Weird, wacky, wonderful Thunderhill is this weekend - MotorSportsTalk

It’s very rare in modern racing you hear of “racing for the sake of racing.” But with the 2013 season largely in the books, championships decided, top-10 lists written and all the rest, it’s rare you get as close to a pure event full of “run what you brung” machinery that runs the gamut from jalopies to supercars.

Welcome to the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. It’s weird, it’s wacky, it’s windy, and it’s wonderful.

Nearly 250 drivers from more than 60 teams are entered for the NASA-sanctioned endurance race in Northern California. It’s not as formal as the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, which is still laid back but arguably has way more on the line as one of club racing’s top events. What it is, is an abnormal test of man, machine, cold temperatures and limited lighting with a mash up of cars you wouldn’t think could be possible to all run on one track at the same time.

Supercars like the Audi R8, fielded by Pirelli World Challenge team GMG Racing, Lexus IS and Porsche GT3 Cups are entered. There are newer model cars, like the Mazda6, Acura ILX or Ford Mustang Boss 302S.

Then there are the wacky: There’s, and I’m not making this up, No. 66 Chevy Silverado truck entered by a team called “ColdCock Whiskey Silverado” (similar to the one pictured right). A bunch of old Miatas and RX-7s are there. Radical SR3 prototypes, Panoz GTS sports cars, BMW M3s and Honda Fits. All together.

Among the drivers entered? There’s two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Al Unser Jr., racing with son Al III, in a Wolf GB08S prototype. Memo Gidley, Anthony Lazzaro, Naoki Hattori, Frisselle brothers Burt and Brian and drift star Tyler McQuarrie are among the familiar names to race fans you’ll see in action this weekend. Others who have competed in PWC – James Sofronas, Jon Miller and Alex Welch to name a few – will also be on hand.

A full rundown of the teams entered and drivers entered are linked here. Match the “Team #” for drivers to see which team they will be racing with.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”