ARCSOA Elite Series- Behind The Scenes (AES Drivers = Real Life Drivers)

This will be where I post all the stuff I do behind the scenes for AES.

My first edition,


The way the American 700 typically goes down is, I typically only run one attempt at it. I have been pretty lucky with it in the past, due in part to either a good story-line or some careful ini planning. The Season 14 running of it at Daytona was out of sheer luck really. The race was very much spread out. I think I remember the driver of the Dale Jr. car nearly lapping the field, only to be taken out giving about 12 cars a chance by getting them back on the lead lap. I think the American 700 is so good because of my sheer excitement for it. I typically grab some popcorn and watch the whole race from start to finish. I have to because NR2003 won't save a replay that large.

Now on to the the 9th running of it. For the first time ever, I am running a second attempt at it. Like the past American 700's, I sat down with a bag of popcorn and watched it... The race actually played out really nicely. Myatt and Van Der Pesch pulled away for a while only to both retire before lap 100. Giving the race to a 3 car battle between Sean Perkins, Kris Wascher and Jake Baskinger. These 3 would eventually become eclipsed by Matias Plausson who got some unheard of speed and took the lead by storm. He lapped all the way up to 6th. With a stubborn Nick Perclies holding on for dear life for staying on the lead lap. When suddenly Matt Duncan blows up bringing out the 3rd yellow. Might I also add, there was no big one up to this point so it was a good race. Plausson then leads again on the restart. Perclies who started on the tail end of the lead lap was doing his best to control the race. But Plausson was having none of it. Plausson lapped him. 2nd place Sean Perkins and 3rd place Jake Baskinger fell back and let a lot of lapped cars by them. Plausson then blows up, and gets turned by Angel head on into the outside wall. This would in turn got 10 cars back on the lead lap by lap 200. However the race then took a nose dive when Perkins then proceeded to romp away as fast as possible. He lapped the field by lap 300. I was kind of holding out hope he would blow up or something. However he never did, and with 2 to go I stopped the race because frankly, there was nothing to talk about.

I was not happy with the 2nd half of the race. However the first half was probably one of the best ever opening stints to the American 700. Tons of story-lines were forming... all for such a small payoff at the end. I then got to thinking the rest of the day, how do I make this race more interesting. The key was, I did not want to change the racing itself. I like the way they were racing. What is different about this year is that it isn't as much of a crapshoot as last seasons. Last season, you had Adrian White and Tom Allen in the top 10 with a serious shot at winning. This season, the pack racing that caused that is gone. A single file line of about 4 cars, is faster than a giant pack of 20 cars. In some cases, a single car can break away from the pack, and proceed to get a big margin. I like that, because in its own way, I want the race to be more or less like the Indianapolis 500 rather than the Daytona 500. However I was missing one key element to the race. The element of "randomness." What made Season 19's running of the race so compelling was that up till the last lap, no one knew who would win. The thing with the first attempt was, about 180 laps into the race, I had a good idea of who the top 3 in the race would be. Early on I predicted Perkins would win the race.  If not him, Wascher. Now granted this was before Paulsson and Baskinger got on to the scene but it still proved a point.

I now knew what I wanted, a race that would highlight the best cars, however still be open ended enough that anyone could possibly win the race. The question now was, how would I attain that?
Then it hit me, I remember the shock when Van Der Pesch fell out of the race early on. Then the shock again when Myatt fell out about 5 laps after him. They along with Perkins had dominated the first long green flag stint. Which stretched from lap 25 to lap 75. There were two early yellows in this race. One was for a mechanical problem and the other was for a wreck which sent Freeman flying into I believe Riucu.

I knew I had to increase the rate of Mechanical failures in the race. So I went into the Papy_ai and doubled that rate.

I fully expect this American 700 to be an open ended race, simply because no car is safe from mechanical failure. In an accelerated race that I ran for 325 laps. Only 15 out of 42 cars were left. With only 4 cautions and 5 cars out due to accident. I expect this American 700 to be nail biting, and have storylines simply because the fastest cars, have lower reliability ratings. So the fastest cars in the race, may not win it, because they will fall apart by the end!

