INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series field set following Qualifying Series conclusion
September 12th, 2024 by Justin Melillo
The field for the 2024 INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series is set following the INDYCAR ButtKicker Pro Qualifying Series finale at Mid-Ohio. After seven races, with nearly 300 hopeful iRacing members competing against one another for a spot, the top-33 drivers have earned a chance to advance into the top-level eSports series later this month.
Those seven events, which included Long Beach, Barber Motorsports Park, World Wide Technology Raceway, Road America, Mid-Ohio, and two trips to Indianapolis, once on the oval and the other on the road course, sets up for a multinational, 10-race showdown to see who the best INDYCAR eSports driver in the world is. The action is set to begin on September 19th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Many familiar names, and even some previous iRacing World Champions, are included in the top-33. Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup champions Diogo Pinto and Jordan Caruso finished first and fourth, respectively, in the Qualifying Series’ final standings. An iRacing Grand Prix champion from 2021, Peter Berryman finished inside the top-33, ranking 11th overall. A good chunk of the field has previously competed in other iRacing eSports championships, namely the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup and previous iterations of the iRacing Grand Prix Championship.
The INDYCAR community on iRacing is also well-represented, with the likes of Brandon Traino (7th), Robert Maleczka (12th), Philip Kraus (13th), and Jacob Oster (16th) all ranking in the top-half of the top-33 standings. Rounding out the top-33 is one of the popular streamers in the community, Brendan “Hyperstar” Lichtenberg.
Every race in the Qualifying Series saw at least three splits of racing on a weekly basis, with points awarded based on each grid’s Strength of Field. The top-six points-paying results of each driver were factored into their final ranking.
2024 INDYCAR ButtKicker Pro Qualifying Series final standings are as follows:
Pos | Name | Club | Pts | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Poles | Avg Fin | Laps Led |
1 | Diogo C. Pinto | Iberia | 2124 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 43 |
2 | Michele Costantini | Italy | 2045 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 60 |
3 | José I. Soria | Iberia | 1988 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
4 | Jordan Caruso | Australia/NZ | 1967 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 54 |
5 | Gustavo Ariel | Brazil | 1910 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
6 | Luke McKeown | UK and I | 1806 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 34 |
7 | Brandon Traino | Carolina | 1778 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 160 |
8 | Elliott Vayron | France | 1609 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 29 |
9 | Ricardo Rico | Iberia | 1597 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 34 |
10 | Sota Muto | Japan | 1584 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
11 | Peter Berryman | UK and I | 1516 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 15 |
12 | Robert Maleczka III | Michigan | 1505 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
13 | Philip Kraus | Mid-South | 1455 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 42 |
14 | Florian A Lebigre | France | 1449 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
15 | Tamas Simon | Central-Eastern Europe | 1423 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 104 |
16 | Jacob Oster | Mid-South | 1382 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 6 |
17 | Jaden Munoz | Texas | 1378 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 57 |
18 | Dan Amor | UK and I | 1375 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 69 |
19 | Adam Crane | Canada | 1360 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 13 |
20 | Xavi Ros | Iberia | 1335 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 57 |
21 | Joshua Chin | Florida | 1323 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
22 | Sam Kuitert | Benelux | 1301 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
23 | Michael Romanidis | International Club | 1281 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
24 | Michael Janney | Atlantic | 1277 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
25 | Luis Núñez | Iberia | 1201 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
26 | David Toth | Central-Eastern Europe | 1161 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
27 | Jason Brophy | Northwest | 1155 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 95 |
28 | Jussi Kataja | Finland | 1154 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 40 |
29 | Jeff Drake | Michigan | 1138 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
30 | Cooper Webster | Australia/NZ | 1129 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4 |
31 | Edoardo Leo | Italy | 1128 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 29 |
32 | Kevin Birrell | Japan | 1127 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
33 | Brendan Lichtenberg | Midwest | 1077 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
Ten races are scheduled for the inaugural INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Pro Series, and includes 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. The ninth race of the season will be up to the community to decide, with the possible choices including The Milwaukee Mile, Monza Circuit, or the Red Bull Ring.
The series will run weekly, on Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET, and will be broadcasted live on all of iRacing’s social media channels. The top-level series will feature a purse of $50,000 with the champion taking home $20,000 at season’s end.
The 2024 INDYCAR ButtKicker Pro iRacing Series schedule is as follows:
- Sept 19, 2024 | Indianapolis – Road Course | 37 laps
- Sept 26, 2024 | Long Beach – Street Circuit | 40 laps
- Oct 3, 2024 | Iowa Speedway – Oval | 147 laps
- Oct 10, 2024 | Barber Motorsports Park | 39 laps
- Oct 17, 2024 | Indianapolis – Oval | 66 laps
- Oct 24, 2024 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | 40 laps
- Oct 31, 2024 | World Wide Technology Raceway – Oval (Gateway) | 108 laps
- Nov 7, 2024 | Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca | 40 laps
- Nov 14, 2024 | TO BE DETERMINED
- Nov 21, 2024 | Nashville Super Speedway – Oval | 114 laps
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.