My dream has "virtually" come true!

This is my first post and it's about racing. Anyone who's talked to me for more than about 37 seconds will not be surprised by this. To everyone else, I love racing. Ever since I was 14, I had dreamed about driving for a racing team! However, God had different plans for me. Plus, Karen has a simple formula in regards to racing. Racing/Race Cars = Death. No deletions, no exceptions. What is a boy to do...?

JOIN AN ONLINE RACING LEAGUE, THAT'S WHAT!!!!!

But, in typical Jason fashion, it couldn't be any racing that 99% of the populace is familiar with. No, my racing interests involve some explanation. Here's the quick guide to types of racing:

Road racing - any racing involving courses that have many left AND right turns. Usually with elevation changes. Racing happens rain or shine. The 24 Hours of Lemans is a good example of this.

Rallying - a race made up of several different stages. Each stage is timed and the team/car with the lowest aggregate time wins. Cars drive on surfaces such as dirt, snow, ice, tarmac (pavement), gravel and, sometimes, several surfaces on the same stage.

Stock car racing (NASCAR) - drive in circles for 3 hours.

Drag racing - drive in a straight line for 3 seconds, stop.

Road racing and Rallying are my interests. NASCAR is like driving down a 100 story parking garage (and wouldn't we all LOVE to do that) and I do the equivalent of 75 drag races trying to get to work in the morning in traffic. No thanks.

There are several different classes of road racing, but the one I've chosen to compete in is the World Touring Car Championship (http://www.fiawtcc.com/). I enjoy this because the cars are very close to their road going counterparts. If the street version is front-wheel-drive, so is the race car. NASCAR "Stock" cars have nothing to do with the ones you see in the showroom.

Me on the starting line.

The physics of the game are built so that everything reacts and handles just like in real life. As such, you have to use the same skills to be quick on the game as you would in real life. Having driven in several track and Autocross events, I can attest to this. Plus, if you crash into the wall in the game, you're done. If you take someone else out, you both are done. They give points for finishing well and crown a champion at the end of the season. All the thrills and excitement of real racing with none of the danger and it's a WHOLE lot less expensive.

I'll just be back here making sure no one sneaks up on us!!

My first race was Friday night at the Puebla, Mexico track and I chose a Chevrolet Lacetti as my car (they sell them in Europe, but not here). The tracks we use are actual tracks from the championship. Each round of the series consists of 2 races of 8-13 laps each, depending on the track. Some mistakes in qualifying put me 10th out of 15 on the starting grid. The first race saw me finishing dead last after getting bumped off the track about mid-race. Oh well, it happens. I finished 10th in the second race, but some disqualifications put me in 8th which earned me 3 championship points. Woo Hoo!!! About 7 more races to go. Don't know if I have a shot, but I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks for reading!

A nice, clean pass!