Gates Mills native Wyatt Gooden wins an online racing simulation contest, and now he's trying to master the real thing.
LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Wyatt Gooden offers a good example of how to use modern technology to advance a career.In 2009, the Gates Mills native topped 1,163 competitors to win an online racing simulator contest that ultimately earned him a ride in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series for this season.
Along with a spot in the series comes the realization of how much work and travel is involved. This week, the fifth race of the season, the stop is at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as part of the Grand-Am Racing weekend. And that suits Gooden just fine.
Where: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio.
When: Races today and Sunday.
TV: 5 p.m. today, Speed Channel.
Feature race: EMCO Gears Classic today; 2 hours, 45 minutes, timed event.
Events: Rolex Daytona Prototype and GT; Continental Tire (Grand Sport and Street Tuner); VW Jetta Cup; Ford Mustang Challenge, ARCA Truck Series.
Course: Permanent road-racing circuit with two primary configurations: a 2.4-mile, 15-turn, and a 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit.
Tickets, details: 1-800-Mid-Ohio or midohio.com
-- Elton Alexander
"This is nice being home," Gooden, 21, said this week. "All the other races have been so far away. This is definitely nice being just over an hour away [from the track]."
Yet, that has not been the biggest eye-opener for the neophyte race driver. He has discovered a world the iRacing.com online simulator racing series could not fully prepare him for.
"It's been a huge learning experience, coming from the simulated to the real life deal," Gooden said.
"The first race was my first car race, ever. I'd raced go-karts, stuff before, but never any car racing. Coming into it, I didn't know what to expect. But after the first race, I realized there is a lot to learn. I wasn't comfortable with the brakes and how the car handled. Definitely, everything was not how it was on the simulator, that's for sure."
He suffered some car damage in his first race, "and I learned my lesson there," Gooden said. Since then, he has qualified well and finished well, although he has yet to win.
"We have four rookies in our top 10, and he has been our top rookie," said Peter Calhoun, VW Program and Special Projects manager. "He had a podium [third-place] finish in our last race, and I don't think he's been lower than fifth since the first of the season."
But that does not mean Gooden has completed his learning curve on the track.
"Definitely the whole feel of it, the G-forces. You feel the fatigue, the dust. They don't give you that in the simulator," Gooden said. "I will say the I-racing did help me learn how to race a front-wheel drive car. It's a big momentum game. You have to be real smooth with it. You use the steering wheel as little as possible, and race with the brakes."
Yet another thing a simulator can't give, is the feel and sensation of having other cars and drivers around you on the track.
"That was an adjustment to get used to," Gooden admitted. "I think it was the third race when I got a good lesson racing in traffic. By far this is the biggest racing I've ever done. It's awesome to be this competitive."
On the pole: In the elite Rolex Grand-Am Series, Memo Rojas led five drivers past the speed record of 104.372 mph to land the pole for today's race. Rojas toured the track in 104.856 mph.
Ricky Taylor, 20, dominated most of the day, but Rojas bumped him to second. Burt Frisselle, Jon Fogerty and Brian Frisselle also topped the previous record.
In Grand-Am Continental qualifying, Matt Bell led the way at 86.813 mph in his Camaro in the Grand Sports division with Jack Roush Jr. (Ford Mustang GT) second at 86.808. In Street Tuner qualifying, David White (BMW) was quickest at 83.633 mph followed by Paul Gerrard (BMW) at 83.526.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: ealexander@plaind.com, 216-999-4253