SmokinBob sits down with the Grand National 1970 Mod Team Leader, Jim Kerekes, aka DT99

Recently, Jim Kerekes, aka DT99, dropped me a line to let me know of a soon to be released mod for NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, the Grand National 1970 mod. Unfortunately, in my excitement at this opportunity, I asked a bunch of questions not pertaining to the mod (it may be the case there is no such thing as a dumb question, but there sure are wrong ones �), so now it is time to shape up and do it right.
So join me in my trip back into the Golden Age of NASCAR �

SB: How long have you been modding sims, and how did you get started?
DT99: It all started for me in Christmas of 1995 when my sister bought me a copy of the original NASCAR Racing by Papyrus. I now own every Papyrus racing game that they ever published. I started modding by painting cars for N1, and was a semi-regular contributor to the IWCCCARS Project back when David Sparks was running the website. Dave left around 1997, and Ken Shropshire asked me to join the project. I soon became webmaster and carset coordinator for IWCCCARS during the late 90�s. Jan asked me to become a Pits member in 1998, and I�ve been working on special projects for The Pits ever since. My first non-painting contribution was when I started hex editing N3 to update menu screens. I still do some file manipulation and 3D modeling, but I primarily work on 2D and 3D graphics support and tracking down loose ends �

SB: What has been your favorite mod that you have worked on? What about a favorite from another modding crew?
DT99: That�s a tough one, since I�ve worked in some capacity on many of The Pits� mods. Although I�m tempted to say GN70 for N2K3, I think my favorite was the 1970 Trans-Am mod for NASCAR Legends. There were not many other people who were producing full mods with all new cars shapes back then. We had to figure out stuff the hard way, most of our modding was done with a hex editor and tools that we developed ourselves in-house.
I would have to say that my favorite mod from another group would be the Craftsman Truck Series mod that John Hughes co-developed for NASCAR Heat back when he was running High Compression. John and I have been in contact for a long time, and he is very good at what he does. John was able to move on to commercial opportunities thanks in part to the work he did at High Compression, and I am happy that he has been able to turn a hobby into a career.

SB: How did it come about to mod the 1970 season? It was a great time in the sport, with A. J. Foyt running at Riverside along such other greats as Petty, Yarborough, and Allison to name a few�did the historic aspect play any role in the decision?

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