Victory Lap: How Sim Racing's Forgotten Champion Returned 20 Years Later

[@KevinKing29]

It’s nice to get all the comments. I think I’ve always had stories I could tell and was super appreciative that Justin reached out. I think when you look back it’s pretty amazing how far sim racing has come and what kind of opportunities it’s been able to bring people. From friends to jobs to racing aspirations, it is definitely a special place when you take a step back and just look at what it has tuned into. I know when I was running a wheel that had a bungee cord for tension to running a DD wheel now and experiencing the huge difference in emersion that we couldn’t even fathom back then is wild. I’ve met so many great people over the years and I can honestly say without this part of my life I wouldn’t have experienced some awesome moments. Thank you again Justin and I’m looking forward to the next piece you make.

[@jmustianjr]

As someone who turned laps with you in the old Papy days, then again in the SIM500 races, this was a really cool video to see. Glad to see you back on track, Kevin!

[@FloridaManRacer]

I can still remember buying the OSR TV DVD's back then. I ended up knowing one of the production guys, Matt Thomas. I ended up down the line working a lot of the same tracks irl as him as a writer. We'd keep up conversations on the league and talk about it during race nights at some dirt track in NY lol. Wild to see what people went on to do like you with the paint schemes for Dale, Matt with the real life videography work he's done with his dad, me getting to be a credentialed media member for the 2019 Daytona 500 out of building relationships that started from that league. It's wild to think how a 'game' facilitated all that stuff to happen. Even for people who weren't racing in it lol.

[@dylanwhitmire7433]

Love your cat in the background

[@duanedrummond9361]

We need more videos from you maybe even streams???

[@TheDj4088]

Cool to see a doc on your career! The handful of times I beat you or Chris or Dale in pickup races or in the Justracin league back in the day are still some of my best memories from sim racing. And great to see you can still teach the kids a thing or two on the track.

[@nihontiger]

Very cool to see Justin making a mini-documentary on Kevin, who's still regularly active on iRacing and lapping me in FTF Cup races

[@speedyleedy3828]

Hell yea

[@justinkrizenesky]

I somehow beat Kevin in A Fixed or A Open at Charlotte in 2015 or 2016, I forget. He must've had an off day. Couldn't believe it, but it's one of the coolest things I've done. He's a superstar.

[@DJYeeJay]

Washed Kevin era 🤣 jkjk

[@thetechfromheaven]

I beat Tony Stewart back in 2017 in the Miatas at Lime Rock and the Ford 2000's at Suzuka. He defeated me in the GT Cadillacs tho. He happened to be new to iRacing, and we were grinding licenses at the same time. When everyone in the lobbies realized he was the Real Tony, everyone tried to wreck him or started yelling obscene stuff, look it up it's uploaded here on KZbin 😂 People used to ask him a lot of stuff and he always answered and cheered you if you raced him hard and clean. That's how I learnt that he used a logitech momo for a while since despite being recently retired, he was still "managing a NASCAR team so he needed a compact wheel to lug around". Later he upgraded to a thrustmaster, I think he even got a sponsorship deal going on for SHR

[@therealf.b.i9468]

I beat Max Verstappen (I'm Jos)

[@thetechfromheaven]

@@therealf.b.i9468 💀👋

[@alexojideagu]

I beat Michael Jordan on the beach, I took him to the hole baby. He asked me why I don't play Summer league. That sh** might mess up my game, and we can't have that

[@AdamB5000]

I remember racing Kevin in NR4-NR2003. It's almost remarkable that some of us have been racing at our computers, online, for nearly 30 years.

[@scarfo]

If you were part of the Indycar Racing master race it is 30 years!

[@00Tickford00]

@@scarfo Where's the GPL gang?

[@Derping098]

Knowing that Denny has not changed in 20 years is somehow the least surprising part of all of this

[@trailerparkdude]

Makes me feel old. I ran a few races with Kevin King on NR2003. He was feared back then and rightly so!

