INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – After a one-year absence from competition, Open-Wheels Motorsports Sanctioning is proud to announce the fourth running of the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race, to be held Saturday, November 23rd, 2024.
The event returns to celebrate the history Greatest Spectacle in Racing and to bring sim racers from all around the world to compete in the most authentic, dramatic, and immersive “500” experience in sim racing amidst an exciting time for the iRacing IndyCar Community.
“We’re only a few months away from returning to the Speedway, and I’m excited to reveal the race date for the return of this great race,” said Arjuna Kankipati, president of the Open-Wheels 500. “After the disappointing news in 2023 that we would be unable to host the Open-Wheels 500 in a way that aligned with our goals for the event, we kept planning ahead for the time when we could return. This summer, the VCO IndyCar Challenge powered by Open-Wheels proved that not only is the iRacing IndyCar Community bigger than ever, the competition level has never been higher either and we are excited to be looking forward towards the start of the World’s Greatest Sim Race”.
The Opening Day of Practice will be held on Monday, November 4th followed by a further practice day on Wednesday, November 6th building to “Fast Friday” on Friday, November 8th. Pole Day qualifications will be held on Saturday, November 9th with Bump Day qualifications locking in the field of 33 on Sunday, November 10th.
As the Open-Wheels 500 takes place during the inaugural IndyCar ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series, drivers will have a one-week gap after qualifying weekend before having to turn their attention to race week. During race week, the 33 qualified competitors will have one final practice on Wednesday, November 20th to work on their cars heading into Race Day just 3 days later.
More details regarding the event schedule will be shared over the coming weeks.
The first three runnings of the event saw a diverse group of drivers from around the world attempt to make the field of 33, leading to what some consider the most talented grid in iRacing “500” history. Showing the diversity of the entry list, the inaugural Open-Wheels champion, Michele Costantini (Coanda Esports), hails from Italy while his successor in 2020 and defending champion from 2022, Hugo Olsson (Powerslide Motorsports), calls Sweden home.
“The way the Open-Wheels 500 replicates the real life counterpart is amazing with the stress of going out there qualifying knowing how few attempts you have. I believe nothing gets close to it in IndyCar sim racing”, said Olsson as he reflected on his wins in 2020 and 2022.
Olsson’s teammate Robert Maleczka III accomplished a rare feat earlier this year, winning both the iRacing Indy 500 and the iRacing Fixed Indy 500 on the same weekend. “To win at Indianapolis it takes 3 things: patience, speed, teamwork. In May, not only did we have the speed to win the race, but as a team we stayed patient, stuck to our plan and was able to make fuel milage as a team to give us the best opportunity to win that we have ever had”, said Maleczka when looking back at his success in June. “, Alex and Hugo were also in contention to win the iRacing Indy 500 in the closing laps and I’m proud to have brought home the first iRacing Indy 500 win for Powerslide”.
For interested participants, entries will be accepted between September 21 and October 21. Entries from all drivers are welcomed, and the entry form will be accessible on September 21 via Open-Wheels.com, the iRacing forums, the Open-Wheels 500 Discord, and Open-Wheels social media.