When the race is run tomorrow, we may have a quite calm and realistic American 700, with the unpredictability of a wild one! ANYONE CAN WIN THIS RACE. In the accelerated test race... JOHN MARTINAGE WON IT! That's saying a lot!

I don't have a clue who will, but I am just as excited as you guys are!

John? Oh God..

I love Indianapolis. It is my favorite oval in the country. Naturally ARCSOA would take its turn at the brickyard. 250 miles does not seem like a lot for me. At least compared to its sister race, the American 700. The reason why it is 250 miles, is because back in the day. 100 laps was a LONG race for me. 250 miles seemed like an eternity way back in Season 3. The thought of doing 700 miles is insane.

The sad thing is, the Indianapolis 250 is a dwarf race compared to the American 700. Even in my own mind it is a footnote in comparison to the American 700. I still don’t understand how I will get rid of that stigma. I want Indianapolis to stand out on its own away from the American 700. I have tossed around the idea of extending the race to 400 miles. Which gives it kind of that endurance race factor that the American 700 has. However I might have an idea. What about a team race. Like the Bathurst 1000. Each driver would pick a relief driver that would either start or finish the race. In the storyline, there would be a driver swap at the closest pit stop to lap 80. I have wanted to do a swap race before… but it just doesn’t make sense to.

The thing about Indianapolis is… it’s Indianapolis. I wish more people understood that. There are a lot of NASCAR fans that typically don’t understand what a big deal Indianapolis is. I know, I thought the same way. Most NASCAR fans see it as another normal track that NASCAR goes to. One that typically provides really crappy racing for stock cars if I do say so. I have begun not even to watch the Brickyard 400 or the crummy Xfinity race there. They are unwatchable. However many NASCAR fans do not realize that the same track, provides some of the closest racing all year when you throw 33 open wheel rolling coffins on it.

The fact that ARCSOA races on Indianapolis, pretty much derives its own prestige because of the unmentioned Indianapolis 500. The drivers in the ARCSOA Elite Series realize that they are the 2nd biggest race at that track.

The 250 is a difficult race to get right. The way I approach Indianapolis is very different then the American 700. The American 700 is ALL about endurance, and keeping the cars running. I think especially this season, that was a HUGE factor. Indianapolis is polar opposite to that. Endurance means NOTHING at Indy. Most of the time, Indianapolis turns into a smash-em, bash-em, short-track style race at 210 MPH. The drivers typically do not have the time to set up their cars and move along with the race. From the drop of the green it is GO TIME! And that is very different about Indy.

The Key to Indy ini wise is to know how far is too far. A lot of times I will push the realism to “Days of Thunder” levels of realism when it comes Indianapolis. Indy is known for its rather large and violent wrecks. Kind of like SUAR Speedway (Oklahoma). A lot of the wrecks at Indianapolis are caused by drivers taking their levels of aggression WAY too far. That is a good thing, because that kind of shows a bit of prestige that the casual fan wouldn’t notice.
The REALLY difficult thing about Indianapolis is the ini. It is almost impossible to get a PERFECT ini for Indianapolis.  You might get a good top speed and cornering speed, but then they slide too wide exiting turn 3 and wreck. You get the field packed to the levels you want, but then someone tries 3 wide and wrecks. Then to avoid that, you spread them out, and it gets boring. You know what I mean. However, if you get it JUST right, the racing at Indianapolis is SPECTACULAR!

The final key to selling Indianapolis as the 2nd largest race in ARCSOA is the way I present it. I make distinct commentary differences between the American 700 and Indianapolis. The American 700 I take a very calm and attentive look to it. Then with about 100 miles to go, I turn up my excitement, similar to how the drivers seemingly turn up their aggression in the 700. When it comes to Indy… I channel my inner-Clint Bowyer. I go totally Brazilian Sportscaster on Indianapolis! From start to finish I highlight the intensity of that race. Background music wise… for the American 700 I normally look for some REALLY dramatic theme. One that plays to the importance of the race. With Indianapolis, I use Delta Force. I get flak for it all the time saying it is overused. But I can’t physically put another theme to that track. It wouldn’t feel right. It is part of the Indianapolis experience to hear that theme! It’s not that I don’t think it is overused. Because I kind of do. It is just that I can’t another theme that I would say, “That is better fitting for this race, then Delta Force.”

