So, you’re probably asking yourself, “What the heck is Charli talking about with this sim racing stuff?”

Well, I’ll tell you. Remember that cool “Atari Sprint” game in the clubhouse at Stafford? You know, the one where you stood up and looked at the screen and spun the steering wheel to “dirt track” that little indy car around the corners of a track that looked like a mini-trenton?

Sim Racing is a lot like that, but cooler. First, you build yourself a graphic-intensive computer that can handle a lot of high end graphics. Then, you scour EBay for a used (or new) copy of an out-of-print racing sim that’s now 4 years old called “NASCAR Racing 2003 Season” by Papyrus. Then, plunk down another couple hundred for a really good steering wheel that clamps to your desk and you’re ready to take a few laps.

Back in 2004, a group known as “Project Wildfire” took over where Papyrus left off. They were a group of developers, artists and sim guru’s who opened a bunch of code in the sim to add the truck series and the grand national series to a sim that only offered the cup cars. When that group were all hired by John Henry’s group (now known as iRacing) they left a huge back door open to the sim community to edit the sim to their heart’s content.

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…from the Speedway Expo. Not enough to warrant an article, so here they get thrown…

It was nice to see such a large contingent of drivers on hand for the BES/WMT Autograph session. Expect to see photos up later from our photographer, Ed Martin.

Jimmy Blewett says that if has wheels, he’ll drive it. On his plate for this upcoming season is his Tour ride with TS Haulers, an SK ride, and a Legend’s ride…among others.

Speaking of Jimmy’s, Jimmy Broderick will be campaigning an SK at Waterford. This may not seem like anything out of the ordinary, but this isn’t the Jimmy Broderick that Tour fans are familiar with - no, this Jimmy Broderick is the next generation, 17 year old “Bubba” Broderick.

I’m fortunate to be able to deal with some truly spectacular people at the various venues the Tour goes to race and I was reminded of that again today. Thank you, my nameless contemporary, for reinforcing my faith and always being willing to go above and beyond in an attempt to help us out. I told you today, but I’ll repeat it here as well - you assistance is greatly appreciated.

That’s it from here…

Webgeek…off-duty.

In the wake of the Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night I have a thought to share. It seemed as though the entire evening revolved around the concerns of “Global Climate Change” what had been previously referred to as global warming. Aren’t these the same band of people who reached out to us thirty years ago chanting “NO NUKES”.

All of this rhetoric seemed to point the blame at me. Not just me, but all the me’s and you’s around the country. We drive cars. We’re bad. We use power that is generated by fossil fuel, we’re bad. We support auto racing. My goodness there needs to be an intervention!

Had we progressed with nuclear power over the past three decades, we wouldn’t have been polluting our atmosphere with so much carbon dioxide from burning coal to provide electricity. Electricity, you know what I’m talking about; it’s what powers our clocks, laptops and desk lamps. Without electricity it’s pretty hard to watch a movie in a theater. It would also be pretty difficult to make a movie without electricity.

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So…you’ve stumbled across this page. And you’re wondering - what in the world are the guys and gals at Mod Series Scene up to this time? What in the world is this whole “Turn Left” page?

Well - here’s your answer.

Turn Left is a blog that will be utilized by the various MSS staff members when they’ve got something to say, or something to share, that just doesn’t quite justify a full article. Not familiar with blogs? Think of them as a more seat of the pants type approach of relaying information onward to you, the general public.

With the 2007 season fast approaching, and more expanded Southern Modified coverage coming courtesy of Charli Brown, it’s going to be an exciting year.

Stay tuned!