INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series | Race Preview: Mid-Ohio

On Thursday night, the INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series moves into the second half of the inaugural 2024 season with the sixth race taking place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The penultimate road race of the season, these top-33 INDYCAR competitors will battle it out at the 2.25-mile, 13 corner circuit for 40 laps of competition with tire strategy to keep in mind.

During the Qualifying Series race at Mid-Ohio, Jordan Caruso took the checkered flag in the top split race, defeating Jose Soria and Edoardo Leo for the victory. After a devastating race at Indianapolis, Caruso and his Coanda Esports teammates will look to recover that same luck, but they’ll have to go against the powerhouses at Team Redline and Apex Racing Team to do so.

As always, each race will be broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday nights via iRacing social channels and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES YouTube channel and website.

Last Race:

For the second oval race of the 2024 season, PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype showed up and showed out once again with speed out of the gate. Robert Maleczka III and Jason Brophy headlined the front row, and traded the lead for the majority of the race. Brophy fell out of contention following pit stops, which led Apex Racing Team’s Brandon Traino and Team I5G’s Jacob Oster into the conversation. On a late yellow, Maleczka III stayed out while the other two pitted, ultimately taking them out of the race for the win. Maleczka III held off Coanda Esports’ Michael Romanidis and Elliott Vayron for his first win on the year, becoming the fifth different winner on the season in five races.

Track Facts:

Constructed near Mansfield, Ohio in 1962, Mid-Ohio originally featured a 2.4 mile, 15 turn layout, but updates through the years tweaked the track layout to include a bypass to the Keyhole chicane, resulting in the more widely-utilized 2.25-mile, 13 turn circuit, the same circuit that will be used in Thursday’s race. In its near-fifty year history, Mid-Ohio has hosted America’s premier racing series including the United States Road Racing Championship, Can-Am, Trans-Am and Formula 5000, along with IMSA, INDYCAR and NASCAR races.

About the Series:

The inaugural INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series season will feature a purse of $50,000 with the champion taking home $20,000 at season’s end. The 10 races scheduled include a fair mix of road courses and ovals that are often found on the real-world INDYCAR schedule. Points will now be scored based on a similar system that the real-world series uses, with 50 points going to the winner and bonus points for laps led, most laps led, and the pole award.

Next Up:

After Mid-Ohio, the series will take on a third oval of the season, this time at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway just east of St. Louis, in Madison, Illinois. 108 laps are scheduled at the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval, and during the Qualifying Series event a few months prior, it was Philip Kraus who scored the top split victory over Jason Brophy.

For more information on the INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series, visit www.iracing.com/indycar-esports/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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