Oval tracks available for download

All right, if you care about oval racing, here are seven tracks based on
actual Sprint Cup tracks. As always, all are provided as is, without
warranty of any kind. They have been tested thoroughly before release,
but since systems and circumstances vary, I can't make any guarantees.
Please read the readme file before using the tracks (or bombarding me
with questions and complaints) as it explains plenty of things about the
track and its issues. In short, these are not full versions with all the
graphics elements in place, but they're drivable and hopefully more
realistic and challenging than the monotonous, generic speedways that
come with the game. Like before with the paint schemes, I've uploaded
the track files to a file host, and you need to give an email address
there to receive a link which enables you to download the track. 

These are the tracks in question:
ac-speedway 

based on Auto Club Speedway, a fast 2-mile superspeedway (Fontana, CA)

download by following this link:
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/391608/ac-speedway.tar.bz2

dd-speedway

based on Dover Downs International Speedway, a fast, high-banked
one-mile concrete oval (Dover, DE)

NOTE: because of the high banking of this track (24 degrees in turns),
the default race engine simuv2 fails, and the car goes on two wheels and
loses a lot of speed (already described in an earlier post). Racing with
simuv2 is therefore pretty much impossible. By compiling and using
simuv3, you may race on this track, but there are other issues
(described in the readme). 

download by following this link:
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/391611/dd-speedway.tar.bz2

hm-speedway

based on Homestead-Miami Speedway, a fast, high-banked 1.5-mile oval
(Homestead, FL)

NOTE: like with dd-speedway, the annoying two-wheel show ruins racing at
hm-speedway. Currently, the only option is to compile and use simuv3 as
the race engine.

download by following this link:
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/391612/hm-speedway.tar.bz2

mi-speedway

based on Michigan International Speedway, a fast 2-mile superspeedway
(Brooklyn, MI)

NOTE: significantly different from the "Michigan" of the default
installation. This track has correct length and banking and hopefully
also bears resemblance to the incredibly fast 2-mile track.

download by following this link:
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/391613/mi-speedway.tar.bz2

mr-speedway

based on Martinsville Speedway, a tight, low-banked half-mile oval
(Ridgeway, VA)

download by following this link:
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/391615/mr-speedway.tar.bz2

ne-speedway

based on New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a low-banked one-mile oval
(Loudon, NH)

download by following this link:
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/391616/ne-speedway.tar.bz2

ri-speedway

based on Richmond International Raceway, a D-shaped 0.75-mile oval
(Richmond, VA)

download by following this link:
http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/391618/ri-speedway.tar.bz2

-----------------------
If someone knows how to improve these tracks or has access to vital
track information I don't have, let me know so these could be updated.
Especially the pit road/front stretch issue (creating a separate,
straight pit road on a curving front stretch, with grass and sometimes a
wall between pit road and track, very common on real tracks) is rather
critical, and if that could be solved, a number of other ovals (e.g.
Chicagoland, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Kansas, Atlanta) could be released
too. Right now, those other tracks simply aren't ready for general use. 

Finally, it's important to note that the choice of the race engine may
have a huge impact on your racing and speeds. I tried to add some degree
of realism to the tracks so that real track records wouldn't be
threatened. For testing, I drove a stock car with a decent oval setup
(definitely not the default setup, which won't work at all), using
simuv2 except for dd-speedway and hm-speedway for the above-mentioned
reasons. Then I tweaked the track surface settings to get realistic (for
an amateur racer like me) yet not too fast lap times. However, with
simuv3, all those adjustments might mean very little. For example, at
ac-speedway, generally 39.5-40.5-second practice laps with simuv2, but
even two seconds faster with simuv3. Same is true more or less on other
tracks as well. And of course, driving a different (e.g. trb1) car
probably changes everything. Just something to keep in mind. 

Time for a pit stop. Drive safely.

-- 
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