From family weekends watching NASCAR to building a sim-racing community of his own, Tim Chappell has never been far from racing. Now the driver and creator known as Timmy Neutron is turning every lap—good or bad—into another opportunity to improve.
Racing was always part of the family
Long before he ever entered an iRacing session, Tim Chappell was a NASCAR fan. He grew up rooting for Dale Earnhardt while much of his family cheered for Jeff Gordon, a recipe for spirited race-day debates. His childhood included trips to Dixieland Speedway in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville.
That connection to the sport followed him into adulthood. His wife lived near Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia, and when Tim discovered he could drive a Late Model at Langley inside iRacing, the appeal was immediate. Racing remains a family activity, with regular visits to Langley and trips to Richmond and Charlotte.
Today he races as Timmy Neutron Racing and shares the experience through Timmy Neutron Gaming. He describes himself first as a husband, a father and an ordinary racing fan who loves the competition.
Patience over panic
Tim joined iRacing in 2024 and began taking it more seriously in 2026. His focus spans NASCAR-style Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck racing, with particular attention lately on the Trucks. He originally chose the Chevrolet Silverado after finding a paint scheme for his favorite NASCAR driver, Carson Hocevar, on Trading Paints, though he does not necessarily race with that scheme today.
He is not chasing a highlight-reel pass on every corner. Given a choice between a five-lap sprint and a 150-lap race, Tim will take the longer event. He prefers managing tires, building a rhythm and choosing the right time to attack. For him, pit strategy and clean racing are as satisfying as raw speed.
“It doesn’t do me any good to try to win a race on lap three!”
That attitude extends to wheel-to-wheel battles. Tim values respect and racecraft, sometimes lifting to give another driver room rather than turning a temporary position loss into an early retirement.
The road to 1,500
One of Tim’s proudest memories is winning a Street Stock race at Langley Speedway—his familiar real-world home track—in the sim. But the story he talks about with equal pride is less about a trophy and more about a number.
After mistakes and bad luck helped push his iRating from roughly 1,250 into the 700s, he started documenting his climb through a project he calls Road to 1500. At the time of his October 2026 interview, he was back near 1,300 and competing in A Class races.
He hasn’t hit 1,500 yet, and he already knows that milestone will not be the end. The real achievement, he says, is learning to recognize the progress behind the result.
“It’s not just about reaching a number. It’s about seeing how far I’ve come and continuing to push myself to improve.”
The mental side has been his toughest challenge. Tim admits to setting high expectations for himself and struggling to shake off mistakes. His answer is to keep learning, remember that one bad race does not erase earlier progress, and show up for the next start.
Finding speed in the details
Tim’s practice sessions now involve more than turning laps. He tries to recreate race conditions, experiments with lines and braking points, and examines where he gains or loses time. Improving throttle control—especially on short and intermediate tracks—is an immediate goal.
That appetite for information helped connect him with Pitmark Racing Tools (PRT). He first spotted a Pitmark TikTok recruiting testers and was interested in a tool that could bring together racing information he had been gathering from several programs. He joined the testing effort and began sharing both feedback and bugs.
Tim says what kept him involved was the willingness to act on that feedback. His testing relationship eventually grew into a Pitmark Racing Co. driver partnership, with an initial focus on his Truck racing program.
Behind the wheel—and behind the stream
Tim’s setup reflects his love of the technical side of racing. He runs two PCs, separating gaming from streaming and recording, and uses a MOZA R5 wheel with MOZA pedals. Multiple monitors help him manage the race and broadcasts, while Meld Studio, OBS, a HyperX microphone and headset, an Elgato Stream Deck, foot pedal and capture card round out his tools.
It may not be a massive professional cockpit, but every piece has a purpose. Tim enjoys tweaking the system almost as much as driving it.
He streams on Twitch and TikTok as Timmy Neutron Gaming and shares highlights, wrecks, funny stories and the occasional narrow escape. After once comparing himself to elite drivers and wondering whether anyone would want to watch, he came to a different conclusion: the story is worth telling even before the big numbers arrive.
“I don’t have to be the fastest driver or have thousands of followers to share something worthwhile.”
Racing is better with people
For Tim, the draw of league racing is not only organized competition. He first raced in the Coast to Coast Racing community through NASCAR 25, and more recently competed in the USSA Super Speedway Series at Daytona, Talladega and EchoPark. The familiar names, rivalries and friendships make those events feel different from racing strangers every night.
He hopes to grow his community, continue building Timmy Neutron Racing and help develop PRT alongside Pitmark. Looking ahead, he wants to become a more complete driver on every type of oval, perhaps eventually exploring dirt racing in iRacing as well.
His advice to anyone hesitating over their first race or league is refreshingly uncomplicated: start, expect mistakes, find good people and keep learning.
Outside racing, Tim is a family man who enjoys adventures with his wife and family, NASCAR diecasts, video games and Marvel movies. He is quick to laugh, quick to joke and grateful for the people who share the journey.
It is a fitting reminder of what this partnership—and Pitmark’s Racing Culture features—are meant to highlight: not just the drivers at the front of the field, but the real people and communities that make racing matter.
Driver interview: Tim Chappell, October 2026. Feature by Pitmark Racing Co.
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