The Setup: Part 1

The Setup: Part I

In iRacing, the car physics models are built to mirror actual vehicles. This means setups are a crucial aspect of clocking competitive laps. Generally, there are three ways to obtain a setup:

iRacing Base Setups: iRacing includes generic - High, Medium, and Low downforce setups, as well as specific configurations for the most common tracks.

Buying a Setup: As iRacing has evolved and become more competitive, fast and "no-hassle" professional setups have become a hot commodity.

Building Your Own: This requires a basic knowledge of engineering and physics—or, in my case, simply the desire to learn.

The Beginner:

Drivers typically start their journey in Fixed Setup races. These races are usually shorter—often lasting around 15 minutes—with no caution flags. If you wreck, you’d better get out of the way, because the race is going on with or without you. However, you have one fast repair. Just get to your pit box. Magically your car is brand new. Now you can just head back out on the track.

As a driver works their way up through the license classes (Rookie, D, C, B, and A), they begin to learn the handling and aerodynamic characteristics of different cars. Unlike a standard video game, there are massive differences between models. For example, the Mazda MX-5 Miata is slow to accelerate and lacks downforce, making it very unstable in the corners. Some drivers love this car because they find speed by pushing it to a "pre-drift" like state.

On the other hand, the Toyota GR86 features a rear wing and a sleeker profile, providing a higher top speed and much more grip through the corners. This car suits drivers like me who thrive on a stable, predictable balance and repetition. Whether you are racing Paved Oval, Dirt Oval, Dirt Road, Formula, or Sports Cars, the lower license classes (Rookie and D) exclusively feature fixed setups.

The Natural Progression:

Eventually, a driver reaches Class C, where the "Open Setup" is introduced. The races get longer—usually 30 to 45 minutes. This is where I unknowingly started my setup journey. The Advanced Street Stock series became the stepping stone to the ladder in stock car Racing. 

Unlike the lower classes, Class C does not allow "Quick Repairs." Your damage is permanent. You might sit in the pits for six minutes while the crew fixes the car just enough to limp back out. I’ve spent many races driving out of the groove with the steering wheel cocked 45 degrees to the left, just to finish the race. While I learned oval racecraft here, I felt trapped by drivers who couldn't handle their cars; I was constantly the victim of someone else's poor judgment, spending lap after lap under caution at 50 mph.

I decided it was time to move up the ladder to the Late Model Stock (LMS) car. It’s a sleek, low-slung, full-body stock car. It has a gnarly scream when you hit the rev limiter: 

RAAAATTTT, RAAAATTT, RAAAATTT. (side note. If it’s doing this, your setup needs an adjustment)

I spent a season in the Class D Late Model series at American short-track staples like Stafford Motor Speedway,CT, South Boston, VA, Five Flags, FL, and The Bullring, NV. For the first time, I could actually feel the tires wearing out. I could run flat-out for 10 laps and build a lead, but by lap 20, they were catching me, and by lap 50, they were lapping me. I had to learn to conserve tires to bring home Top 5 and Top 10 finishes.

Eventually, I joined the Late Model Stock "Open Setup" category. These races were 75 to 125 laps. Because LMS racing is a specific path, the drivers in Class C Open were much more respectful. The "bozos" were gone, and we weren't driving under caution endlessly. It was great—except for one detail: my competitors were running well-crafted setups made specifically for the track, the time of day, and even the forecasted temperatures. iRacing’s weather models change by the minute, and my fixed setups were so slow in comparison that I spent several races just riding around the outside to stay out of everyone’s way. I needed a better car.

To Buy or To Build:

I had a decision to make. Setups aren't sold by iRacing; you have to go through third-party shops. They typically cost $15.00 per track or $25.00 for a monthly subscription. I’m frugal, so there was no way in hell I was paying that. I decided to learn to build my own.

For sports car enthusiasts, there’s a common belief that oval racing is "easy" because you’re just turning left. They think it’s just hitting the gas and brakes at the right time. No, no, no, my friend. I have actually found when building sports car setups there’s more time to be gained than ovals, but we will circle back to that another time. It was time to learn the LMS.

If at First You Don’t Succeed...

After a few failed testing sessions, I tapped into my biggest resource: my friend Carl. Carl is the kind of guy who can take three junk cars of the same model and turn them into one masterpiece (while keeping the other two for "future plans").

When I asked if I should stiffen a spring or raise the front-right ride height, he gave me the "Reader's Digest shortened condensed version” of his grandfather's philosophy . Here’s what I took from that conversation:

 If I have a barstool with three legs longer than the fourth, it’s not going to end well. It’s all about the tires making as much contact with the track while balancing all four corners of the car.

It made sense. In oval racing, you need every corner of the car gripping the track to do its part. Using iRacing’s replay system to adjust camera angles on multiple axes, I could was able to see how my changes affected the car's attitude entering and exiting the corner. Lateral movements and chassis roll could be reviewed frame by frame.

Try, Try Again:

I eventually built a setup that yielded a Top 5 finish at The Bullring in Las Vegas. Thrilled, I set out to build the next one, but it didn’t take long for reality to set in: I didn't have enough time to build those top 5 setups like I did for The Bull Ring.

Each week the track was different: different banking, different surfaces, and different weather. I would make a camber adjustment and run 15 laps to see the effect, then make another change and run another 15, only to find I’d gone in the wrong direction.

My prior knowledge that "just turning left" isn't effortless and that fact had begun to shine through. Turning left and having a fast setup is the result of years of engineering knowledge. Knowledge shared among mechanics that is soaked up and innovated by the next generation. In oval racing, you are hunting for thousandths of a second because the margins to be gained are so small.

I realized I couldn't build every setup from scratch in a single season. So I had to adopt a new mentality: “manage expectations”. I happily finished each race left in that 12-week season because I managed my expectations. This became the credo for all my racing in 2025. A Top 10 in season points in my division was a satisfying end to my LMS career. I couldn't do it all, but I was happy with the results.You see, Failure isn’t an end, it’s an opportunity to reflect on your shortcomings and a guide to where your future should be.

Going Down a Different Road:

If you’ve read my earlier articles, you know I was also on a journey toward endurance racing in early 2025. The stock car path was an important part of what led me to the endurance sports car side of iRacing. It wouldn’t take me long to realize that I should learn to build sports car setups.

Look for Part II of "The Setup" in the coming weeks.