Developer Chat

Cluch will be available for release in the very near future and here's your chance to find out will (and won't) make the first cut.

what will be the cost? and how many days or weeks will the season last? (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 6:55 PM)

Nothing has been finalized with the cost yet. Tentatively, you could expect something around the HD price point. The season will last about six or seven weeks depends on how long the recruiting, new application, and job renewal period lasts.

What is clutch racing? (aircartman - Veteran - 6:55 PM)

Clutch racing dynasty is a stock car racing game in the same family as hoops dynasty and gridiron dynasty. In CRD you will be starting your own racing team in a regional racing series. After hiring your crew chief and driver you get to set up your car for each days race, dictate which parts you want built and repaired, and do every thing to keep your team out of the red. Similar to HD and GD part of the fun is working your way up to better competition in higher divisions.

What will be the different levels that we will have to move up through(like DIII, DII, and DI in Hoops Dynasty)? (longhornsfan - All-Star - 6:58 PM)

A new user will start in one of the Elite division’s 4 regions. After proving themselves, they can then move up to the Grand National division, then Busch, and finally the Wiscar cup series.

How are your wins/loses added up? is there going be a point system like in real life? (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 7:00 PM)

CRD will utilize the current Nascar point system to rank owners

Hey, Is this going to be "Newbie" friendly? In other words if I have NO knowledge of NASCAR can I play and stand a chance of winning? Or is knowledge a must. damned (damned - Hall of Famer - 7:09 PM)

Absolutely. A great deal of effort has been spent to make this game enjoyable for both the seasoned nascar fan and someone that knows nothing about cars. Currently, all of the pre-race settings have been dumbed down to deciding between handling and speed. So, if a user isn't a car fanatic they can quickly and easily set up for the race and spend their time keeping the teams budget in check.

when does this start? (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 7:11 PM)

I could get in trouble for telling you this... but ... 2005 : ).

have the testers been chosen? (odjman - Hall of Famer - 7:12 PM)

Yes. We currently have all the testers we need.

will the game be using existing racetracks or ficticious tracks? (umterps25 - Pro - 7:14 PM)

The game will use real tracks. We had a co-op slaving away to enter in real tracks and their specifications.

Add on to the Newbie question, can we also expect to have more advanced controls as we move through the ranks on the way to WISCAR? (jeffr24 - All-Star - 7:16 PM)

At this point no. The controls/options will be the same at all levels. The difference being: you will have better equipment, crew, and competition. Ofcourse, as the game matures there will be add ons to enable serious users to tweak their cars more.

is there a process similar to HD recruiting? can you elaborate more on how we pick our crew/drivers? (ka49s - All-Star - 7:20 PM)

The recruiting process for CRD will have some key differences compared to HD and GD. There will be less back and forth comunication with a potential driver or crew chief. Things will be pretty straight forward. You will offer a contract a potential crew member and he will (depending on his personal characteristics/personality, offers from other team, and your teams success and experience) accept or reject your offer.

Will we have the option to have friends and enemies so to speak when it comes to working together during the races? (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 7:22 PM)

Driver rivalries/friendships are partially in at this point. It may make it to the first version or it may be a version 1.1 add on. However, the user will not be able to designate who befriends whom. Drivers drafting together and accidents/rubbin' will dictate rivalries.

Will the lower-level racing series' be using the same tracks or different tracks from their WISCUP counterparts? (shupirate - Veteran - 7:26 PM)

At each level users will be racing on tracks that they have historically raced on. In some cases there is overlap with WisCar Cup tracks but only as much as you see in real life.

what are the control settings likefor for your car? i.e. wedge adjustments, tire pressure, etc (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 7:33 PM)

Currently, pre race controls include:
-setting your pit strategy
-selecting which engine, chassis, and frame you will run
-setting up your car: Either Using general car setting for handling or speed or setting the front spoiler, front air pressure, rear air pressure, rear spoiler, front camber, left bias, rear bias, and cross weight.

will the race be played in two parts so we can make the pit adjustments as needed?. (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 7:35 PM)

The race will be run in one part. However there will be qualifying in the AM and the actuall race taking place during the pm. During which you will be able to change your car settings.

