The weather outside is frightful and the new iRacing build is delightful. Another iRacing season has passed and it’s time for a new build. While everybody is getting ready for the holidays, iRacing members discover the latest toys and updates in this new build.

New content

Not long after the release of dirt oval racing, iRacing releases a new discipline this build: rallycross. The new discipline is developed in partnership with Red Bull Global Rallycross. In this first iteration two cars are made available: Ford Focus and VW Beetle. The Beetle will be free and is available for all members.

On the oval side the dirt Midget makes it debut in iRacing, together with a new track. Knoxville Raceway is a 1/2 mile dirt oval, located on the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa. This race track hosts one of the biggest sprint car’s events of the year: Knoxville Nationals.

Updates

One of the biggest changes this build, is the release of the new pit crew animations. The new pit crew will only be available for the three major NASCAR series (cup, Xfinity, and trucks) in this first iteration. In the video below you can see the new crew in action.

Speaking of the three major NASCAR series. These cars got a major overhaul as well in terms of aerodynamics, chassis, and tires. For a more detailed explanation, please visit this topic on the iRacing form.

iRacing introduces a new license class for both dirt road and dirt oval. The new licenses have their own class, iRating and Safety Racing. The incident points for (car) contact will be more lenient in dirt racing, because “rubbing is racing”.

Read the full release notes below.

Change log:

License Classes

iRacing now has four unique License Classes!

Each of the four licenses are completely separate from each other, and you will have your own Class, iRating, and Safety Rating in each.

There is one license for each type of racing available: Oval, Road, Dirt Oval, and Dirt Road. Your initial Dirt Oval License Class was granted to you based on an algorithm that took into account both your 2017 Oval License Class, and your 2017 participation in Official Dirt Oval races.



Heat Racing

Heat Racing, a new format of racing competition has been added to iRacing!

Heat racing is a system of competition that divides racers into different groups, or Heats, based on their qualification performance. Each Heat has its own winners and losers, and the best racers from each Heat will go on to compete against each other in the final session, the Main Event. Before that, the other racers from each Heat will go on to Consolation Races, where they may have a chance to earn themselves a spot in the Main Event!

For detailed information on Heat Racing, check out this document:https://d3bxz2vegbjddt.cloudfront.net/dev/pdfs/2017-iracing-heat-racing-doc.pdf

You are able to create and join your own Hosted Sessions using the Heat Racing format!

This option is only available in the iRacing Beta Interface!

To setup your own Heat Race: Click on: “Go Racing”, then, “Create a Race”, then, in the “Set Race Options” section, for the “Event Type”, select “Heat Racing”. Then, select one of the different configurations in the dropdown and finally purchase your session and join!

To setup your own Heat Race: Session time and price are calculated using the maximum possible value for the number of entrants, which would yield the maximum number of Heat sessions being run. Thus, the time is an estimated total of the time limits for each of the predicted sessions plus a small buffer to account for session transitions and gridding times.

The cost for purchasing a Hosted Heat Racing Session has a 25% discount in addition to any other bulk discounts you may already receive.

Race Results

The in-Sim Race Results page has been reorganized to handle Heat Racing events, which can have many more sessions than just Practice/Qualify/Warmup/Race. If necessary, you can now scroll the Results left/right to reveal the results for the particular session of interest. Since all cars in the event are listed, yet only a subset of them actually drive in some of the sessions, you can sort the results for a particular session, thus grouping the cars that participated together, and pushing the cars that were not involved in that session to the bottom.

Asphalt Oval Racing

A physics overhaul has been performed on our asphalt oval cars!

For some extensive and detailed information, check out this link: http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3582329.page#10803442

Dirt Oval Racing

The default value for the starting track state for Dirt Ovals in a Race session has been lowered slightly for most cars, and has been lowered significantly for the Non-Winged Sprint Cars. This change will affect Official Sessions and any hosted sessions where the starting state is not explicitly specified.

