MOORHEAD- Tightening his grip on the steering wheel GrecKen Castillo remains at an even 50 MPH as he and 40 other NASCAR drivers follow behind the pace car. Castillo’s foot feels for the accelerator, slowly adding more and more pressure on the pedal of his driving rig. Coming up on a tight left turn the Concordia Junior braces his forearms for the artificial resistance of his steering wheel.
The beginning of this race marks the incorporation of iRacing within Concordia Esports and the first time the college is represented in simulated racing. A small but quickly growing global sport popularized by its realistic driving conditions.
Even though Castillo is currently the only racer representing Concordia, he is part of a very meager group of simulated racers located in the Midwest with around only 400 drivers operating nationally.
“iRacing is not just a game It’s a simulator with a competitive side.” Said Castillo. “You gotta understand the world, the motorsport world. There’s a lot of mentality and physicality to it, because it takes a lot of effort, mentally and physically.”
An International student from Costa Rica Castillo’s love for Esports stems back to when he was 15 forming his first squad to participate in gaming tournaments.
“I participated in three tournaments, from 2017 to 2020, and out of those three tournaments I won two. I won one in my squad and another in duos. That was my first time with something related to Esports.” Said Castillo.
Growing up in Costa Rico, Castillo worked with his father a mechanic learning about engines eventually where he realized his passion for motor sports.
“All the knowledge I have about cars is because I was watching how he drives, how he fixes the cars, when he talks about them, like all the mechanisms of a car. It’s because I always liked listening to him,” said Castillo.
Fighting the nerves of his first race, Castillo continues to gain speed his digital Toyota Tundra biding its time carefully choosing when to overtake his fellow racers.
Mirroring the same physics as in real NASCAR ,Castillo uses the method of drafting, driving mere feet behind his opponent’s bumper to avoid wind resistance. However, the smallest nudge from either car can send both drivers spinning out.
Quickly merging, Castillo overtakes his opponent suddenly a collision a couple of cars ahead sends a Toyota hurling toward Castillo’s hood. Jerking his wheel left he can stabilize the vehicle despite the artificial g-force simulated in his steering wheel.
Each iRacing steering wheel is connected to a motor called a direct driving wheel which replicates friction or turbulence using magnetism.
“There is no kind of help. There is no traction control it’s just the driver trying to control that beast of a car.” Said Castillo.
Despite his extensive knowledge behind the wheel, it may surprise some to learn that Castillo 22, does not own a driver’s license.
“I started this without having a driver’s license. I was like, I don’t think I need a driver’s license to start this. It’s just digital. I can just do It, there’s nothing that’s going to stop me now here I am,” said Castillo.
The road to get to this point has been anything but easy and even less cheap. Castillo admits that so far he has invested around $1,500 on his current equipment alone.
This includes: wheels and direct driving motor, pedals, gear shift, the seat and metal frame connecting all the hardware. All this assumes that the person interested already has access to a monitor. In a sport as competitive and technologically dependent as Sim Racing keeping equipment current and up to date is the baseline.
His advice to others looking to join the sport is to be sure its something they really want to invest their time in.
“I was really interested in racing but I didn’t start because it was expensive, but I truly wanted it to happen, so I started like, saving up money, saving up money, little by little,” said Castillo.
In hopes to spark interest, Castillo has made his personal equipment accessible to any member of the Esports team interested in joining his iRacing league.
“It would be great if we could get help for the Esports lab to get like this kind of equipment, you know. But first it would be great to show results before we go into that” Castillo said.
Backing Castillo is esports head coach Owen West who is always willing to consider new additions to the gaming program“
“I talked to him about it, I saw his passion,” said West.” Often players don’t get the chance to show off who they are and all the time they put into something. And I think it’s a great platform for that.
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