51视频

03/01/2024
By Brooke Coupal

After 500 grueling miles traveling at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour, NASCAR driver William Byron came out victorious at the Daytona 500 in Florida on Feb. 19.

Unlike most drivers who learn the fundamentals of racing by getting behind the wheel of a car, Byron gained his initial skills through iRacing, a motorsport racing simulator. Computer science alum Randy Cassidy 鈥�86, 鈥�90 is the mastermind behind the simulation鈥檚 back-end infrastructure.

鈥淭here are fans of racing who want to experience what it鈥檚 like to be their favorite driver, and that鈥檚 something you get with this simulation,鈥� said Cassidy, iRacing鈥檚 principal software engineer. He and iRacing Executive Vice President Steve Myers recently spoke about the company鈥檚 success during a Sports Collaborative for Open Research and Education聽(SCORE) event at Alumni Hall on North Campus.

Image by Brooke Coupal

All that is needed to race in the simulation is a computer and an iRacing subscription, allowing anybody to experience the thrill of race-car driving from the comfort of their homes.聽

Online racing has been gaining in popularity as the technology has continued to improve. According to one industry estimate, the racing simulation market is expected to grow from $500 million in 2024 to $1.1 billion by 2030.聽

iRacing also appeals to professional drivers, such as Byron and Dale Earnhardt Jr., due to the realistic nature of the simulation. The company, which is headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, goes to racetracks around the world and uses a laser scanner to get every detail of the tracks, from the paint lines to curves. They then take this data and program it into the simulation to create realistic replicas of the tracks.

Image by Brooke Coupal

One track that iRacing has replicated is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana. Myers recalled an IndyCar Series driver testing out the simulation for that track when he abruptly pulled over just after exiting the pit road, where cars go to get adjustments during races.

鈥淗e looked at me and was like, 鈥業 cannot believe that you guys have the bump at the end of pit road. Only IndyCar drivers know about this bump,鈥欌�� Myers said. 鈥淭his guy didn鈥檛 even get off pit road before he validated the technology that we鈥檝e developed.鈥�

Cassidy takes pride in the technology, which he has been working on long before joining iRacing at its inception in 2004. He previously spent 10 years as a senior software engineer for the now-defunct computer game developer Papyrus Design Group. There, Cassidy developed artificial intelligence software that enabled computer opponents to operate within racing simulation games. The co-founder of Papyrus, Dave Kaemmer, went on to co-found iRacing with John Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox. They purchased back the technology created at Papyrus and used it as a base for iRacing.

Image by Brooke Coupal

鈥淚n addition to all the theory that you learn in the computer science program, you get a lot of hands-on experience; I鈥檝e found that that鈥檚 really essential,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he education I got at 51视频 was instrumental in doing computer science in industry.鈥�

First-year computer science student Chris Nguyen says it was exciting to see what Cassidy did with his degree.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so cool to see the product he built,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 great to hear from someone who went to 51视频 and is now in a high position within their company.鈥