On Wednesday (26th July), iRacing Senior Vice President and Executive Producer Greg Hill shared a Midseason Development Update with the iRacing community on the Forums, later republished on the main website and iRacing’s mobile app.
There were a number of topics that were discussed in the update, some of it being updates to existing content and further details on new systems like the eventual addition of rain, but it also included a ton of announcements on new content, not only tracks but also what seems to be a new single player option for members to get into.
Career for your computer
A “realistic and engaging Career Mode that is being built true to the authentic nature of what iRacing (and real world racing) is all about” was mentioned towards the latter half of the update. What specifically that entails, well, Hill doesn’t really dive further into it. I’d expect it to be based around their existing iRacing AI, though.
Granted, they’ve added Monster Games under their wing and the pairing have created a fairly successful console title with the World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing, and that has a comprehensive Career. Possibly, elements from that, combined with such elements from the Multiplayer iRacing system, such as driving cars earlier on that are more entry level, will likely be a part of it.
I’m a bit excited to see what exactly gets included in that. Someone like me would want to emulate a NASCAR career progression, but also would love to dabble in some open-wheel at some point, so it’d be interesting to see if that can be pulled off or if that’s even in the cards or a possibility.
Season 4 track announcements
Besides the career, there are some new tracks that will be included in the next update for 2023 Season 4 that were confirmed by Hill. Kern County, which doubles as a facility that houses a Dirt Oval and Asphalt Oval, is brand new and the two tracks will be packaged for one price in the next build. This track was revealed in the last Dev Update, but now we know a date for its release.
Zandvoort, meanwhile, already exists on iRacing, but it’s one of the oldest scans on the service. iRacing has rescanned the venue and will add it to the existing Zandvoort track as a bundle, where drivers who already own the old version will get the new one for free and anyone who buys the new track will get the old one included. This rescan was also previously announced.
That’s a bit of a change from previous releases, such as VIRginia International Raceway and Phoenix Raceway, where the older versions of the tracks were completely wiped from existence (granted Phoenix’s deleted track was a middle-aged track and the oldest version still exists as legacy content).
Other content coming in future builds
Circuito de Navarra will join the list of European Asphalt Road courses due to hit the service. Hill renamed Algarve/Portimão, Misano, Mugello, Pukekohe and Lédenon as well as coming to the service at some point. Also, there will be new tracks from the UK as well as some new tracks in Asia, but those are all unnamed at this moment.
Other tracks mentioned for future release include the Asphalt Oval short tracks Slinger and Winchester, and unnamed short oval cars were also mentioned but not named. Dirt Oval will also get some new tracks and a new car, but they also were not named, and Dirt Road is getting some love with a new track addition to Lucas Oil in Wheatland.
iRacing didn’t reveal any specific plans for any new cars yet, but honestly, besides the known upcoming cars like the 1987 NASCAR Pontiac (which would be a great announcement off the heels of the Firecracker, iRacing!), iRacers have so many other pieces of vehicle content to jump into currently and an overhaul on those systems would probably go over better.
Images / Source: iRacing
