With the progression of technology in the motorsports world, the concept of a simulator has become a commonplace practice for most drivers, regardless of the racing series. A simulator, or a sim, helps a driver better prepare for a racetrack, a racecar or simply practice on different setups. However, Kyle Larson can do without it.
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The Hendrick Motorsports driver recently hammered in the point that he simply does not like sitting in a simulator. Larson reasoned why that is the case and revealed why his recent INDYCAR sim experience was an exception.
Kyle Larson isn’t a fan of the simulator
During a press interaction ahead of this Sunday’s race at Martinsville, when a reporter mentioned something along the lines of the word ‘sim’, Larson ticked off immediately, claiming, “I don’t get in the SIM. I don’t ever get in a sim. I had to get in a sim this week for post-Homestead stuff, but no, I don’t ever get in [a sim].”
“Why? Why? It’s just gonna screw me up. I don’t ever get in a sim.”
The 2021 Cup champion claimed he simply isn’t comfortable with that when he gets in it, it feels like he’s “re-learning how to drive,” and that the whole experience doesn’t feel like a Next Gen Cup car to him.
Having said that, Larson understands its importance for other drivers as he continued, “The other drivers, they live by it, it just doesn’t suit my driving style, my eyes, my brain, my butt. I get frustrated more than anything in there, and I don’t learn anything. I go to the track and second-guess everything, so that’s why I don’t do it.”
When a reporter asked him if he got in the sim for his INDYCAR preparations with McLaren a few weeks ago, Larson emphasized, “Yeah, but that was a new situation and you would all probably assume that the simulator would feel real but it doesn’t.”
Even Michael Jordan tried his hand at NASCAR in a simulator
Earlier this year, 23XI Racing’s co-owner Denny Hamlin revealed that his business partner, the great Michael Jordan, tried his hand at the simulator as well. And of course, it went as well as you could imagine “He did it once, but it was the simulator at TRD,” Hamlin said on his podcast show Actions Detrimental.
“That content has not been released, nor will it probably ever be released because good luck trying to get them to approve it. But he wanted to feel what we feel, and so Toyota set it up and our team set it up for him to get in the Toyota simulator.”
Hamlin revealed how Jordan had a problem holding down the racecar on the bottom. But just after 15 minutes, he was done with the experience, claiming he felt “so dizzy.”
This prompted the NBA legend to quit, which just goes to show that sim racing isn’t for everyone, be it out of preference for someone like Kyle Larson, or out of a skill perspective, for someone like Michael Jordan.
