Happy little accident – iRacing adds Gen 4 Cup series after “unintentional update”

The oval side of the iRacing community came together in an unprecedented way following the “unintentional update” that was given to the ARCA Menards Chevrolet Impala following the 2023 Season 2 build release. After originally being told it would be “fixed”, iRacers asked for a reconsideration.

With the rev limiter increased to 9700 rpms and the horsepower of the virtual motor notched up as well, the former National B Class car became a quick returning favorite on the service as dozens of hosted sessions were created overnight for members to join and partake in, made by other community members.

While these unintended updates also came with some negative side effects, such as overheating issues due to the high rpm, the overwhelming majority of the community, on social media and the iRacing forums, were clamoring for it to stay, myself included.

On Wednesday, just over 24 hours since the release of the new Season 2 build, iRacing announced that they are going to keep this new found power around and create a new official series for members to partake in.

“By popular demand, iRacing is happy to announce we are introducing a variant of the ARCA car built to Gen 4 specs next week,” iRacing Associate Producer Greg West wrote on the iRacing forum. “This car, which will be included for all customers that own the ARCA car, will debut in a new series at the Class C license level; the Gen 4 Cup- Fixed.”

The plan is to also keep what was previously built in the car, what it was supposed to stay as, so that iRacing can continue to offer a D-level license series for members to partake in.

“Please note that we will also be including a reversion of the ARCA car physics in a patch scheduled for Monday (13th March), to keep the Class D ARCA series intact,” West continued. He concluded by stating that iRacing is looking at “additional paths towards updating these offerings further.”

As mentioned in my hands-on last night, this car used to have the same powerband as what used to be the NASCAR Nationwide Series Class B cars. When those were updated in the real-world and subsequently in the sim, this became even less powerful and turned into an ARCA-spec machine.

The inaugural schedule for the Gen 4 Cup – Fixed series will visit multiple oval tracks across multiple disciplines, including intermediates like Homestead-Miami, old Atlanta, Darlington and old Texas, the superspeedway duo of Daytona and Talladega, and shorter tracks like Richmond and Bristol.

2023 Season 2 – Gen 4 Cup Fixed Schedule