INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series | Race Preview: WWT Raceway

On Thursday night, the INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series moves back onto the oval for the third time in the inaugural 2024 season, with racing at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. The top-33 INDYCAR competitors will battle it out at the 1.25-mile, egg-shaped oval just east of St. Louis, in Madison, Illinois, for 108 laps of racing.

During the Qualifying Series race at WWT Raceway earlier in the summer months, it was Philip Kraus who scored the top split victory over Jason Brophy. PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype’s Kraus leads the way of the drivers considered more to be oval specialists, having already scored a victory at Iowa in the third race of the season. With three of the final four races of the season on the left turn only tracks, we will have to see if Team Redline can hold on to their championship chokehold with five drivers in the top-five after six races.

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 first time in the inaugural season, we have a multi-time winner in the series. Team Redline’s Edoardo Leo kicked off the year with a dominating run at the Indianapolis Road Course. At Mid-Ohio last week, he dominated even harder, leading every lap en route to his second win of the season. The opening lap aided in that, as Coanda Esports’ Jordan Caruso spun the tires coming to the green, forcing a multi-car pileup before Turn 1, involving many heavy hitters. Now Diogo Pinto leads the standings with four races to go.

Track Facts:

Located just east of St. Louis, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway’s 1.25-mile oval was built in 1996, over the site of the former St. Louis International Raceway. Like Darlington Raceway, the oval is asymmetrical, with Turns 1 and 2 profiled differently than Turns 3 and 4. The first top-level open wheel race came in 1997, with the CART Series competing there until 2000. The NTT INDYCAR Series took that date starting in 2001, but only held it until 2003. The track regained a date with the NTT INDYCAR Series in 2017 and has been a staple venue on the calendar ever since.

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:

The final road race of the season is in the eighth race slot on the schedule, and will take place at the WeatherTech Raceway in Laguna Seca. The 2.23-mile venue includes 11 corners, the most notable being the abrupt, downhill Corkscrew in Turns 7 and 8. Laguna Seca was not one of the seven tracks on the Qualifying Series schedule, which makes it another new track for these drivers to compete against one another on the season.

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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