The default value for the starting track state for Dirt Ovals in Test, Practice, and Unattached Qualify sessions has been increased to make these tracks more closely match typical starting race conditions. Overall, you should expect the track for a Dirt Oval Practice session to have nearly the same starting usage as a Race session for the entry-level Dirt Oval cars.

The variability in default starting track states for Dirt Ovals has been increased, meaning that when a starting usage value is not explicitly given, the distribution of generated usage percentages is wider. This will result in more variety in starting track state in Official Sessions and any hosted sessions where the starting state is not explicitly specified.

Dirt Oval Track surface properties have been adjusted to reduce traction.

For some extensive and detailed information on the changes within Dirt Oval Racing, check out this link: http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3582313.page#10803079

Red Bull Global Rallycross Series

Welcome to the world of Rallycross!

Rallycross is a form of racing that combines asphalt and dirt track sections into a short circuit, that also includes a dirt jump. There are limited penalties, no pit stops, and cars designed specifically for this racing format.

Rallycross cars and tracks have been added to the iRacing repertoire!

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

VW Beetle GRC

Daytona circa 2007 (Rallycross – Long)

Daytona circa 2007 (Rallycross – Short)

Iowa Speedway (Rallycross)

Lucas Oil Raceway (Rallycross)

Phoenix International Raceway – 2008 (Rallycross)

On the “Host A Race” page on the membersite, when a track with a Joker Lap (currently only Rallycross tracks) is selected, a new option for selecting the “Number of joker laps” is displayed. Additionally, Full Course Cautions and fast Tows are both completely disabled, and Standing Starts is mandatory.

Simulation

Headlights can no longer be disabled on Road courses at night.

The in-car slowdown penalty display now rounds up to the nearest tenth, so that “0.0” is never displayed for time remaining.

Dynamic Track

Improved the method for calculating simulated tire activity during track initialization.

Rendering

A new water shader has been implemented at Daytona circa 2007. This shader replaces the formerly static water effect with one which is reactive to the wind and uses current lighting techniques. Please look forward to this water shader seeping into other tracks later this season!

Audio

A new Ambient Volume slider can be found in the Options menu. This will control sounds like fireworks and jet fly-overs.

Fixed a bug that was causing backfires to emit at the wrong location when watching a replay. Backfires and shift sound emission should now also stick to the car, rather than Doppler shifting away when viewing from inside the cockpit.

Spotter

A brand new Spotter Pack, Cole Carter, the official spotter for Scott Speed, is now available in iRacing! This Spotter Pack is ready to assist in all types of racing, including all calls needed for Rallycross racing!

You may select which Spotter Pack iRacing uses in your Audio Options menu.

The default Aussie Spotter is ready to assist with Rallycross calls. Other Spotter Packs (except Cole Carter), are currently not setup to perform Rallycross calls.

Pit Crew

iRacing has now finished hiring and training a highly experienced and fully animated pit crew to service some cars and trucks!

NASCAR Camping World Chevrolet Silverado

NASCAR Camping World Toyota Tundra

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Chevrolet SS

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Ford Fusion

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Toyota Camry

NASCAR Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado circa 2013

NASCAR XFINITY Chevrolet Camaro

NASCAR XFINITY Ford Mustang

NASCAR XFINITY Toyota Camry

This super-fast and hardworking team will jump into action whenever you’re pitting with one of the above vehicles on a track where that vehicle should be racing competitively.

War wagons for many stock cars have been updated! The war wagons should now have more detail, and randomly opened toolbox doors.

Opponent Cars

Opponent car spec data has been updated for ALL cars.

The results of this change may be visible on timed penalties (such as cutting corners). An accurate car spec is required to determine the amount of time gained by cutting a corner and hence the appropriate penalty.

Fixed an issue with the way some cars looked due to an error in weight distribution.

Paint Kit

Improved font handling when painting cars.

In-Sim Race Radio

Added the ability for the Sim to ask, within a radio script, whether or not the current session is either a Qualify Session or a Race Session (qual_or_race), or if the current event is a Heat Racing event (heats).

See the “readme.txt” file located in your My Documents/iRacing/scripts/radio/ directory for more information.

