iRacing 2024 Season 3 Development Update

May 13, 2024May 14, 2024 ~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment

Calling all content lovers! iRacing’s 2024 Season 3 is on the horizon, with a launch date just a few weeks away. While the development team is meticulously putting everything through final quality checks, ensuring a flawless experience, we’re excited to see and to share the exciting new content additions coming in Season 3. iRacing promises to reveal more details soon, so check back here!

The fan-favorite Street Stock series, consistently ranking #4 on iRacing, is getting a major upgrade! Short track aficianodos have been craving some fresh rides, and now they are here.

Get ready to ditch the museum pieces – two brand new Street Stock bodies, inspired by iconic real-world racers, are tearing onto the track! The art team has outdone themselves, capturing the wear and tear these cars have earned in countless battles.

Now, the big question: where do these newcomers fit in? In order to ensure everyone gets great value, both cars are bundled together for the standard new car price – it’s a two-for-one deal!

But here’s the best part – these new additions are completely optional! If you’re still rocking the classic Street Stock, no problem. We’ll all enjoy the increased variety on the track, whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer.

So buckle up, racers! It’s time to take Street Stock racing to the next level!

Oswego Speedway Races Onto iRacing in Season 3!

Calling all asphalt and dirt racers! Get ready to experience the legendary “Steel Palace” – Oswego Speedway – coming to iRacing in Season 3!

Located near the shores of Lake Ontario, Oswego has been a staple of racing for decades, hosting both dirt and pavement series since 1951. This addition is a long-awaited request from both iRacers and our own staff who’ve visited the track in person.

The beauty of Oswego is its versatility. Throughout the year, real-life crews transform the track by adding and removing massive amounts of dirt. While the virtual artists have it a bit easier in iRacing (no need for heavy machinery!), there’s a chance that iRacing might only have the asphalt oval ready by the time Oswego debuts in Season 3.

But fear not, dirt fans! If the dirt configuration misses the June release, it will be available in a patch shortly after. No matter your surface preference, thrilling Oswego racing awaits!

Last but not least: iRacing is working on a Mini Stock car for a September release!

iRacing November 2023 Development Update Highlights

November 2, 2023November 2, 2023 ~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment

TL;DR? That’s okay, I read almost all of it and I’ll share what I consider to be the highlights of the latest iRacing development update.

iRacing strategic staff updates will lead to an improved graphics engine.

Graphical and rendering technologies will be undergoing updates, and, to that end, iRacing will be significantly enhancing their graphics team later this year. The company is bringing in several top-tier principal-level rendering programmers who, in collaboration with their existing team, will drive the evolution of iRacing’s graphics technology to unprecedented heights on this platform. These developers boast an impressive track record of over two decades, having led graphics and rendering teams for renowned engines like id Tech, Unity, Unreal, Decima, and Glacier.

It’s essential to understand that a graphics engine upgrade is a substantial, long-term undertaking, and the fruits of their labor will require some time to fully ripen. Nevertheless, it will be worth the wait.

When will it rain on iRacing?

And now, for another significant update that many have been eagerly following: the status of iRacing’s advanced new weather system, internally referred to as Tempest. While they aren’t quite ready to guarantee its release in December, they are now confident enough to announce that the launch of this exceptionally intricate system is imminent. This signifies that a rainfall is on the horizon, and anticipation is building among enthusiasts.

It’s needed a lot of work for a long time: the iRacing protest system.

iRacing is committed to maintaining a safe and clean environment for racing. They have invested considerable resources into developing rules and systems to help incentivize good racecraft, respectful racers, and an environment focused on fair play. They have also built a department whose job is to coach, correct, and take regulatory action when things go wrong. In the December build, iRacing will equip this team with a more expansive toolset to do their jobs. This includes

Coaching
Post-Results Race Disqualification. A member or team may be disqualified from a Race or event after Results have been posted. Their Championship Points for the Race or event will become 0, and they will drop to a last-place finish.
Restrictions to various parts of iRacing.com and/or the iRacing simulation.
The ability to participate in Race and Qualifying Sessions for a specific Official iRacing Series.
The ability to participate in Race and Qualifying Sessions for ALL Official iRacing Series.
The ability to participate in Hosted Sessions.
The ability to participate in any and ALL multiplayer Sessions of any kind.
The ability to Spectate Sessions.
The ability to use in-simulation voice chat and/or text chat.

New race tracks are around the next corner.

Slinger Speedway on iRacing — Slinger Speedway

Slinger Speedway – The world’s fastest quarter-mile oval
Mugello Circuit
Okayama Circuit will be re-released with modern artwork at no additional charge.
Millbridge Speedway is in development but release date is currently unknown.

New race cars have been scanned and will be coming to iRacing.

SRX Cars (dirt and asphalt)
An array of Street Stock car bodies
Micro Sprint is in development for the kiddos.

Refreshing the Oval

The oval refresh benefits from a dedicated team of developers diligently working on it each day, and they are making notable progress. These efforts will persist for an extended period as the team iterates through numerous systems. That being said, the team is committed to not waiting until they reach a state of completion before introducing these enhancements to the service.

With the December build, asphalt ovals have received updates aimed at delivering an improved dynamic racing experience. Grip levels on the track surfaces will now respond more swiftly to temperature changes, influenced by factors like weather conditions, time of day, and the energy exerted by the cars onto the track. This means drivers should be ready to fine-tune their setups to adapt to the evolving track conditions, searching for grip as various racing lanes heat up and cool down throughout a race session.

iRacing Development Update from Tony Gardner

January 11, 2018March 17, 2018 ~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment

Tony Gardner posted another iRacing development update this afternoon for those who are curious about what is next in regard to development. I’ll include some of the highlights here.

New graphical and physical damage model. This should be released this year but no promises. Let’s hope the crashes get at least a little more realistic, especially in the winged sprint cars.
Dynamic time of day including moving clouds and day to night transitions. iRacing is working night and day on day to night transitions. Goal for release: this year.
New tire model version. This is a big one! If you whined and cried when iRacing made changes to the Dirt Late Model physics, you better get a new box of Kleenex, snowflake. Let’s hope this includes the dirt cars which still desperately need some kind of change to the tire. Dave Kaemmer will have more information on the new tire model in a few weeks. Goal for release: this year.
Continued work on the new interface. It needs a lot of work.
SHOCKER: iRacing is working on AI. Gardner says that they are “very far down the road with it.” As you can imagine, this opens a lot of doors. Practicing in an actual race with AI cars before you enter an official race is one of those doors. A more fun and relaxed format is another. The current plan is to offer one-off AI races as well as a career mode in which you can build your own series and schedule. There will be an AI difficulty adjustment. Nothing will ever replace racing against real drivers, but I think this will be great, especially for new members. Even if you don’t want to race AI, the development has helped iRacing with their netcode and prediction code issues and all members will benefit from that. Goal for release: this year.
Multiple new tracks for all forms of racing. One oval track [surely Pocono Raceway] is being completely reworked. Dozens of cars are also in the works.

Good stuff here from Tony Gardner. It’s always nice to hear about what is in development at iRacing, and some general release time frame.