Wow...How long did you take to make this?! And As Well as Indy is one of my favorites on the schedule,(Being a Former Winner and All) But to Find another theme for one of the biggest races of the season, I don't think it's possible. Indy is literally a matter of survival, Leaders could wreck at any time during the race, Massive wrecks could happen at any time, and the pace car might need a few tire changes during the race.

wow you got endurance. i usually just start the race and switch to another tab and fast forward through my races when it's over.

Comparing AES drivers to real life drivers

This is a fun one... here are who I think of when I think of AES drivers. I will try and provide reasoning to each.

Nathan McKane = Jamie McMurray- Kind of an understatement to McKane comparing him to Jamie McMurray, but he shows up, does his job, and goes home... Simple as that.

Alex Allen = Matt Kenseth- Kenseth's one championship largely goes unnoticed. When I think of Alex Allen, I keep forgetting that he is a former champion.

Cooper Syron = Daniel Riccardo- Both are fast Australians stuck in subpar cars this season.

Charles Sandfer = Nick Heidfeld- Both were incredibly quick, but never got around to scoring a win

Sean Angel = Kevin Harvick- Both are easily the most aggressive drivers in their respective series.

Christian Van Der Pesch = Max Verstappen- Van Der Pesch was created for the sole purpose of being Verstappen except in a better car. Both are hard charging rookies with the potential of being multi-time champions

D.J. Kurtis = Denny Hamlin- Both are consistently inconsistent. Both drivers seem like they are very driven by their emotions and tend to have long streaks whether good or bad. These streaks tend to be very hard to break out of. Hence why both either have an amazing run of races, or a god awful one.

Vincent Allen = Clint Bowyer- Without the sheer amounts of hilarity, Allen and Bowyer like Kurtis and Hamlin are very streak driven.

Kenny Myatt = Sebastian Bourdais- Myatt’s personality (on and off track) are based on Sebastian Bourdais. Both are Road Course specialists who also specialize in mind tricks. Neither typically have a huge sense of humor either.

Henry Sandfer = Erik Jones- Both are young hot shots that have the potential to be the future of their sports.

Marien Schallrotte = Bobby Labonte- Both need to retire

Nathan Hudson = Robert Richardson- Both are virtually invisible on track

Jake Baskinger = Kyle Busch- Very similar driving style. Plus I always view Baskinger as being a tad arrogant (No offense of course)

Tylor Thaber = Rubens Barrichello- Both are inherently unlucky

Noah Hart = Cale Yarborough- One of the good old boys

Jacob Hart = David Pearson- One of the good old boys

Ike Durbin = Ryan Hunter-Reay- Dangerously fast when his car is good… Horrendously slow when it isn’t

Cody Llamas = Tony Kannan- Solid driver, but I have to wonder if he is close to hanging up the helmet

Treck Tauger = Micheal Waltrip- Both make statements that have me thinking, “What the hell is he talking about.”

Tanya Jackwater = Ricky Stenhouse Jr.- Both do not live up to the potential that their cars possess. However in the back of my head, I know they both have talent

Erin Perkins = Danica Patrick- Former models who both started their careers as merchandising tools. Except Perkins actually had the talent to back it up

Jessica Shelton = Simona Di Silvestro- Female drivers that actually have talent that sadly get overlooked by the fanbase

Toumas Sarrinen = Mika Hakkinen- Both are INCREDIBLY serious Finnish drivers

Kris Wascher = Brad Keselowski- Honestly because they are both from Michigan


Skyla Johnson = Scott Speed- FLAMBOYANCE

Andrew Cross = James Hinchcliffe- Have streaks of amazing results, coupled with terribad ones.

