The question posted by Forza Motorsport on Twitter was in many ways indicative of a larger problem. Forza Motorsport asked, “Do you prefer road tracks or oval tracks in IndyCar?” and I was already afraid of the answer. The seemingly simple question opened up a multitude of opinions and feelings arms of virtual racing, which made it abundantly clear that people do in fact have a preference.
If you’ve played Forza, you know that its IndyCar mode is in no way casual racing. It’s a highly advanced simulation in which you can pilot those open-wheel racing beasts. The track types? You have the road courses—twisty, technical tracks with left and right turns, elevation changes, and generally anything complex. Then you have the ovals, which are quite literally… circles. But to add, they are high-speed circles where circles gain a lot of speed, with strategy and drafting becoming the key components.
The replies represented a near 50-50 split but revealed a handful of interesting nuances. Omar Shaikh (@tachyonstryker) remarked, “Oval tracks. I can speed away.” Which is a pretty simple and strong statement. For people who appreciate ovals, describing them as sustained high-speed tracks with no complex turns gives them a clear and accessible definition. While you don’t get Juryman level braking sequences, they exist as a Velociraptor with a 2v2 sprint.
Then there are people like The HQ (@theStarWarsHQ), who said, “Road tracks. Turning left all the time gets boring 🥱.” and in some sense, that is true. That is to say, if you were to do lap after lap of left turns, ovals can quickly become tiresome. However, there was a small group of players that stated ovals require far more thinking than most players give them credit for.
What’s most interesting is how many people separate what they like to drive in video games from what they would prefer to watch in actual car racing. Like @pseudokings as an example, who tweeted “To drive in a game: road courses. To watch a real race: no preference.” In my opinion, this is an intelligent observation; at times, something fun to play isn’t fun to watch.
Then again, there was also a group that just said “neither.” REKM Racing (@REKMMotorsports) stated “Neither…. dont like the Indy cars,” which is, in a way, courteous; not everyone likes open-wheel racing. Then there are the F1 fans, such as NicoEchev, who stated “We prefer F1 😉” with a laughing emoji and a sense of superiority towards IndyCar.
I was in the middle of saying something, so let me get back to the real debate. I think, in general, the pointed criticisms were on target. Tical (@MapleSyrupDon) said, in regard to oval tracks: “offer up a mode of racing I don’t do often so it’s always a treat when the playlist has them in rotation. I’ve learned a lot and it’s also helped grow my appreciation for them.” I think it’s genuinely wonderful how games expose people to something they wouldn’t try out otherwise.
The Starting Grid Club (@usastartinggrid), for instance, brought up the more technical point: “I generally prefer the ovals because it gets the maximum out of the car. Road tracks just seem a little bit second rate to F1 because of the lack of pickup. Top end speed is where IndyCar really excels.” Honestly, that is some proper racing analysis.
Not everyone was so focused. Most of the other replies were nonsense, with Alcohooligann rambling about drag racing lobbies and how Forza should bring back drag racing support. Completely off topic, but that is Twitter for you.
The funniest could be no one giving any kind of reasoning and telling people “ovals are boring.” @abovetheplateau, @Stoffinators, and @catw37 all just say that and leave. Meanwhile the people defending ovals are out here responding with paragraphs on strategies and racing lines.
From what’s above, it’s clear that the Forza community is divided on the racing formats. People are not simply debating what is more fun; it is what is more fun in terms of creativity, how niche the real sport is authentically for the real sport, or the level of action. Some players regard ovals and the purists as repetitive, while some players see it as pure racing. For some players, the road courses are too technical and intricate, and for some, they are inferior compared to other racing simulators.
There is also the meta conversation about how these tracks are in Forza. Like @TrigaFTW complaining about Daytona not having mandatory pit stops, which in reality, changes the racing dynamics a lot. People also talk about which tracks they want to get added to the game.
While the Forza community has different opinions, the Forza community’s enthusiasm is appreciated, especially on these topics. Drafting battles on ovals at high speeds may not be your thing, nor technical challenges on road courses, but both of these disciplines are guaranteed to have an audience in racing games. The arguments are the fun parts—because the people that love racing are keen to share and discuss everything from racing lines to car performance.
Maybe we need both tracks. Burning laps on twisty road courses perfecting your braking is a very different experience from going flat out on a tight oval seeing how close you can get to the wall without exploding. That’s sim racing for you—endless possible experiences even from your couch.
As divided as the community is on team oval and team road course, they agree in their concern for each racing experience—virtual—in general. This kind of passion is important as it keeps the community active for a long, long time. Now, I’ll need to let you go, as I must sharpen my oval racing lines, the thing I have been missing per Twitter’s “official” word.
