55/65PLUS FunFellowship
I am a Christian Chaplain for Team RFC (Christian Motorsports). I am responsible for serving the iRacing motorsports community for Team RFC. I am also a Series Administrator with the Racing for Jesus Motorsports League and will serve as the League Organizer for this new series. I am a Born-Again Evangelical Christian (with a Presbyterian-Reformed/Bible Student background). I have real life professional racing experience at high levels in SCCA (Trans-Am and Formula Cars) as well as NASCAR. I love racing. I hate fighting.
Team RFC's "Motto" is also mine:
“Cars are our Passion, People are our Purpose.”
RFJ Motorsport's "Motto" is also mine as well:
“Jesus First, Racing Second"
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So, the new Racing Series will run as Hosted iRacing events, held once a week at 12:00 Noon Eastern (New York) Time on Tuesdays. (6:00PM Milan Time) We will open the session 15 minutes earlier (11:45) to allow for 15 minutes of "fellowship". This will include a Christian Prayer/Invocation. 10 minute practice will start at 12:00 followed by a two lap qualifying session. Generally the first race will start at 12:15. Most races will be around 15 minutes. Immediately after the end of the first race, another "Second Chance" hosted session will open, eligible for all but the top three finishers in the first race. 10 minute practice, two lap qualifying, and another (second) 15 minute race. Points and prizes will be awarded based on the driver's best finish in either of the two races.
The car will be the Mazda MX5 (2015 and 2016 versions) which is/are included for no extra charge in iRacing membership. Starting in 2020 S1, we will run 12 races in each season---10 road races and 2 oval tracks all on tracks included at no extra charge in iRacing Membership. We will follow the Sim Lab Production Car Challenge except for the 2 oval track races.
Drivers that are age 65 or older will drive the 2016 Global Mazda MX5 in Division 1. Drivers that are in the age range of 55-64 will drive the MX5 Cup -2015 and will be in Division 2. Setups will be open but a "tested baseline" will be shared by the League Organizer (Donald Strout) who will race, but will not earn points, official position, or prize money. Separate championship points standings will be maintained for each Division. The "prize pool" for the first season is $500, donated by the League Organizer. Details for how that will be distributed will be announced at a later date.
To race in this series, you will have to be invited or accepted after applying for membership in the 55/65PLUS FunFellowship League (See iRacing League Directory). As a pre-condition, you will have to be first invited or accepted after applying for membership in the Racing for Jesus Motorsports League and/or a member in good standing in that league.
You do not need to be a born again Christian to race. You simply need to drive as fast as you can while maintaining control, and DO NO HARM TO OTHERS. You also need to control your temper and speech. You should recognize however that "fellowship" for evangelical Christians will include open prayer (for the welfare of others) and praise testimony as well as the sharing of scripture from the Holy Bible. Many league members will be evangelical Christians. All participants shall be required to show respect for this type of fellowship.
Remember the goal of this series is FUN AND FELLOWSHIP. HAVE FUN AND MAKE FRIENDS!
Background
To race in this series, you will have to be invited or accepted after applying for membership in the 55/65PLUS FunFellowship League (See iRacing League Directory). As a pre-condition, you will have to be first invited or accepted after applying for membership in the Racing for Jesus Motorsports League and/or a member in good standing in that league.
You do not need to be a born again Christian to race. You simply need to drive as fast as you can while maintaining control, and DO NO HARM TO OTHERS. You also need to control your temper and speech. You should recognize however that "fellowship" for evangelical Christians will include open prayer (for the welfare of others) and praise testimony as well as the sharing of scripture from the Holy Bible. Many league members will be evangelical Christians. All participants shall be required to show respect for this type of fellowship.
Remember the goal of this series is FUN AND FELLOWSHIP. HAVE FUN AND MAKE FRIENDS!