William Brock = Daniel Suarez- Both have shown they have speed, but commonly leave me questioning their high placement in the series.

Roman Rehall = Roman Grosjean- Their name, and the fact that neither of them are very consistent.

Nick Mace = Jimmie Johnson- Come on, they share the same bloody paint scheme.

Matt Duncan = Dale Earnhardt Jr.- I commonly view both these drivers as the most popular driver on the grid. Hence why I pushed for Duncan to get an AMP energy car.

Nico Pulyakov = Vitaly Petrov- Crazy Russian Communists

Kotone Nakagawa = Kamui Kobyashi- Crazy Japanese drivers

Ryan Griffin = Dale Earnhardt- The driver the rednecks love. Plus I could see Ryan Griffin moving someone out of the way to win a race.

Nick Perclies = Jacques Villeneuve- WILDLY INCONSISTANT! Either he is fast, or REALLY, REALLY SLOW.

Aurel Riucu & Tamur Delic = Jean Alesi & Gerhard Burger- Both went to multiple teams and remained teammates

Phaula Thenos = Pastor Maldanado – Both won, one race, then spend the rest of their careers being moving road blocks/crash-o-matic/dangerous nightmares on track

Michael Cavagnaro = Johnny Manziel- Okay, this one is a stretch, but both of their talent is inhibited by partying and the crappy team they work for.

Josh Travel = Mark Webber- Overshadowed by the other Australian

Allie Nelson = Lewis Hamilton- When I see them in a race I immediately pray for a mechanical ailment just so I can laugh at their failures

Kyle Shock Jr. = Joey Logano- Arrogant rookies who didn’t live up to expectations right away. But given time, will!

James Shelly = Scott Dixon- Captain consistency

Here are a few bonus ones-

Zachary Fitzwater = Will Power- Both tend to whine a lot, but still remain fast

Jeffery Finguy = Ayrton Senna- Both drivers taken from the world too soon. Both also have cult like fanbases that treat their driver as a Mary Sue and elevate them to the level of a divine spirit.

Sean Perkins = Tony Stewart- Both are fiery drivers that piss people off for their own enjoyment

I honestly cannot deny mine

Marien Schallrotte should retire... I agree with that.

I think Ehtisham Phadkar best compares to Sam Hornish Jr. Does great in the lower tier series but can't pull it off in the main tier series.

Can't deny Either..

Denny Hamlin is a realistic choice for me.

Marien Schallrotte = Bobby Labonte- Both need to retire

Well, I would have said Michael Schumacher but both work.

Treck Tauger = Micheal Waltrip- Both make statements that have me thinking, “What the hell is he talking about.”

What you talking about Willis?

Tanya Jackwater = Ricky Stenhouse Jr.- Both do not live up to the potential that their cars possess. However in the back of my head, I know they both have talent

That and being involved in incidents usually not of her own doing.

'Skyla Johnson = Scott Speed- FLAMBOYANCE'
'Phaula Thenos = Pastor Maldanado – Both won, one race, then spend the rest of their careers being moving road blocks/crash-o-matic/dangerous nightmares on track'

Okay, other than a fluke win and a somehow better Rallycar driver I have a few questions.

'Kyle Shock Jr. = Joey Logano- Arrogant rookies who didn’t live up to expectations right away. But given time, will!'

Next Season I hope. Hell, he won a race technically already this season. (If you call a qualifier that).

'Jeffery Finguy = Ayrton Senna- Both drivers taken from the world too soon. Both also have cult like fanbases that treat their driver as a Mary Sue and elevate them to the level of a divine spirit.'

...Blame the fans, Shock Jr. wants this to die already.

I'm honored that you think my guy is the Earnhardt of AES, but I don't really like the description that much, lol.

Though, I can't deny that my guy probably would move someone out the way to win.

f1fan wrote:Cooper Syron = Daniel Riccardo- Both are fast Australians stuck in subpar cars this season.

Hell yeah, I'm my favourite F1 driver! But seriously, you can't argue with that description...

Compared to IndyCar Driver who is also from the same Country I can Agree