[@BulldogSp33d]

It's crazy seeing names like Herman Reiss and Jeff Czupta, and knowing those guys still race on NR2003 to this day. They might not have been major contenders for wins back then, but 20 years later they're two of the best and most highly respected guys around the community.

[@thetechfromheaven]

Josh Berry racing against the guy who he designed one of the cars of the guy he replaced in his later team 🗿

[@SDCVT4U]

Dude you continue to blow my mind with the production value of these videos. I dont drive oval much but I 100% credit you for getting me into iRacing. Keep it up I’m loving the content!

[@DJYeeJay]

I’m really not a skilled editor so that means that world to me

[@Aaron25thinfantry]

@@DJYeeJayit’s the hard work and passion. Your videos are great

[@OpBrix]

@@DJYeeJay How much did you pay for your PC? I want to get it, but I’m not sure what to buy

[@TracksideViews]

Sim racing documentaries are 🔥

[@jmustianjr]

A little bit of a follow up- Kevin is participating in races with the SIM500 esports league, where he has been pretty successful!! We are 8 races in, he has 5 poles, 5 top fives, 6 top 10s, and 2 wins, and leading the points. Us old guys do still know how to race ;)

[@aaronthomas6155]

As of tonight, he has 3 wins....and he put on a hell of a show.

[@xsilentleander]

@@aaronthomas6155 5 now

[@luken4331]

Great guy. I met him on World Wide Technology a couple months ago and I asked him some questions about his brake bias. He was very nice and gave me much more information/tips than I could’ve ever asked for.

[@Mach42]

It's good to see these guys get recognized. I was one of the really good open server racing guys, and I had a respectable race win ratio, but when I hopped onto open servers and saw King, Hamlin, Davies, Crandall, and some of these other guys, I knew I was going to finish second at best. I raced Hamlin a lot. He was as addicted to NR03 as much as I was, and he'd be racing on various open servers most nights. I don't think that I ever passed him legit 1 on 1. I'd just hang around in 2nd or 3rd and hope someone'd crash him. Often was one of the few people finishing on the same lap as he was is the best I could hope for. That's why he's racing for big bucks and I'm not. I wish that I had the balls to go into the elite serious leagues, but I felt like I was too undisciplined to hang. I spent my time making various graphics and sound mods, like the AOD_Mach42 Soundpack. Best time of my life in gaming. iRacing is great, but I miss the battles between racing leagues/guilds/clans, like you'd imagine old school kung-fu schools going to other schools and challenging them, but races instead of fists. Leagues would pile into another league's open servers and issue a challenge...

[@reborndiajack9612]

denny hasnt changed sounds about right great video mate, from australia

[@MabsolutelyDnot]

I have never played iRacing, nor have I really even followed it, but I literally watch all your videos. Keep it up, bro 👍

[@DJYeeJay]

Thank you!! I appreciate it

[@Rich_Jamison]

Man, some familiar names in those old points standings! I was never up there with them those names were well known back in the Papyrus and Project Wildfire days! Great stuff Justin!

[@TommyToboggan611]

Really cool of you to do this. NR2003 was such an experience in the day. IT was not hard or uncommon to bump into hamlin, truex and JR in the plate lobbies, Those no play daytona night servers lol! Ill never forget being 12 and having my mom come do the pace lap so I didn't miss a race jr was in. People said it was bullshit until iracing really came to the for front, and now its common place for even f1 champions. The pace at which sims evolved between 94-04 is absolutely incredible, there is NO WHERE near the jump the last 10 years, even 20 years, since then. So many things in modern sims started from these papyrus games its incredible. Im stoked to have played them as a young child, its a large part of why I love racing so much. Side note: Dont think its really fair to say that nr2003 is the magnum opus. The game was essentially a 2nd DLC to Nascar racing 4, 2002 being the first. There was a scraped truck and busch pack for this game. Project wildfire had info on it WAY WAY WAY back when. Anyone else remember BHmotorsports? As the combustion engine dies, we might look back on dale jr differently as a pioneer into the new way of racing.