Changed the default “StartDriving.txt” and “StopDriving.txt” radio scripts to mute/unmute @ALLTEAMS if “qual_or_race” is true.

This change is ONLY applied if you do not have customized versions of these two radio scripts. If you have customized versions of these scripts, and wish to incorporate these changes, see the “readme.txt” file located in your My Documents/iRacing/scripts/radio/ directory for more information on how to use them. (You would basically add “if qual_or_race mute @allteams” to the “StartDriving.txt” file, and “if qual_or_race unmute @allteams” to the “StopDriving.txt” file.)

Controls

A gold hand brake overlay has been added over the normal red brake bars shown during calibration and when in or out of your car. This overlay will only be present for our brand new Rallycross cars: the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, and the VW Beetle GRC.

Virtual Reality

Fixed an issue where mirrors and environment maps were rendering with the incorrect cameras when Oculus Rift or Vive was active.

Telemetry

New live 360 Hz telemetry variables have been added:

VelocityX_ST

VelocityY_ST

VelocityZ_ST

LongAccel_ST

LatAccel_ST

VertAccel_ST

RollRate_ST

PitchRate_ST

YawRate_ST

More telemetry variables are now optionally available to output at 360 Hz to the “.ibt” file.

The iRacing telemetry now includes a “NumJokerLaps:” property under “WeekendOptions:” that indicates the number of required Joker laps that must be taken in any race session.

The iRacing telemetry now includes a “JokerLapsComplete:” property for each “- Position:”.

Fixed a bug in telemetry session string “CurDriverIncidentCount,” output.

Fixed a telemetry bug that caused DRS lights to track the last car to join the session.

iRacing Beta Interface

The iRacing Beta Interface, which includes the Time Attack race mode, has been updated.

The iRacing Downloader is now fully integrated and functional within the iRacing Beta Interface, and no longer needs to direct the user to the iRacing membersite via a web browser.

The “Recent Results” section of the iRacing Beta Interface is now fully functional! This section will display results of all kinds from the past 24 hours.

The “Sign Out” section that was in the bottom-left corner has returned to the top-right corner, and is now a dropdown menu.

The “My Content” section has been folded into a dropdown menu that appears when you click on your profile name box in the top left corner.

This section includes where you can view the Cars and Tracks you own, as well as your Racing Suit and Helmet.

Within the Cars and Suit & Helmet sections, you can also access the Paint Kit to customize each item.

You are able to create and join your own Hosted Sessions using the Heat Racing format!

This option is only available in the iRacing Beta Interface!

To setup your own Heat Race: Click on: “Go Racing”, then, “Create a Race”, then, in the “Set Race Options” section, for the “Event Type”, select “Heat Racing”. Then, select one of the different configurations in the dropdown and finally purchase your session and join!

To setup your own Heat Race: Session time and price are calculated using the maximum possible value for the number of entrants, which would yield the maximum number of Heat sessions being run. Thus, the time is an estimated total of the time limits for each of the predicted sessions plus a small buffer to account for session transitions and gridding times.

The cost for purchasing a Hosted Heat Racing Session has a 25% discount in addition to any other bulk discounts you may already receive.

Style and Layout:

The side-bar action buttons under the “Go Racing” section for “Create a Race” and “Test Drive” are now toggleable, and can be managed in the “Settings” menu. They have been turned off by default.

Fixed an issue where some dropdown menus were dropping down behind other interface elements.

The gutter between items in the grid view has been reduced, leaving more space for text.

Overall style has been tweaked.

Sorting, Filtering, and Searching:

The term “Ranked” has been changed from a Tag into a Category for sorting and filtering.

When filtering or searching, if no results are found, the “No Results Bar” should now always appear.

The default “no results” text has been updated.

Fixed an issue with sorting cars and tracks. This should now work properly.

Both the “My Cars” and “My Tracks” sections should now sort items by “Name” by default.

Both the “My Cars” and “My Tracks” sections should no longer show Unowned content.

The Store should no longer show Owned content.

The method for determining if you own a piece of content has been improved.

