Dirt Racing for iRacing is one of the most eagerly anticipated upcoming features for the sim, ever since it was first teased as an April Fools half-joke. Now, we are likely just weeks away, as Steve Myers of iRacing has given us a date: March 29th!

The news comes on the heels of news that next week’s update will unfortunately NOT include the new feature, due to some bits still needing to be ironed out. However, we did get this update from Steve Myers:

Hi all, I know that the excitement to finally start racing on dirt is very high! We are so very close to be able to get our first go at this out but we have a few open issues that we would like to get in a better place before we do that. So we have made the decision to NOT release dirt next week. What we have decided though is that we are going to officially target a release of some kind of oval dirt racing by March 29th. If the open issues are fixed quickly it very well could be before the 29th but we are committing to do our best to release some combination of the dirt content by March 29th. Thanks for your patience and we really are excited at how this is turning out and we think you will love it! -Steve Myers

While it is somewhat upsetting we won’t get Dirt next week, March 29th is just a few short weeks away! I am quite excited for the update, and also the new track that has been unveiled, Volusia Speedway Park!

Volusia will round out the launch roster of 4 dirt ovals that will be launched upon release (with the other 3 being Williams Grove, Eldora, and USA International Speedway Dirt). Volusia Speedway Park is a half mile “clay/dirt oval”, and is regarded as “The fastest half mile in the world”. Considering the fact that the pole a couple weeks ago was 13.006 seconds, I’m inclined to agree (to compare, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole time at Bristol Motor Speedway last year was 14.991).

I’m excited for this upcoming release, especially since it’s likely going to be a few days before my birthday! What do you think? Comment below, or discuss in our forums!