Are there economics in the sim (i.e. sponsers to raise capital, and expenditures in engine building, chasis building, and driver salaries)? (spit_ballerz - Hall of Famer - 7:37 PM)

Yes, all that you mentioned is in there. Even some nice twists with sponsor bonuses. So no mater how good you are at racing things will be alot tougher if you can't keep your finances in check.

as the seasons progress can you build your on franchise of more cars? (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 7:39 PM)

Right now there is a one team per user limit. There is the possibility of letting the game model the real world where an owner can have many teams in all of the different divisions.

Will a team be allowed to consist of more than one car/driver? (spit_ballerz - Hall of Famer - 7:42 PM)

A team will have one "car" but many chassis,engines, and frames that can be put together and used for a race. A team can however hire more than one driver. This will allow for the team to better deal with injuries from crashes, etc.

will there be entrance fee for races (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 7:44 PM)

There are no entry fees that a team owner has to budget for. Instead of having that as part of the teams operating budget, any entrance cost have already been applied in the preseason.

Will we be able to set out cars ahead of time for races in case we are unable to get to a computer for a few days (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 7:45 PM)

Unfortunately, the last settings are what will be used for races.

Will it be possible to have Driver under the same team in each of the divisions? (jeffr24 - All-Star - 7:47 PM)

No, drivers will be attached to the team that holds their contract.

are there reward points given for the end of season standings? and if there is a ponits system do we get ponits for certain races won through out the season? (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 7:50 PM)

I am not sure what type of reward points will be given out at the end of the season. Users will get standing points for all of the races on the schedule that they qualified for.

Who decides when a team moves up/down divisions? The sim? The sponsors? The owner himself? (shupirate - Veteran - 7:51 PM)

The sim will decide who is able to move up. The owner however can choose wether or not to move up.

Since some racing teams cheat, are you going to add this element to the game? Hopefully you'll remember the fines in nascar are 25 points and some cash depending on the infraction. (twmiles - All-Star - 7:58 PM)

We are currently pushing to get delimmas added into the CRD before launch. A possible scenario could be that your crew chief comes to you with a rear spoiler that will flex more at high speeds reducing drag. If you get caught it could mean a fine and loss of points. The decision though is for you to make.

Will there be more than 43 car owners in a division, so that some car owners will fail to qualify to make the field? (shupirate - Veteran - 7:59 PM)

Yes there will be more racers than qualifying spots. For the top two levels that have 43 qualifiers there will be a maximum of 70 users. The lower divisions that qualify 26 teams per race they will have as many as 48 teams.

will we be able to hire and fire throughout the season (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 8:01 PM)

No, once silly season is over you would be stuck with the crew that you have until the next season. There may be special cases that allow for a team to pick up another driver when their only driver gets hurt (or worse) but this would cost the team more.

How will sponsors decide who to sign on with? Since at first everyone will be equal? (dbaseball30 - Hall of Famer - 8:05 PM)

When teams are equal the sponsors will go with the team that has given a primary sponsorship first. If all is still even between the offers then theh sponsor will go with the team that offered first.

Because of the release of clutch racing dynasty, obviously something out of the normal range of sports covered on this site, does this mean that there will be more dynasties involving sports not on this site to come?Thanks. (paladn24 - Hall of Famer - 8:06 PM)

Perhaps...

what kind of upgrades will we be able to make, and will the 42,000 we start with enable us to make a lot of upgrades right of the start (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 8:09 PM)

The list of upgrades has not been finalized yet but there will be things that you will be able to purchase. These range from driving camps to sharpen your driver's passing ability to a new engine lift so your crew chief can build engines better.

will sponsors be team specific or can more than one team have the same sponsor (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 8:15 PM)

Sponsors can be on more than one team in the same division. Sponsors will also have conditions where they require you to finish/qualify ahead of another team sponsored by a rival in the same industry. (i.e. Lowes will pay you extra every time you finish ahead of home depot.)

what woudl be the benefit of moving up? (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 8:17 PM)

Some crew upgrades and buying opportunities will only occur at the higher levels. Additionally you will only have the opportunity to race on some of the big name tracks when you get to the upper levels.

will we have practive time for drivers and crew? (Fregoe - Hall of Famer - 8:20 PM)

We are currently trying to work in pre season practice runs. They should be in by the start of the first world and if not by season 2.

If we didn't get to your question, we apologize. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and thanks for supporting WhatIfSports!