The unique format of the game has its roots in simple pick game that was played against the Winston Cup races at the New Hampshire International Speedway in the parking lot for years. Every race we would head up to NHIS for the races and there would always be many different race pools going on. If you arrived late, all the "good" drivers would be already taken and you would be stuck with the long shots. So most of the time, people would just argue about the rules and nobody was ever happy with the format. So we (the founders of VT) decided to make a more formal and structured game that would let everyone pick the drivers that they wanted along with some long shots. This gave everyone an equal chance to potentially win. And, instead of just having a single winner, many different statistics were available to compare which gave us all something to talk about after the races - no matter how our picks did.

In the fall of 1999, we decided to bring this game to the Internet and expand our parking lot. After researching online racing games, we learned that our format was unique and thought other race fans might be interested in playing along. The fact that we followed qualifying as well as the race was greatly received. Our game format also provides an equal competition level each week. Unlike many fantasy games, each event at Virtual Thunder is scored separately so every participating player has an equal chance to win - your season isn't over if you have a bad event. Also, new players can join any time during the season so the competition is constantly changing. The ability to pick many different teams give everyone more chances to "splash" some points and make some long shots.

In 2001, more series have been added along with some local track racing. The game continues to grow and new features are added all the time. If you have any suggestions or comments, I would like to hear from you. Please send an email to davec@virtualthunder.com

I hope you all enjoy playing along with all your favorite events. Keep sending in your comments and suggestions! This game is for race fans and without your support, I would not be able to continue running this site.

Dave Crawford
Team Virtual Thunder

The series and teams provide the racing action.
Virtual Thunder follows that action online.
But the players make racing fun!