The pathway to becoming a grassroots racer usually entails a lot of connections, heavy backing, and experience in go-karts or Bandolero race cars as a child. You know how the saying goes, there’s always an exception to the rule, and lately, a lot of exceptions have been drivers who started their racing paths on the ever-growing and ultra-popular simulator, iRacing. Rob Pederson, a driver from Stafford Springs, Connecticut, bought his first race car this year and has been logging laps and learning as much as he can at Stafford Speedway, his home track where he grew up attending races.
“I’ve been into NASCAR since I was around five years old, playing NASCAR Racing 2003 on the PC, and then around 2011, I joined iRacing. I’ve wanted to try the real thing for a minute, so I bought my own Modified and trailer, and I’ve been learning on the fly ever since.”
Every racer wants to be competitive, and with over 4,000 races under his belt since joining the iRacing community almost 15 years ago, Pederson got up to speed quickly for a driver who’s new to real-life competition. Pederson boasts 190 wins and looks to collect an abundance of wins on track throughout the duration of his career.
“I pride myself on consistency and having a good run while staying out of trouble. For my first race, I had a pretty solid outing, despite having a self-spin in the Heat race. I was able to adjust my line in the feature, but also self-spun in the Feature race when they checked up going into Turn 1 on a restart, thinking they were wrecking and locking up the brakes. Just a rookie mistake, but it was my first race, and I’ll learn and improve from that. It was still a very good experience, and I learned a lot. After the race, my guys and I made some adjustments with the setup, and we discovered I was racing with a broken hub, the left rear, precisely.”
A lot of drivers learned the basics from iRacing, including how to drive every track, since iRacing scans every track and updates it to be as close to the real-life counterpart as possible. The braking points, bumps in the asphalt, and tire rubber getting laid down throughout the grooves help users learn race craft, find grip on the racing surface, and know which line on track is the fastest, making this a valuable, cost-efficient resource when testing time is unavailable to teams and drivers. But like all modern technology, iRacing has its flaws.
“Some aspects of the sim do translate. Aiming for your entry is easy, but the line on the sim is different from real life. In real life, you want to run a little bit on the apron, but on the sim, you want to stay on the racing surface above the apron. That aside, the racing is similar when it comes to turning, your braking points, and when to get in the gas.”
Every racer has a hero that came before them, whether they admit it publicly or never tell a soul, and Pederson’s is a well-known modified racer who boasts 48 wins in the NASCAR Modified Series and won the title in 2008, prior to his passing in 2017.
“The ultimate goal racing a Modified, in general, is trying to be like Ted Christopher, being that he’s one of the greatest. When it comes to people to lean on, I get help from Wesley Prucker, who races the 604 Modifieds. He formerly raced the Lites and the CV chassis, which I race. I look up to guys like Keith Rocco and Todd Owen, who are both racers at the top of their game, as well as Mike Christopher. There are too many stars to name at Stafford Speedway, but I look up to all of them.”
Every racer wants to be known for being fast, fierce, and competitive, and the key to doing so is moving up in the ranks, turning heads every week at the local race track before the opportunity to tour regionally and nationally arises. Pederson wants this to eventually become more than a hobby, earning recognition and making money in the process as his career progresses and time passes.
“I’d like to climb up the ranks. That’s a fair goal, and anybody who’s not trying to do so is probably in the wrong profession. I’m having a lot of fun with this and learning a lot, and I’m taking this wherever it goes. Eventually, I would like to run some higher-level stuff.”
Racing is a business outside of it being a hobby. Pederson doesn’t just want to be a winning racer, but an owner who brings in local talent and a decent check to gain experience behind the wheel.
“I would like to eventually buy a second car and start up a rental business, as do many competitors here in Connecticut, generating additional income for their teams because, you know, racing is expensive. Being an owner is just a label, so I’d love to help develop new talent coming up in the ranks as well.”
The 2026 season is right around the corner, and Pederson is looking to set the world on fire. With two races already under his belt, he’s looking to earn respect from both Stafford Motor Speedway fans and competitors alike. With the 2026 season coming up in April, Pederson’s #4 modified is being prepared for battle and this time, the “Stafford Springshot” is going to turn heads and surprise a lot of people. Stay tuned here on everymanoneverycrew.com for his journey throughout the season.
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