Volusia Speedway Park Coming to iRacing.com

[Paul Jeffrey]

iRacing.com have today confirmed the Volusia Speedway Park dirt oval will be added to the simulation once dirt surface simulation finally becomes available to the public.

Volusia Speedway Park is a popular 1/2 mile dirt oval based in Barberville, FL. Known throughout America as "The World's Fastest Half-Mile" and popular amongst a wide range of National stockcar drivers, the track is sure to make a very positive addition to the service once it is releases later in the year.

Opened in 1968 and later making the permanent switch to dirt as recently as 1997, the oval is a regular fixture on World of Outlaws Series and the Super DIRTcar Series. The venue is one of the more prestigious locations in the dirt oval racing world.

Fun fact: Volusia Speedway Park opened as a 1/4 mile dirt oval in 1968. In August 1969 the venue expanded to 3/8 mile and ran in that configuration until 1971. For the 1972 season the venue became a 1/2 mile dirt oval and ran under those conditions until 1989, when the circuit owners converted the track to a paved racing surface. It operated as a paved oval until 1997, even running the high profile NASCAR Bush Series in 1989,90,91 and 1992. For the 1998 season Volusia was redeveloped back to it's dirt configuration which it maintains to this day.

We’re excited to join the other great race tracks on iRacing.com,” says Volusia Speedway President Tom Deery. “Volusia Speedway Park is famous for some of the fastest dirt track racing to be found, and I’m sure iRacers everywhere will enjoy the challenge of racing here.”

“Volusia Speedway Park will be a great addition to our lineup,” says Steve Myers, Executive Vice President and Executive Producer for iRacing.com. “The fact that great racers like Donny Schatz, Brad Sweet, Shane Clanton, Brandon Sheppard and others keep coming back to race every year tells you all you need to know about Volusia Speedway Park’s place in American racing.”
​

iRacing is an online only racing simulation available for PC. Utilising a subscription based system, content can be purchased as individual items priced per piece.

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Looking forward to dirt in iRacing? Which dirt location would you most like to see added to the game? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Timmy UK]

Why have those little cars got old wooden doors strapped to the roof?

 

[Nick Gregory]

I hope nobody likes to have safety rating when dirt comes out.

 

[RichardHessels]

I hope nobody likes to have safety rating when dirt comes out.

Dirt has it's own safety rating.

 

[F_B]

Dirt has it's own safety rating.

DQ with 200 incidents?

 

[Timmy UK]

I really am having problems understanding why iracing is bringing dirt racing to the market.
Very small crowds go to the tracks, no appeal to most people outside of the USA, the very people iracing needs to expand their customer base.
I know some people do want it, however if you can have a look at how many people bother with the short track racing now on iracing; not many.
A month down the line, will anyone still bother with it?
Wrecks...
Angry people...
Protests...
And a lot of swearing...

The new 911, good car.
Plenty of YouTube videos show that in the first week, most iracers could not drive the car in a straight line.
New cars, on loose dirt...
Time will tell...

 

[Filip Carlén]

Well, the cars aren't hovering anymore, that's a good thing... JK, honesty never driven dirt oval so it will be fun to test it out. And will be nice to feel how iRacings dirt feels, especially since rallycross will come sometime

 

[F_B]

I really am having problems understanding why iracing is bringing dirt racing to the market.
Very small crowds go to the tracks, no appeal to most people outside of the USA, the very people iracing needs to expand their customer base.
I know some people do want it, however if you can have a look at how many people bother with the short track racing now on iracing; not many.

I suppose the core market for Iracing is still the US and when you follow the forums they’re eagerly awaiting dirt. So that makes sense to me. Also it’s the only sim around replicating dirt racing when it arrives.

 

[Timmy UK]

Hello Fabian. Yes, you are right, and I agree with you.
I am sure some Americans will love it.
And good for them.
I just think maybe not many...

 

[snyperal]

It doesn't look very dirty to me.

I am looking forward to giving it a go, although i do think it largely wont be my cup of tea. However, i think and the devs have mentioned more than once, that the physics and textures involved will move over onto the road racing and oval environment.

 

[F_B]

I wonder how this will turn out:

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

at least it looks like having done 500+ laps on a clay track

 

[William Levesque]

It doesn't look very dirty to me.

