diego? NASCAR's race weekend in San Diego will be June 19-21, 2026, during Father's Day weekend. That weekend also coincides with the anniversary of the U.S. Navy and will take that weekend from the Pocono race from the 2025 calendar. NASCAR San Diego course The official course layout has yet to be released. NASCAR officials state that they're driving around the base in person and using the popular racing simulation video game iRacing to help iron out the layout. They used iRacing for both the Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Chicago street race events. The course will likely use Naval Air Station North Island's streets as well as the runway tarmac. Officials expect the circuit will be roughly three miles in length. By comparison, the Chicago Street Course is 2.14 miles. 'It'll be a blend of traditional street racing in a way where we'll be winding our ways through some of the streets on the base,' Kennedy said in a statement. 'They'll be going past (aircraft) carriers. They'll eventually go out onto the tarmac, probably by some military aircraft, maybe a couple of F-18s out there, and then back towards the entrance to the base.' Why is NASCAR racing in San Diego? From 1997 through 2024, the Cup Series had a race in Southern California every year with one exception - 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. The 2025 season is the first without a race in the area for no restricted reason since 1996. NASCAR's military ties, options for tarmac and street sections and the backdrop of downtown San Diego made the naval base a worthwhile venue. 'We contemplated a number of places, not just in San Diego, but the greater Southern California region,' Kennedy said. 'Naturally, I think we all started to gravitate towards the military base, seeing that we knew that the 250th anniversary was upcoming, our natural ties that we have to the military and then the location of it. I mean, you couldn't ask for a better location than Coronado, sitting between downtown San Diego, the Pacific Ocean and not far from Tijuana, either.' No specific number of events has been confirmed, but it's very likely San Diego will have at least three years, much like Chicago and Los Angeles Coliseum events. NASCAR's future in Chicago NASCAR confirmed it will not return to Chicago in 2026 but did not rule out a return in the future.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Carson Hocevar reveals odd approach to friendships with NASCAR drivers
NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar has created plenty of issues on the track this season with fellow drivers, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon. That approach might be a reflection of how he views being friends with his fellow drivers. On the latest episode of the Dale Jr Download, Hocevar told Dale Earnhardt Jr. that he doesn't have a single friend in any of the three NASCAR series, and he has only hung out with other drivers once off the track. 'Not anyone in the industry….Nope, none…I've only hung out one time with any other driver, it was SVG and Bubba at his property, one time. Carson Hocevar on if he has any friends at the NASCAR level Related: NASCAR standings, see where Carson Hocevar sits Carson Hocevar stats ( 368 points, 4 top 10s, 2 top 5s, 1 pole, 5 DNFs, 72 laps led, 22.526 average finishing position in 19 races Advertisement Hocevar was honest about 'not really talking to anybody' and rarely interacting with others, even when he's at the track. He doesn't go out, he doesn't drink, and he rarely interacts with fellow drivers on the entry stage. While it could be argued that the 22-year-old has plenty of time to create friendships at the Truck Series level, Hocevar stated that he really didn't have any friendships in the Truck Series, nor when he was racing short track. Instead, his friend group is comprised of his iRacing buddies. Related: NASCAR predictions for final races, including a Carson Hocevar win He does, however, have a very close relationship with his friends from iRacing and is building a property where they can all hang out more regularly. Outside of that, though, making friendships in the Cup Series doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. Advertisement It's certainly the kind of approach that some fans will love, with Hocevar's passion for racing and his hard-line approach to having no friends on the track reflecting his style of driving. However, other drivers will likely see it as another reason why he drives overaggressively, at times not treating other drivers with the respect that might come from good relationships. Related: NASCAR schedule 2025 While it might be a controversial approach among his peers and will likely lead to further confrontations, Hocevar seems perfectly suited to play the role of the heel that makes NASCAR more interesting. It will also make him the driver that fans either love or love to hate. Related Headlines
Daily Mirror
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel review – impressive performance and build quality
The Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel features exceptional build quality and loads of buttons, but the lack of SimHub support is a shame. If you're looking for a formula-style racing wheel for your sim setup, you'll want to know about the Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel. It's fair to say that Moza is now a major player in the sim racing space, with a range of wheelbases, pedals, and wheels for pretty much every style of racing. But today, we're talking specifically about formula wheels, with the FSR2 Formula Wheel aimed at sim racers who play games like F1 25 and open-cockpit racing on games like iRacing, Assetto Corsa, and Automobilista 2. The wheel is priced at £649 in the UK and $649 in the US, which is around £300 more than Moza's GT style wheel, the GS V2P GT, as well as the Thrustmaster Ferrari SF1000 wheel add-on. But, in terms of premium, formula style wheel options, Moza's latest is actually pretty reasonable considering the feature set, with wheels from brands like Ascher Racing, Cube Controls, Gomez Sim, and Asetek are around or above the £1000 mark. Now obviously, £650 is still an awful lot of money, of course, but in the world of sim racing, it's pretty reasonable. So, about that feature set, let's take a look at what the wheel offers. Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel design and features The Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel is 280mm in size, perfect for formula racing, with the 4.3-inch touchscreen display smack bang in the middle of the wheel, which is 480p and 60Hz refresh rate too. What shows on this screen can be customised infinitely through Moza Pit House, but more on that later. The faceplate is made from 5 mm-thick twill carbon fibre, with the backplate made of 3 mm-thick Aerospace-grade aluminium alloy. You also get perforated microfiber leather grips on the side, and the paddles themselves, which use magnetic hall sensors, are also made from carbon fibre. In terms of LEDs, you get 10 LED top-mounted shift indicator lights, as well as 6 LED side-mounted signal lights, which can all be customised, so you can have different colours or patterns for RPM as well as different coloured lights in these areas for things like Red flags and safety cars, etc. In terms of buttons, there are ten short-travel buttons, all of which have a backlight, with three in the top left, three in the top right, two on either side of the screen and two at the bottom near the dials. You also get stickers in the box that allow you to customise these buttons to match your button mapping, which is nice. Speaking of dials, you get five rotary encoders, with each having 12 steps of travel. In my experience, these have been handy for slight tweaks and adjustments like ERS adjustment or differential increases, but you can obviously tailor them to how you want! You also get two thumb encoders too, here and here, which work in a similar way, but I find it slightly easier to use these with my thumbs as I'm driving, so I find it particularly useful for brake bias changes and quick differential changes. You get two of these nipple style sticks here, which also work as 7-step switches. On the back, you get 6 paddles, with the standard shift paddles, dual clutch paddles and an extra pair of paddles that you can customise and use how you'd like. I've used these as a DRS activation button before, and even ERS, but there are loads of options for these. In terms of installation, you get a quick release mechanism that works really nicely with the whole Moza ecosystem. This wheel can also be used easily with other third-party wheelbases, but you do need to purchase the MOZA hub kit separately, but it is possible! Now, onto the Pit House software and for those with a Moza set up already, you'll know exactly what this is all about, but for those new to the Moza ecosystem, it's the program you use to adjust all the settings, calibration, deadzones, lighting effects and more for all Moza products. Now talking specifically about the Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel, you can do things like adjusting the button mapping, changing the clutch bite point, button brightness and even the LEDs specifically too. Then there's the dashboard, which can be customised too from a set number of default designs if you like, so for my Formula 1 dashboard, I can go in and move the ERS value to the first screen, and you can move elements how you'd like, even adding in track maps etc. It's okay, it's a decent piece of software, but it's not Simlab. As this wheel isn't compatible with Simlab, if that's what you use to make your custom dashboards, you're probably not going to be happy, as you'll have to make another custom one. It's a shame that Moza has locked players into only being able to use this software, particularly as it is happy for you to use their wheels and pedals with third-party options, so that's something to consider if you use Simlabs. Overall, though, this wheel looks the business, doesn't it? But, how does it perform? Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel performance The carbon fibre and aluminium construction, combined with the leather on the grips, gives the wheel a real quality feel that cheaper options just cannot match, and honestly, this might give some of the more expensive options a run for their money. When used in games, the wheel feels superb. I have absolutely zero concerns about its rigidity and stability when driving, even with high force feedback running through the wheel. I used a Moza R12 wheelbase with it, and it handled it with ease. When you're sim racing with a powerful direct drive wheelbase, the last thing you want is to feel worried or concerned about the wheel moving around or making strange noises, or generally feeling cheap or poorly built, but there's no such concern with the FSR2 Formula Wheel. Ergonomically, no concerns either, it's great for racing, even in 100% races, and these lovely leather grips play a bit part in that. In terms of the buttons, switches and rotary encoders, very few complaints, they all work as expected and allow you to change settings quickly when you're driving. READ MORE: Thrustmaster T598 review – excellent entry-level direct drive performance for PC and PlayStation The only letdown of the entire device is the joysticks. And unfortunately, these are probably the buttons you're going to be using the most in-game as you make your way through the menus, change your setup or assists, and honestly, these are a bit too inconsistent for my liking. Particularly when you press them to register a click or advance, they sometimes, without warning, will randomly do a double click, or will move up as you click, taking you into the wrong menu or advancing when you didn't mean to. Considering just how high-quality the rest of the wheel feels, these little joysticks aren't on the same level, unfortunately. The paddles feel great to use, too, and generate a lovely clunking sound, as you'd expect. The screen is also pretty great. It's bright enough, and the touchscreen works as you'd expect, allowing you to switch between different screens on your dashboard quickly and easily. Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel overall thoughts The Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel is a superb option for sim racers who are on the lookout for a formula-style wheel, and despite its high price on paper, when you compare it with the cheaper options out there, this wheel feels significantly better, has better features, better build quality and is much nicer to use. It's not perfect, the joysticks are disappointing, for a wheel at this price point, I'd expect more. And the lack of SimLab support is a pain, despite Moza Pithouse being a decent piece of software to use. Overall, I'd definitely recommend the Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel if it's within your price range. Its impressive build quality rivals that of much more expensive wheels.
