iRacing has introduced the return of the IndyCar Thrustmaster iRacing Professional Sequence for the 2026 season.
The sim racing competitors will see 33 drivers compete for a share of a $50,000 (~£37,051) prize pool throughout eight rounds.
The season options the highest 12 drivers from the 2024’s championship, which incorporates Crew Redline‘s defending champion, Diogo Pinto. The remaining 21 slots can be crammed by drivers from the INDY NXT Thrustmaster Qualifying Sequence, with the likes of former iRacing World Champion Peter Berryman making their debuts.
Much like real-world IndyCar, drivers will race throughout a mix of avenue, highway, and oval circuits from January eighth to February twenty sixth. Notably, followers will decide the situation of the seventh spherical by means of a public vote.
IndyCar and iRacing aren’t any strangers to becoming a member of forces. In January 2024, the 2 events signed a multi-year licensing settlement, ensuing within the return of the favored iRacing Indianapolis 500 Particular Occasion and the launch of a standalone racing title. The title, developed by iRacing Studios, is predicted to launch within the second half of 2026.
Is Sim Racing Slowing Down?
Following sim racing’s preliminary increase in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the style’s esports ecosystem has plateaued, regardless of continued funding from a number of notable stakeholders inside motorsport.
In November 2025, the FIA hosted the MENA Esports Championship, the primary sim racing occasion to function underneath the governing physique’s Worldwide Sporting Code, which now consists of an esports regulatory framework.
Could noticed German automotive marque Porsche open a devoted sim racing facility at its Cologne headquarters, offering a spot to apply for its manufacturing unit crew.
The return of IndyCar’s prime esports competitors is a large optimistic for sim racing, which has seen a decline within the variety of competitions in current months. With a big prize pool concerned, it will likely be attention-grabbing to see if it might efficiently have interaction followers of the real-world and digital motorsport.