I am looking forward to giving it a go, although i do think it largely wont be my cup of tea. However, i think and the devs have mentioned more than once, that the physics and textures involved will move over onto the road racing and oval environment.

It's packed "wet" dirt. It's very dense so it doesn't get flung around, if it does then it's badly prepared ! However as the day/night goes on some dirt gets pushed up by the wall creating a cushion of sort, and that's where you want to be when it's good enough. They also wet the track up after a few races.

Basically you don't want it to dry up.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Not sure if this is already implemented or not? But the one advantage to the dirt model could carry over to the road racing side and add more immersion with off tracks brining lose dirt onto the track and effecting grip.
I recently renewed a months subscription even after my rant of not being able to renew through steam as its much cheaper for canadians than through iracing.com
Tho i must admit pricing aside and not alot of road cars outside of gt3 class and mazda cup that really interest me, my experience has been quit enjoyable!
Its nice to be able to fire up a sim around 8pm mt and actually have people to race against
Would love to see some proper touring cars or DTM license make its way into the title.

 

[snyperal]

It's packed "wet" dirt. It's very dense so it doesn't get flung around, if it does then it's badly prepared ! However as the day/night goes on some dirt gets pushed up by the wall creating a cushion of sort, and that's where you want to be when it's good enough. They also wet the track up after a few races.

Basically you don't want it to dry up.

Yeah i saw saw a similar reply on facebook, It's not something i know a lot about, looking forward to tearing it up a bit though.

 

[BattleOvce]

is that dirt LASER SCANNED ? If not I definitely will not buy

 

[Matt Orr]

I really am having problems understanding why iracing is bringing dirt racing to the market.
Very small crowds go to the tracks, no appeal to most people outside of the USA, the very people iracing needs to expand their customer base.
I know some people do want it, however if you can have a look at how many people bother with the short track racing now on iracing; not many.
A month down the line, will anyone still bother with it?
Wrecks...
Angry people...
Protests...
And a lot of swearing...

The new 911, good car.
Plenty of YouTube videos show that in the first week, most iracers could not drive the car in a straight line.
New cars, on loose dirt...
Time will tell...

Whenever I read a post like this I look for anything to ID where the person is from. UK? Yup, that explains it!

Simply put, you don't get it because you don't know it. So here is why iRacing is doing dirt and why you should turn that frown upside down. And do note : I'm a road racing guy first and foremost. Dirt oval racing isn't a huge thing for me, but there are very good reasons why they are doing it, and it should be an absolute blast.

First off, there has never been a proper dirt oval sim. We've had budget games and "dirt" in a few NASCAR games, but it wasn't proper dirt at all. The dirt guys never had their Richard Burns Rally, so to speak.

Next up - These are small tracks, of course "very small crowds" show up. On the flip side, a very large portion of the US population has a dirt track within a 30 minute drive. These tracks race weekly, which inflates attendance numbers, and large regional touring series can draw more people than anything below NASCAR Cup races. On top of that, those who are dirt fans are very hardcore racing fans in general - the type who would want to go home and play race cars on the PC. Also, dirt oval racing is far more popular than paved oval racing when it comes to short track racing - they are not the same.

And of course, because it is grassroots motorsports there are a metric ton of guys who race dirt cars who would find a sim either fun to play or a useful tool - or both.

Do they need to expand to "people outside of the USA"? Or is it simply that you wish they did something else? Because as mentioned previously, they have literally no competition here and an untapped market all to their own. Even still though, they have done a lot over the years to bolster the "international appeal" and are continuing to do so. We'll probably get a Ferrari this year in GTE and likely GT3 guise, perhaps a Porsche GT3 or even the 919, day to night transition may happen late this year, and dirt is part of the whole grand thing to enable rain to be a thing. Within the iRacing ecosystem and the way things work there isn't a whole lot missing that isn't just adding things that fill the same hole already filled by something else besides a BTCC car - which they were burned on before, so blame Honda / whoever ran the car.

At one point the short oval racing - the late model in particular - was the most popular oval stuff in iRacing. What happened then was a few bodged builds put a few guys off the car and iRacing didn't keep up with releasing new content for the short oval guys as at the time they were busy completing the full NASCAR track list.

Wrecks, swearing and protesting are part of racing and dirt will be no different.

