iRacing is a subscription-based online sim racing video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008.
[1][2][3] iRacing primarily focuses on creating an environment in game that will mimic real-life driving as closely as possible, including the use of LIDAR-scanned cars and tracks.
[5] As of 2024, iRacing also added a realistic dynamic weather model, simulating rain and fog with its respective effects on the track's surface and temperature.
[6] Racing wheels and gamepads are supported, as are adaptive controllers and other auxiliary input devices.
[9] Initially limited to a small selection of tracks and cars, the developer has gradually added support for more of the game's content.
In the last week of the season, so-called Week 13, most regular official ranked series are suspended, and temporarily replaced by unranked races designed to be showcase the new, just released content, and to provide a slightly more relaxed racing experience.
The safety rating system in iRacing is a no-blame system for determining how "safe" a player is on the track by assigning "incident points" for events such as going off the track, losing control of the car, and contact with an object (usually a barrier or wall) or another car.
The resulting CPI figure determines the player's Safety Rating, calculated separately for each iRacing discipline.
Ranked races in the Rookie license class primarily utilize the content included with the base subscription.
[18] iRacing began to be developed in 2004, when Dave Kaemmer, co-founder of the Papyrus Design Group, partnered with John W. Henry to create FIRST.net LLC, which then acquired the code to NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.
[19] iRacing retains the multi-body physics system of NR2003, as well as some of the track presentation and multi-user packet code, but everything else has been changed, or is completely new, like the tire model and graphics engine.
[24] On November 2, 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame member Dale Earnhardt Jr. was named as executive director at iRacing.com.
As part of the agreement, the car known as the iRacing Formula iR-04 was relaunched as the FIA F4 with iRacing’s 2023 Season 3 update release in June 2023. iRacing.com has many other partnerships with other racing organizations like the USAC, and licensing deals with major automotive manufacturers like Audi and Mercedes.
[40][41][42][43] The service has also been criticized for not yet including features often found on other racing simulators, such as rain and more advanced visual damage modeling.
[44] PC Gamer stated that the game was "not one that will be to everyone's taste", while GameStar back in 2009 concluded "The graphics give the impression of an unfinished beta, but at least the atmosphere between the players is always friendly.