[@noahbitz2878]

Kevin I had no idea you made those paint schemes, that's so cool! Great video too. Probably my favorite one you've uploaded.

[@jonkeau5155]

Ah, I remember playing the original Papyrus NASCAR Racing game back in the day, had this cool gray sim steering wheel that looked like a bow tie shape, throttle was controlled by pushing the wheel in and pulling it out and it clamped on the computer desk…

[@clzliljohn1983]

This is the type of content we want to see!!!! Well done

[@byron24elliott97]

Love these type of videos you have been making! So cool to get a better understanding of the history of sim racing and the people in it.

[@4nerds974]

DJ, your channel is fantastic, and what you're doing - registering and telling the stories of many people significant to simracing - is, I think, unprecedented. Thank you very much for that.

[@michaelmuncy8136]

Thanks for making this. I was a young teenager in NR2003's heyday and Kevin King was sort of a hero to me, he was THE guy back then. Cool to see this about him and hear from him recapping his career. Good stuff.

[@JoshPocketwatch]

Found your iracing iceberg video a month ago and since then I’ve gotten a G923 and have started iracing (used your email in ur channel info for referral). Thanks for introducing me to such a great hobby

[@DJYeeJay]

I don’t think that email is attached to an iracing account hahaha but I appreciate it!!

[@Noskywyd]

Me hearing kevin king was a jaw dropper, even though i wasn't around when nr came out, ive heard of him in many nr league races ive seen

[@binchamers]

Couldn’t keep my eyes off of the cat eating the doorframe lol

[@Toxic2T]

lol

[@2Larson]

Glad you made a documentary on him. I've rooted for him for a while.

[@Sethsimracing]

Dude, the video is great! I absolutely love these mini-docs., they are so interesting and such a good way to learn about the sim racing sport! It gives me inspiration! Keep making these, they're my favorite content of yours to watch!

[@billbenedict4664]

Was great to see a documentary about the early days of sim racing. We were pioneers back then and look how far we've come! Congrats on a great online career Kevin!

[@SteezyRacing]

This a beautiful story, and such a well made doc, thank you!

[@outcasts113]

WOW this makes me feel really old! I know Kevin from the Justracin times, before DMP, and I saw a lot of old friends names on those standings. Great video!

[@scottchristian8280]

I enjoyed JRL server more than DMP . More respectful racers.

[@BuddyWildMan]

What a beautiful story. I don't care that much about racing, but the stories that come out of it are really compelling.

[@Jeff-ne1lh]

I spent so much time back then in the Justracin and RubbinsRacin leagues...the communities were more tight knit back the I think...decades later I'm still turning left and probably will until I die, but I miss the old days.

[@herlegz6969]

Papyrus ❤ Indy car and Grand Prix Legends were quite the era

[@happystreamsstuff]

16:00 minutes in just a cat eating a door frame in the background LOL absolutely love these videos, your content is incredible and the production value feels like a documentary i'd see on TV!

[@Aaron25thinfantry]

Cool freaking video. I’m just getting into sim racing and it’s cool to say how it started.

[@AdamsOlympia]

I remember watching an MTV cribs in the 2000s featuring Dale Jr's place ... The thing he seemed most proud of was his Sim Racing rigs, setup for multi player LAN matches .. First time I had ever seen anyone so dedicated to that hobby.

[@7Wounds]

Learned a lot watching this video. here I was just an old man watching videos to see if I wanna get a wheel and now learning sim racing has a richer history and I ever imagined. This was awesome.

[@daboiracing3848]

I remember watching Kevin's first pro win! I was so hyped

[@chadalca17]

amazing production DJ, so cool to see dude i used to race in some races in pick up lobbies in nascar 3 be successful in dmp and make it back into the top series and design those cars, I did not know these things

[@RickyHardin]

Great video! Took me down memory lane for sure!

[@mikegullette5196]

Thanks for sharing it Ricky, mighty cool.