The first week of the Porsche were unofficial races where everyone and their brother races and none of the things that make iRacing iRacing are active. The official races have been pretty clean and of solid quality, on top of the car being one of the most popular on the road side...

And frankly, if dirt is done properly it will probably be a lot cleaner than people expect as there should be room to spread out on track and run different lines rather than the one line struggle iRacing's paved oval racing usually is still.

 

[snyperal]

Whenever I read a post like this I look for anything to ID where the person is from. UK? Yup, that explains it!

Simply put, you don't get it because you don't know it. So here is why iRacing is doing dirt and why you should turn that frown upside down. And do note : I'm a road racing guy first and foremost. Dirt oval racing isn't a huge thing for me, but there are very good reasons why they are doing it, and it should be an absolute blast.

First off, there has never been a proper dirt oval sim. We've had budget games and "dirt" in a few NASCAR games, but it wasn't proper dirt at all. The dirt guys never had their Richard Burns Rally, so to speak.

Next up - These are small tracks, of course "very small crowds" show up. On the flip side, a very large portion of the US population has a dirt track within a 30 minute drive. These tracks race weekly, which inflates attendance numbers, and large regional touring series can draw more people than anything below NASCAR Cup races. On top of that, those who are dirt fans are very hardcore racing fans in general - the type who would want to go home and play race cars on the PC. Also, dirt oval racing is far more popular than paved oval racing when it comes to short track racing - they are not the same.

And of course, because it is grassroots motorsports there are a metric ton of guys who race dirt cars who would find a sim either fun to play or a useful tool - or both.

Do they need to expand to "people outside of the USA"? Or is it simply that you wish they did something else? Because as mentioned previously, they have literally no competition here and an untapped market all to their own. Even still though, they have done a lot over the years to bolster the "international appeal" and are continuing to do so. We'll probably get a Ferrari this year in GTE and likely GT3 guise, perhaps a Porsche GT3 or even the 919, day to night transition may happen late this year, and dirt is part of the whole grand thing to enable rain to be a thing. Within the iRacing ecosystem and the way things work there isn't a whole lot missing that isn't just adding things that fill the same hole already filled by something else besides a BTCC car - which they were burned on before, so blame Honda / whoever ran the car.

At one point the short oval racing - the late model in particular - was the most popular oval stuff in iRacing. What happened then was a few bodged builds put a few guys off the car and iRacing didn't keep up with releasing new content for the short oval guys as at the time they were busy completing the full NASCAR track list.

Wrecks, swearing and protesting are part of racing and dirt will be no different.

The first week of the Porsche were unofficial races where everyone and their brother races and none of the things that make iRacing iRacing are active. The official races have been pretty clean and of solid quality, on top of the car being one of the most popular on the road side...

And frankly, if dirt is done properly it will probably be a lot cleaner than people expect as there should be room to spread out on track and run different lines rather than the one line struggle iRacing's paved oval racing usually is still.

Hey Matt, don't hate on us UK'ers we have grass track racing in the UK, an entry level short track of sorts, and I believe we have stoxcarts or something, I only know about it because the guy that does my paints was a UK champion in that field.

http://www.spedeworth.co.uk/incarace/formula.php?name=sk

We probably have more small ovals than high speed ones. Rockingham I think being the only one, unfortunately.

I'm thinking people without tripples may struggle? Or have to set their camera to an angle to make the most of it? I don't know but like I said genuinely look forward to what's coming.

 

[Ryan Robbins]

iRacing has already improved the tire model from the work they have done on dirt (just try out the new Porsche). So it has already been worth it. I am excited for it, even though my old G25 will probably kick the bucket after a few laps on dirl LOL. I am not a fan of oval racing really. It is my hope that we will see Rallycross or Stadium Trucks eventually. I would love to see some good dirt physics and track modeling done, it would be a blast!

 

[Cody White]

Hello Fabian. Yes, you are right, and I agree with you.
I am sure some Americans will love it.
And good for them.
I just think maybe not many...

I think you underestimate dirt racing in the USA. These bowl-ring short tracks are peppered all over the country and have a religious cult following by its fans. Yes every track doesnt sell out, but for the most part their stands are fairly full of spectators...and its for 100's of tracks across the US. Dirt racing as a whole is way more popular in the US than Nascar...it just doesnt get the national coverage that nascar does...