Veterans Get Rare Peek At Ford Racing Simulators Next Week

Racing simulators have long been used not only by fans of various motorsports series as a way to experience them virtually, but also, to help actual racing drivers hone their skills without having to head out onto the track in a high-dollar car. Ford has made extensive use of simulators in that fashion as of late, providing the M-Sport Ford rally team with access to its racing simulator at the Ford Racing Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina, and giving Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson a taste of NASCAR racing in that manner.

Now, Ford Racing and Ford Philanthropy are teaming up to use the automaker's racing simulators for a very different purpose - to help veterans competing in Operation Motorsport’s Operation eMotorsport iRacing League, according to SportsCar365. The Blue Oval invited four participants in that sim racing league to come out to the Ford Racing Technical Center for a special visit, ahead of Veterans Day weekend - which is also when CrowdStrike Veterans Race of Remembrance at Virginia International Raceway will take place, paying homage to our nation's heroes.

“We hope the program beneficiaries enjoy their immersion into Ford Racing’s state-of-the-art development simulators, where they will get to experience the same tools that the Ford Racing drivers across stock car, sports car and off-road disciplines use to hone their skills and develop the racing platforms,” said Ford Racing’s global single-make series program manager Chris Ward.

“As a military veteran, I am deeply grateful to Ford Racing for opening the doors of the Ford Technical Center for us and to Ford Philanthropy for allowing us to bring veterans who normally only see the others in their eMotorsport League virtually to the Veterans Race of Remembrance to meet them in person,” said Jason Leach, retired U.S. Army, special forces and Operation Motorsport director of operations.