Johns creates Cyber race network Carmel man possesses simulator modified out of Stewart’s Cup car

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A little bit of imagination and a lot of dedication have helped make a dream come true for Ted Johns of Carmel.

Johns heads up Cyber Coast-to-Coast Racing Network and has a racing simulator modified out of a raced NASCAR Winston Cup car. He has watched his dream grow from just an idea to a reality as race fans can now operate the simulator and get a better idea of what it’s like to drive a Cup car.

“About 10 months ago, we started doing all the research [to create a racing simulator]. It just took months of research to determine what areas we had to go in to make it more of an entertainment type of thing,” said Johns.

Johns, 60, watched Tony Stewart’s Home Depot/Peanuts Pumpkin Patch car on eBay. After the car didn’t sell, he gave the owner a call.

“We negotiated a deal and had to go to North Carolina to get it, but we got the car,” he said.

The car was stripped of all of its original decals, but the paint scheme and car itself remains mostly unchanged from the last time it saw a racetrack in October of 2002 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Johns is a longtime racing fan and started a racing team at Speedway 95 in Hermon in the six-cylinder division in 1982 with James Larner. Robbie Jarvis drove the car for three years, but after rising expenses, they sold the team.

It wasn’t until 10 years later that Johns got back into racing, but this time it was much cheaper, and just as fun.

“I got involved in a computer game called ‘NASCAR Racing’ around 1996 or ’97. I met five guys on the Internet that were involved in racing and we started a racing league,” said Johns. “We were online racing against each other and had a great time and that’s how it all started.”

With Johns living in Maine and other racers from Canada, Florida, and California, “Coast-to-Coast” became part of the name and because it’s an online league, “Cyber” also became involved, and “Cyber Coast-to-Coast Racing Network” was born in 1999.

Chad Pagel of Seymour, Ind., is an investor on the simulator and involved in the racing league.

“We’ve raced against Dale Earnhardt Jr. many times online and we’ve also raced against Jimmy Spencer and Tony Stewart,” said Pagel.

Last April, Johns wanted to take the company another step and build a racing simulator. Approximately $50,000 has been invested in the project, he said.

“I asked the guys if this was something everyone wanted to do and they said yes,” Johns said.

The task proved to be a difficult one.

After purchasing the car, they had to incorporate the software used in their computer to the race car. The computer system is located in the trunk and the components for steering are under the hood.

“We had to do all the fabrication for the steering wheel and the pedals so it’s compatible with the screen,” said Johns.

A new and more durable shifter built from authentic NASCAR parts will also be incorporated into the car soon.

“We didn’t have to do much modification to the car. We had to mount the seat a little differently and have a door so people could get in and out. It will comfortably fit anyone between a 5-year-old and we had a guy get in who was 6-6, 320 pounds and he didn’t have a problem,” said Johns.

The driver can get a good sense of what it’s like to drive a race car, but there’s one thing that Johns would like to change.

“We’re in the process of doing research to have motion put into it,” he said. “It’s a very costly thing to put into the car, it’ll cost between $15-20,000 to have it installed. We have to fabricate all the motion things that would go into the car to make it move.

“I know when we get motion in this, it’s going to be even more realistic,” Johns added. “It’s to give the people the opportunity to sit in a NASCAR Winston Cup car and be able to have some experience to do a race and to find out, ‘wow, this is a lot different from what it looks like on TV.’ It’s not as easy as you think it is.”

The biggest difference between this simulator and one used in Daytona is that this simulator is portable.

“We feel that’s an advantage for us. We can go do different events and businesses to promote what they need to promote and we can promote our sponsors at the same time,” Johns said.

The simulator’s debut came in the Northeast Motorsports Expo and Trade Show at the Augusta Civic Center earlier this month where it was named Best in Class and was a huge hit with the crowd.

“I thought [the Expo] was spectacular, because there wasn’t a time that the car was actually empty; 210 people got into the car during the 22 hours,” said Johns. “It’s for kids, but it’s also for grownups. There are a lot of NASCAR fans in Maine. It’s such a wide area of interest.”

With a project as big as this, Johns needs a lot of help. Pagel, Adam Crowley, Janet Brown, Dean Washburn, and Bill Charron helped out at the Augusta show with transporting the car, getting people in and out, and making sure everything worked correctly.

“We have a committee of three of us (Johns, Pagel, and John Shedden of Corpus Christi, Texas) who make all decisions about anything that has to do with the simulator,” said Pagel who was also impressed with the Augusta show.

Along with Pagel and Johns, Charron is a part of the online racing league and helped with technical development of the simulator and the software and functionality. He is also a computer technician.

The Simulator is ready for a couple shows next month starting with an RV show in Springfield, Mass., Feb. 18-20 and then it’s off to the Racin’ Preview 2005 Expo in Portland on Feb. 25-26.

Cyber Coast-to-Coast Racing Network is located 15 miles west of Bangor on Route 2 in Carmel. For a fee, those wanting to race in the simulator are welcome to drop in, but appointments are recommended through www.cccsim.com.