Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
For motorized vehicles, such as automobiles, aircraft, and watercraft, vehicle dynamics is the study of vehicle motion, e.g., how a vehicle's forward movement changes in response to driver inputs, propulsion system outputs, ambient conditions, air/surface/water conditions, etc.
Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip. If the vehicle is a fixed-wing aircraft, the purpose of the downforce on the horizontal stabilizer is to maintain longitudinal stability and allow the pilot to control the aircraft in pitch.
Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult, such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from arcade racing-style driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism.
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lane which runs parallel to the start/finish straightaway of the track and is connected to it at each end. Along this lane is a row of garages outside which the work is done in a pit box. Pit stop work is carried out by the pit crew of up to twenty mechanics, depending on the series regulations, while the driver often waits in the vehicle.
rFactor is a computer racing simulator designed with the ability to run any type of four-wheeled vehicle from street cars to open wheel cars of any era. rFactor aimed to be the most accurate race simulator of its time. Released in November 2005, rFactor did not have much competition in this market, but it featured many technical advances in tire modeling, complex aerodynamics and a 15 degrees of freedom physics engine.
Indianapolis 500: The Simulation is a 1989 computer game for MS-DOS. It was hailed as the first step of differentiating racing games from the arcade realm and into racing simulation. It was developed by the Papyrus Design Group, and distributed by Electronic Arts. An Amiga port was released in 1990.
NASCAR '98 is a racing simulator video game developed by Stormfront Studios, published by EA Sports, and released in 1997 for Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. This was the first game in the EA Sports NASCAR series.
A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model.
CART World Series is a racing video game for the PlayStation console, developed by Sony Interactive Studios America and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released in October 1997. CART World Series is based on the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) open-wheel racing series.
The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings.
Live for Speed (LFS) is a racing simulator developed by a three-person team comprising Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey, and Victor van Vlaardingen. The main focus is to provide a realistic racing experience for the online multiplayer game and to allow single player races against AI cars. Users can set personal bests which can then be uploaded to LFSWorld in hotlap mode, and take driving lessons in 'training' mode.
The inaugural Southern Five-Hundred was an automobile race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 4, 1950, as part of the 1950 NASCAR Grand National. While the 1950 race was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and its rival Central States Racing Association, all subsequent Southern 500 races were hosted exclusively by NASCAR.
rFactor 2 is a computer racing simulator developed by Image Space Incorporated and released for Windows in 2012. Like its predecessor rFactor, rFactor2 is designed to be modified and used by professional racing teams for driver training and race car development. Much of its source code is derived from rFactor Pro, which is also used by professional racers and most of the Formula One teams and NASCAR manufacturers.
The 1972 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on September 24, 1972, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
The 1966 Buddy Shuman 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 9, 1966, at Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
The 1962 Volunteer 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 29, 1962, at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.
The 1970 Alabama 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 12, 1970, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama. As the inaugural running of what is now known as the GEICO 500, it helped to serve as a prime example of Talladega races yet to come.
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (1971–2003). A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, and it became the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (2004–2007). Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, and in 2008 the series was renamed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (2008–2016). In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new title sponsor, and the series was renamed the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (2017–2019). In 2019, NASCAR rejected Monster's offer to extend the current naming rights deal beyond the end of the season. NASCAR subsequently announced its move to a new tiered sponsorship model beginning with the 2020 season similar to other US based professional sports leagues, where it was simply known as the NASCAR Cup Series, with the sponsors of the series being called Premier Partners. The four Premier Partners are Busch Beer, Coca-Cola, GEICO, and Xfinity.
Automobilista 2 is a racing simulator game created by Reiza Studios, under the lead of Renato Simioni. The game was initially released as an Early Access title on March 31, 2020, via Steam, with the official V1.0 release taking place on June 30, 2020. Automobilista 2 features a wide variety of cars and tracks. Its main focus is on Brazilian content, which includes licensed Brazilian racing series such as Stock Car Brazil and Copa Truck. There is also an emphasis on Grand Prix racing cars of many different eras, and includes licensed and generic vehicles. Other racing classes represented in Automobilista 2 include, but are not limited to: Retro touring cars, 1990s American open-wheel cars, GT3 and karts. Automobilista 2 supports VR, triple screen and full motion racing simulator setups.
