An Interview with Matt Sten – Founder of Trak Racer

Matt Sten is the founder of Trak Racer and one of the most recognizable figures in the sim racing hardware industry. Unlike many company owners in this space, Matt is highly visible and actively engaged with the community — particularly on Facebook, where he regularly interacts with customers and enthusiasts alike.

From the company’s early beginnings in 2008 to its current global presence, Trak Racer has grown into a major player in sim racing cockpits and peripherals. In this interview, we talk with Matt about the origins of the brand, recent improvements behind the scenes, product innovation, and what sim racers can expect from Trak Racer in 2026 and beyond.

1. Introduction

“Matt, remarkably there are still people in the sim-racing community who don’t know you. So for the uninitiated—with all due respect—who is Matt Sten in short?”

I started Trak Racer in 2008 with the launch of the RS8. I was looking for a simulator on eBay and found the options limited, expensive and poorly designed. I’d grown up around my dad and his fabrication business so had an idea about bending and welding so dad and myself designed up the first rig and started with 200 units. Fast forward to 2026 and we sell over 20,000 cockpits a year across our own 6 warehouses and distributors; and have partnerships with Alpine F1 team, Airbus Aircraft, dozens of professional drivers and teams and some huge new partnership announcements coming soon.

2. Quality Control & Logistics Turnaround

“In 2024 and early 2025, the Trak Racer Facebook groups were… let’s say lively. Lots of posts about damaged packages, missing parts, shipping troubles—you name it. But in the second half of the year, those posts dropped dramatically. What did you change behind the scenes to flip that situation around?”

We overhauled QC, redesigned packaging, added more regional warehousing, switched carriers in some regions, and focused on faster issue resolution by training and onboarding more team members and improving processes around information automation to customers.

3. Most Proud Design

“You’ve personally designed many of Trak Racer’s rigs. If you had to pick just one—no dodging—which sim rig are you most proud of, and why?”

I’m very proud of the TRX as it was a joint collaboration between myself, our engineers and Alpine F1 engineers. The new entry level TR5 is a game changer in industry and I’m also proud of how damn good it turned out.

4. Your Own Rig & Time to Race

“What sim rig do you have at…