Favorites:

The toggle for Favorites should now work again for all Car and Track lists.

Fixed a rendering issue with the Favorite Star when selecting a car or track.

Official Series:

Now, up to 10 sessions will be displayed for Official Sessions.

Creating a Session:

In the Create a Race modal, selecting a different Race Server now updates the server name.

In the Create a Race modal, the purchase cost amount should always be correctly displayed.

In the Create a Race modal, the “Track State: Rubber % Slider” has been fixed.

Joining a Session:

The modal for joining a Hosted Session now displays the currently Registered Drivers.

Fixed some issues with the Weather Card when viewing the information for a User-Created Session.

Sporting Code

Some additional information has been added to the Time Attack section.

The term “Ranked” will now pertain to Official iRacing Sessions in which a participant’s iRating and Safety Rating will be affected.

CARS:

Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

Season setups have been updated.

Dallara DW12

Season setups have been updated.

Dirt Midget

NEW CAR!

The Dirt Midget has been added to the iRacing virtual garage!

This vehicle is now available for purchase in the iRacing Store.

Originating in the United States in the 1930s and now raced on a global scale, the Midget cars are an incredibly fun spectacle to witness. These cars appear very small but pack a huge power-to-weight ratio and typically run four-cylinder engines. The cars feature a handful of safety features including their own roll cages due to the dangerous nature of their power. The small vehicles weigh in around only 900 pounds but carry engines capable of 300 to 400 horsepower. Often used as a stepping stone to high profile divisions, Dirt Midget races can often feature drivers of high notoriety such as Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, and others. Arguably the most famous Dirt Midget event, the Chili Bowl takes place in early January at the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Dirt Sprint Car

(ALL) – Aero sensitivity to top wing angle and position has been adjusted.



(ALL) – Adjusted suspension geometry to promote more realistic body pitch / roll motion.

(ALL) – Legal CW limits are now bound between 42% and 49% in the garage.

(ALL) – Season setups have been updated.

Dirt Sprint Car Non-Winged

(ALL) – Adjusted suspension geometry to promote more realistic body pitch / roll motion.

(ALL) – Legal CW limits are now bound between 42% and 49% in the garage.

(ALL) – Season setups have been updated.

Dirt U.M.P. Modified

Fixed an issue where the brake bias adjustment knob was rotating on opponent cars.

Season setups have been updated.

Ferrari 488 GTE

Pit scripts have been updated so re-fueling and tire changes take place simultaneously per expected WEC sporting regulations for the 2018-2019 season.

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

NEW CAR!

The Ford Fiesta RS WRC has been added to the iRacing roster of vehicles!

This vehicle is now available for purchase in the iRacing Store.

The ability to go 0-60mph in under 2 seconds is a phenomenal feat. Probably not a feat you would expect your friendly neighborhood Ford Fiesta to achieve. But take that Fiesta and pack it with a 600-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter engine powering all four wheels and that is exactly the kind of acceleration you get. Rallycross cars are little beasts unlike any other vehicle, and the Ford Fiesta RS WRC is no exception. Driven by Steve Arpin in the Red Bull Global Rallycross Series, this vehicle transitions from dirt to asphalt and back to dirt seamlessly.

Ford GT – 2017

Pit scripts have been updated so re-fueling and tire changes take place simultaneously per expected WEC sporting regulations for the 2018-2019 season.

Updates to ensure the rear tires will spin at launch when launch and traction control are disabled.

Formula Renault 2.0

Tire damping has been increased.

McLaren MP4-12C GT3

The windshield banner is now part of the body texture, and should be editable by the user.

NASCAR Camping World Chevrolet Silverado & Toyota Tundra

Intensive vehicle updates including:

Tire updates.

Suspension adjustments for better height control.

Additional shock damping.

Aerodynamics updates.

Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR K&N Pro Chevrolet Impala

Intensive vehicle updates including:

Tire updates.

Suspension adjustments for better height control.

Additional shock damping.

Aerodynamics updates.

Fixed an issue with cockpit windshield reflections.

Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion, and Toyota Camry

Intensive vehicle updates including:

Tire updates.

Suspension adjustments for better height control.

Additional shock damping.

Aerodynamics updates.

Fixed an issue with Left-Front toe range.

– Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Nationwide Chevrolet Impala circa 2011

Intensive vehicle updates including:

Tire updates.

Suspension adjustments for better height control.

Additional shock damping.

Aerodynamics updates.

Fixed an issue with chrome on the chassis and windshield.

Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevrolet Impala COT circa 2013

Intensive vehicle updates including:

Tire updates.

Suspension adjustments for better height control.

Additional shock damping.

Aerodynamics updates.

Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado circa 2013

Intensive vehicle updates including:

Tire updates.

Suspension adjustments for better height control.

Additional shock damping.

Aerodynamics updates.

NASCAR XFINITY Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang, and Toyota Camry

Intensive vehicle updates including:

Tire updates.

Suspension adjustments for better height control.

Additional shock damping.

Aerodynamics updates.

Season setups have been updated.

Super Late Model

Season setups have been updated.

VW Beetle GRC

NEW CAR!

The VW Beetle GRC has been added to the iRacing roster of vehicles!

This vehicle is FREE for all iracing.com Members!

A little buggy that packs a big punch, the Volkswagen Beetle GRC crosses asphalt and gravel effortlessly with its turbocharged, four-cylinder engine. Championed by Red Bull Global Rallycross driver Scott Speed, his 560-horsepower machine has proven to be a formidable powerhouse, winning three championship titles in a row (2015, 2016, 2017). The all wheel drive Beetle can accelerate from 0 to 60mph in just two seconds, meaning you’ll be putting the transversally mounted, six-speed racing gear box to good use right off the starting grid. This Volkswagen Beetle GRC features a retro form that pays homage to the original Volkswagen Type 1, the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform ever made.

TRACKS:

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Auto Club Speedway

(Oval) – Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Charlotte Motor Speedway

(Oval) – Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Adjusted Pit and Grid stalls as follows:

(Classic Pits) – Pit Stalls = 37

(Classic Pits) – Grid Stalls = 60

(Endurance) – Pit Stalls = 60

(Endurance) – Grid Stalls = 60

(Grand Prix Pits) – Pit Stalls = 42

(Grand Prix Pits) – Grid Stalls = 60

Concord Speedway

Fixed an intermittent crashing error at this track.

Daytona circa 2007

NEW TRACK CONFIGURATIONS!

A new Rallycross configuration (Rallycross – Long) has been added to this track!

A new Rallycross configuration (Rallycross – Short) has been added to this track!

All members own this track by default, and these new configurations are now available for use.

Dover International Speedway

Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Iowa Speedway

NEW TRACK CONFIGURATION!

A new Rallycross configuration has been added to this track!

A member who already owns or purchases this track gains access to this new configuration.

Kansas Speedway

Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Knoxville Raceway

NEW TRACK!



Knoxville Raceway has been added to the digital landscape of iRacing!

This track is now available for purchase in the iRacing Store.

Located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa, USA, this half-mile dirt oval raceway is revered as the “Sprint Car Capital of the World”. Every August the Knoxville Nationals, the paramount sprint car event in the United States, is held at Knoxville Raceway. The event takes place over two days and now features a nearly one-million-dollar prize purse. The track was originally built in the late 1800s as a horse racing venue and has progressed from racing stock cars to modifieds to supermodifieds to its current sprint cars.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

(Oval) – Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Lucas Oil Raceway

NEW TRACK CONFIGURATION!

A new Rallycross configuration has been added to this track!

A member who already owns or purchases this track gains access to this new configuration.

Michigan International Speedway

Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Phoenix International Raceway – 2008

NEW TRACK CONFIGURATION!

A new Rallycross configuration has been added to this track!

All members own this track by default, and this new configuration is now available for use.

Pocono Raceway

(Oval) – Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Richmond International Raceway

Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.

Texas Motor Speedway

(Oval) – Track settings have been adjusted to better correlate to real world lap times.