[@karlsamson1765]

Great video Justin, really enjoy these types of videos from you

[@zanetti20]

That is really cool. I never knew his whole story

[@pepsibottleq]

The GOAT. Ran with him in NR

[@jasonwalker6825]

Very good overview. We had a lot of fun back then. Lots of clean and respectful racing. It's wild how much sim racing has grown since then. Kevin is one of the goats.

13:51 cat

[@ChuckCopeland]

Man, this brings back some memories! Some of these names I haven't seen on a screen since I was racing N3 - NR2003 and running the NCRacer's Garage website. Great video and thanks for the trip down memory lane. 🏁

[@schildhouse]

Chalk one up for the old guys, good stuff Justin

[@kennybrady54]

Huge respect gained for Kevin. Great video!

[@Daveybird]

Good story about the earlier days of sim racing. I played NASCAR 2000, N99, N4, DTR2, NASCAR Heat 2000 PC offline growing up, but was familiar with the way Sim Racing leagues worked back then, went to their official websites. I even made a few cameo appearances in DTR2's NSDRA. I enjoy NR2003, the rFactors and iRacing nowadays, where my main cars for all three are Dirt Oval and IndyCars.

[@gballtheway22]

This may be my favorite video you have done!

[@ForgottenWilderness]

This was excellent!

[@shawnreap]

Wait, what? Kevin King is a "legend"? I had no idea. To me he was just one of the guys in the NR2003 community back in the day that I knew mostly as a fellow painter. I knew he'd gone to iRacing, but had no idea to what extent. I'm just now coming over from NR2003 now after 20+ years, too.

[@CJracing137]

Love these sim racing lore stories I want more ❤

[@ginganinjaracing]

Incredible story

[@thetechfromheaven]

It's interesting how Josh Berry is driving Harvick's car, it would be perfect if he ever does a Darlington throwback to one of Kevin King's paintschemes, also it's fun to see Kaden Honeycutt in the iRacing 2020 series and now in real race cars. Time flies by so fast

[@michaelramos545]

Loving the long form content recently dude. Another great watch

[@Kevin_Kyle]

Hey Kev, long time no wreck. :) Nice vid. Hope your doing well.

[@BSbearing94]

I wanna be a Kevin King when I grow up 🫡

[@RoadTest-cl3jz]

I raced with Kevin a lot back in the day. Great driver.

[@expjames911]

League racing online goes a lot further back than this video would lead you to believe. All of this was being done as far back as Nascar racing 2 with WON and really picked up with Nascar Racing 3 and it's Trucks expansion.There were at least 20 leagues for NR3 with nearly all of them offering cash prizes. Dirt track racing even had a huge league (IDRS) at least as far back as 1998. A lot of those leagues and sim racing organizations were started by a guy named Mike Spinelli(OR4C) Nascar Racing 3 is also where the "gofast" degas came about, the 11 lap races without cautions (carburetor cup, pickup cup). We'd run 20 of those a night in the gofast and gosim servers (gospin). The fastest hands down back then was a 17 year old girl who raced with a Keyboard. She was like the first alien. I forget her name.... I raced under "expjames91" back then, or simply Jeff Kittell, Underdog Racing. at 13 I was absolutely the youngest guy in the online racing scene back then. Now I'm the old fart.

[@BurtonJenner]

P-R-O-S

[@expjames911]

@@BurtonJenner I know some guys with 6 foot tall trophies and thousands of dollars in season purses from 1999 seasons, or well knew them. They would be in their late 60s and 70s now.

[@BurtonJenner]

​@expjames911 what series were they competing in and what Sim?

[@RacingWithChuck27]

We ran “Ten” network in the late 90’s 99 was the last year I ran.

[@BurtonJenner]

​@RacingWithChuck27 how big were the purses?

[@dandenayer]

Nice Job on the Video, Kevin King is a GOAT!!

[@nocturnalmayhem0]

the fact he got to design real race paint schemes is pretty awesome.

[@Zak103tv]

What a legend

[@itzclp3070]

ive had a diecast of the blue and white national guard car since my childhood. its on my dresser rn i was like hold tf up i know that livery.