Several years ago, soon after forming Team RFC @ iRacing, and proudly displaying the Team RFC Logo running in the Indycar Elite League, I formed a racing league named 60+ Racing Adventures. It became quite successful and was well supported by a large group of over 60 year old drivers--racing the Pro Mazda and the FR2.0. We broadcast many of the races on RaceSpot.TV. I became a bit disappointed when the level of competition became a bit too agressive for my taste, and not IMHO, consistent with the Love Thy Neighbor message. I turned the league over to others and it is still very successful and popular. With a couple of exceptions, all of the drivers are really nice people, just many of them are perhaps putting the importance of winning, and "battling" in front of the their love for others.
One of the challenges of having fun in iRacing, especially for evangelical Christians, is dealing with the "worldly" view that competition is a zero sum "I Win-You Lose" game. The 60+ Racing Adventure league attempted to address this issue by limiting participants to mature, older drivers so physical abilities were more balanced and hopefully the drivers with a bit more emotional maturity. Still, it is very hard to maintain a Love Thy Neighbor as Yourself attitude when trying to steal the corner from your competitor by dive bombing and/or making contact---or by intentionally "pressuring" or distracting a driver with intimidating "head games" to force an error. The essence of Love Thy Neighbor while racing....go as fast as you can to finish ahead of your competitor/s without doing harm to him/them. As the famous olympic champion Eric Liddell said (portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire) "I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure." God is delighted when men compete for the purpose of having fun and displaying their talent when they do so with humility while helping, not harming others.
After leaving the 60+ Racing Adventures, I made additional attempts by forming a "Fair Chance" racing league running Time Trials and using a special split/staggered starting grid running GT cars. Reasonably successful, but still falling short of my ideal "Fun and Fellowship" goal. I also agreed to help out my friend, Luca Varani who was organizing the very successful iGPFun League by serving as an Admin person. Luca is dedicated to serving others, as I am, but I did not enjoy the very competitive and aggressive driving--perhaps in part because I simply could not compete with the excellent younger drivers!
I encourage all Christian Team RFC and RFJ drivers of all ages to participate in all iRacing series--to be "Light in a Dark World"--setting a good example--showing tha world that racing can be fun, whether one wins or not, and you can Love Your Neighbor as Yourself while participating in iRacing.
But, in addition, I see Seniors over the age of 55 as prime candidates for a racing series built especially for racing enthusiasts that are Christians (or who are considering being Christians) who understand that life on earth has an end, and that how we live on earth is important as it does affect our eternal life in Heaven. And most importantly, that the Gospel is to be proclaimed and celebrated in all our activities. (BTW--What is the Gospel? Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died to pay the price for mankind's rebellion against God and that He rose from the dead. Follow him by loving God and others and your spirit will be born again and you will recieive everlasting life on earth and in Heaven--and you will be changed. There is nothing in the Gospel about having to be "religious" following a lot of man made rules.)
I have driven most of the cars in iRacing since joining in 2014. I love open wheel formula cars as well as the high horsepower GT cars. But, the little Mazda is fun to drive. Since it runs on street tires, the grip is more predictable. Since it also runs without wings and lots of downforce, finding the "limit" is easier. (Exceeding the limit still has consequences!) It is also more forgiving of most mistakes with the exception of entering the corner too fast. It rewards the careful and punishes the too agressive driver. An ideal car for the 65+ driver. It usually requires use of a clutch to shift making it more interesting. (Auto Clutch is available. I use Auto Blip that allows me to left foot brake and shift without a clutch.) It is fun to drive on road courses, but is also a remarkably good performer on ovals, giving one a chance to experience Nascar type drafting.
The 2016 Global Mazda MX5 is slightly faster (400 pounds lighter but with 15 less HP and higher gearing) than the MX5 Cup 2015. The older 65+ drivers will get the faster car. This should help to make the competition on track a bit more fair and fun The 55-64 year olds do have faster reflexes. In any case, positions and points in each Division will be more important than overall finishing position.
Again, the goal of the new series is to have FUN AND FELLOWSHIP. HAVE FUN AND MAKE FRIENDS! Fun and fair competition for drivers beyond the age that would allow them to serve as a USAF fighter pilot or NASA astronaut, but still young enough to enjoy racing. (Don't forget that Paul Newman sat on the Pole at age 80 at a GT1 (Corvette) SCCA event.)
