Dogpark Racing Enters PCA Sim Racing Series 6!

Around the start of the COVID pandemic I purchased some used Fanatec driving simulation equipment, built up a rig, and joined a fun group of mostly Porsche 944 racers in iRacing. Big thanks to fellow 944 driver Josh Vieira for selling me his old sim stuff, and for inviting me to join “Quarantine Cup”, an informal group of (mostly) Porsche 944 racers who built an entire online racing series on iRacing during the pandemic shutdown.

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Here’s my rig, except now it features triple 27” screens and a fourth screen for monitoring Discord and other pony applications.

“Q-Cup Racing”, as it’s now known, is now an informal team of racers that participates in Porsche Club of America’s Sim Racing programs. PCASimRacing.com

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PCA is now running its 6th season of sim races which are broadcast on YouTube with professional commentators and race marshals. Series 6 begins Wednesday April 28 and runs every Wednesday night for eight weeks.

In Series 5, I ran a Porsche Cayman in the Dogpark Racing livery, and finished 5th overall for the season.

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Series 6 features the “RUF RT-12 Track” car (a highly tuned Porsche 997 with over 600 horsepower). I will be running this series in a fresh, bold livery that is instantly recognizable on the broadcast.

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Check out my races and enjoy the show! I’ve been promoted to SPORT class for Series 6!

THE SPORT class race begins at 8:45pm on Wednesday nights.



Goodbye, Niles

This morning we said goodbye to Niles the Beagle, a Nervous Little Dog. We don't know when exactly he was born, but within a year or two, he found his way into a rescue shelter, and from there he was adopted by an active family in Northern Virginia. Unfortunately within three or four years dad had to deploy to a war zone, daughter had to deploy to college, and mother wasn't a dog person. So at the age of about five, Niles needed a new family.

He found me through a workplace classified. He came to my house and immediately began to run around the yard. This made me happy. So I decided to fence it in so other dogs could run with him. And that, as we all know, took on a life of its own.

Niles was always the police dog of the dogpark. If anyone was having too much fun or showing too much aggression, Niles would jump in and break it up, no matter how big the dogs were. He loved to run with certain dogs (Beans, Clark). Others he swore he'd kill if he had the chance (sadly, Moby). And he barely tolerated Cousin Archie. I always said, "If it wasn't his dogpark, Niles wouldn't be invited."

Niles was protective of me... He had run-ins with certain friends of the family, as well as the odd real estate agent. He would get them in the calf from behind as if to say, "...and STAY OUT!!" In his later years he mellowed out quite a bit. But we never fully trusted him around strangers, especially when I was around.

Niles was above all a Good Dog... certainly as Beagles go. He didn't dig, chew, jump up, escape, run away, or bark excessively. He never had an accident in the house, at least not until lately. He sought out petting and he always checked on me when I wasn't feeling well. He accepted affection from others... usually. And he brought many friends to the yard.

Goodbye, Niles.

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VIDEO: Dogpark Jan/Feb 2015

I've been gathering video over a couple dogpark sessions in the front yard, and we've really had a lot of fun in the late snows here in the neighborhood.

When I do a video, I start with the music. I find something interesting  and distinctive on Soundcloud, Free Music Archive, or some other site that features lots of creative commons licensed music. Then I think about what story would go with that music. Usually, what comes out in video doesn't quite match up to what I had in mind, due to lack of the exact footage I'm looking for.

Nancy is always pleased with her stick.

Nancy is always pleased with her stick.

It takes patience to find all the footage, to isolate the good parts, and to time it with the music. And I've learned a couple other techniques - slowing the frame rate, for example, that can really help fit the action to the beat. But that takes time and patience, and sometimes I run out.

So here you go. Enjoy my hasty job. I think it's fun all the same.

Dogpark Racing / Dogpark Productions Music: Pride (Happy Theme) by Rameses B is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. (Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0))