[@NR62_]

Kevin King is my goat

[@TChapman500Gaming]

I still think NR2003 is more realistic than iRacing in terms of tire physics. Plus, you can mod the game, unlike iRacing.

[@WdotDynamite]

I think I have mutual friends with him on Facebook from the rc racing scene! Pretty cool! Another great video dude!

[@KevinKing29]

Could be. I do that as well.

[@WdotDynamite]

Awesome! Keep pushing bro! Ran nascar racing from papyrus all the way to Nr2003 as well…..just finally got iracing about a month ago! Saving for a direct drive. lol the ole g920 getting louder by the day

[@ArturoDrives]

16:02 lmao his cat is trying to open the door.

[@JustinTheSpider]

I would really love to see the Hotwheels 44 again i miss that car so much

[@Mathiowetz]

man i remember the first time i heard of kevin in nascar illustrated 2006 issue

[@jnprather]

Wait, this isn't a documentary about Bob Bryant winning the DMP title and then making the DWC chase?

[@DJYeeJay]

Bobs next 😁

[@DJYeeJay]

Also I heard you’re the guy to learn more about the NR2003 online scene can I contact you?

[@jnprather]

@@DJYeeJay Sure!

[@Dallas_Matt]

I was at RROL in this era, and I remember Craig Burmeister from DMP coming over to RROL either in 2004 or 2005. And of course there was this video from Wind Tunnel. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIXbhZKspq2foc0

[@brianturner4818]

Very good video! Thanks!

[@lightfeather9953]

Love the history. Great stuff!

[@joshuasoto55]

Dale being the first version of Max Verstappen is hilarious. Part time Driver, full-time Sim Racer

[@x1_n_only_jtm_]

Great story. Love the video 👏👏

[@koopakilla19]

Dope!!! 😊

[@johnpancoast3236]

I was mp racing in both Nascar and GPL leagues back then. Stopped in '03 to focus more on raising our kids. Recognize a lot of names in this video.

[@bemba187]

what a cool story!

[@bungieman2810]

The thumbnail shows one of EA's games instead of NR2003.

[@Edward135i]

It's crazy how much of a OG sim racer Dale Jr. is, Max Verstappen today is famous for his sim racing prowess but Dale Jr. was so far head of any other professional racing driver.

[@JUnit41484]

How do you lead a league in both wins and top 5s, only finish outside of the top 5 for 5 out of 22 races... And not win the whole thing??

[@KevinKing29]

If you ever raced Shearburn back then you would understand. He was absolutely insane.

[@JUnit41484]

@@KevinKing29 hey, you're the guy! That's neat! That said, I don't even understand how that's a reply 😅 I literally don't understand the math of it. How does somebody have (significantly) less wins and less top 5s than you but score more points overall?

[@KevinKing29]

@@JUnit41484 it’s because if I finished 5th he finished 4th or better. He was very very good and super consistent. When I slipped up he would capitalize and finish better.

[@mattbussa]

Legend

[@Digger818]

"Never tell a girl you Sim race." - Jason Williams

[@kx250fforlife]

Such a cool fucking story

[@schavonegrinnell9430]

I want to meet him one day

[@NickSamon]

Sounds like blameitonjorge.

[@safetysqu1nts]

12:50 finished 3th

[@eclark9965]

Nice job.

[@jaffleyfifteen5912]

5 laps with Kevin king?

[@kem0n0.kokomo]

I searched up "DMP Driver Throws Tantrum" trying to find a certain video with Josh Berry and additionally found a 16 year old video of King having a total fit and driving all over the place after some goofy racing incident... Hope he isn't like that now lmfao

[@phillipvennemann503]

Minecraft NASCAR gfa5 gfa6 million subscribers dollars like good iracing in games

[@Mokanake-kc7qr]

What A Comeback I Love Iracing Also First Pls Pin Me

[@jasonmoyer]

hahahahshahahah

[@schavonegrinnell9430]

What a legend