What is the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race?

The Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race is a motorsports competition held annually in the fall. Led by a dedicated staff united with a passion for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the race is contested on the popular iRacing Motorsports Simulations platform available to online “sim racers” from all around the world.

It is not designed to profit Open-Wheels, rather reward the competitors for their efforts in a similar fashion to the allure of the real-life 500-mile event held in Indianapolis each May.

When is the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race?

The two weeks of on-track action kicks off with opening practice for the Open-Wheels 500 on Monday, November 4, 2024. Practice continues throughout the week, culminating in “Fast Friday” on Friday, November 8. The atmosphere builds until qualifications weekend on November 9th and 10th.

On-track action will once again resume after a week’s pause week for drivers in the race, with the final practice session before race day on Wednesday, November 20 marks the final chance for drivers to benchmark themselves against other qualified drivers.

Friday, November 22 will serve as Media Day ahead of the race, with one final chance to competitors to share their thoughts heading into race day.

Race day is Saturday, November 23 – with a full day of festivities planned!

What purpose does the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race serve?

To provide a motorsports event between each iteration of the real-life “500” each May that honors and respects the traditions, pageantry, spectacle, and spirit of the race in the same way that former Indianapolis Motor Speedway track owner Tony Hulman cared for the event.

By giving iRacing’s members an opportunity to experience the importance and grandeur of the event in some comparable way on iRacing, Open-Wheels aims to produce an event that becomes respected in not only the sim racing society but motorsports society as a whole.

What is the vision of the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race?

To incorporate as many traditions and ties to the real-life “500” as possible in a tribute to the race. This event is designed to offer competitors many of the elements that come with racing in this event in real life that iRacing cannot provide in their simulation-wide event held each May. This includes prizes (both in monetary and item form), a three-wide start, two days of qualifying with a true bumping format, increased media coverage and more.

The aim is to make the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race the most prestigious open-wheel racing event on the service and the premier 500-mile Indianapolis event in sim racing.

If I become a sponsor of the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race, what happens to the funds that I donate to the event?

All funds generated by Open-Wheels for the event will be used to either pay for the driver purse and their prizes, or for expenses – such as the cost of broadcasting the race and qualifications, fees designated by iRacing to host the event on their servers, and shipping costs for prize packages.

If you have any questions or general inquiries about the Open-Wheels 500 Mile Race, please contact Arjuna Kankipati at arjuna@Open-Wheels.com.