The ITA Open Wheel Challenge

The ITA/MAD Sim Racing community had been out of the league racing game for some time, when almost a year ago we took the gamble again to organize and host weekly racing with the emergence of the Dallara IL-15 Indy NXT car. The first season of the newly opened ITA Open Wheel Challenge was a roll of the device—we decided early that if we built it, but they didn’t come, then the schedule may conclude early if interest and participation dwindled. What we’ve seen endure for a year now has not been the maxed out field, standing-room-only situation you may see in series featuring some of the most popular cars on iRacing, but the consistency and weekly enthusiasm has made the series that may never have been return for a 5th season, and a fresh run around the calendar in Fall 2026. None of it would be possible without the drivers who have stopped in across seasons, and who have been with us the whole way. So what is in store for Season 5?

For the newcomer, it’s important to describe the series: we didn’t set out to make a series that needs a fifteen minute driver’s meeting each week, a pages-long custom rulebook, special systems to deal with problems—we aren’t here to wave a rulebook around. Obviously there are pros and cons to whatever approach, but we can say that after a year, we have not seen real conflicts or issues that have required a change to approach. The competition is taken seriously, but the goal of the series is fun, community, camaraderie, and for different levels of experience and ability in the open wheel car. If you’re looking for a league to roleplay being an up-and-coming IndyCar driver, this may not be the series for you; if you’re fun and a little relaxed, you may have a new home.

After a short summer season, where longtime series driver Charlie Hosea took home the championship, and became our fourth different champion in the year history of the series, we return to ovals on the calendar. This kicks off the schedule with a sunset visit to Phoenix, and immediately keeping those skills sharp with a run at Nashville Fairgrounds. Next we go on a road run in Florida, returning to St. Petersburg street circuit, and our first time visit to the bumpy Sebring full course. We hit several more tracks for the first time, including the Miami course, North Wilkesboro, San Diego, and in the December Daytona 24 prep season, we give it a go at Daytona Road Course. Of course we finish with a longer race at Gateway, a track that in all of our long seasons has closed us out and has become a tradition.

We made some adjustments in the summer season that will morph into the fall season—we will be keeping the shorter times, which will make it a more streamlined Thursday racing experience. We will also keep the slightly later session open time, with a 30 minute open qualifying session opening at 8PM EST and generally jumping right into racing action at 8:30PM EST. For the road races, this will be a 30 minute timed race, keeping the time commitment to a smooth hour; for oval races this will vary. We will also be doing without any fast repairs, a change from the past seasons where we included one. Setups will remain fixed, so just arrive and drive!

With the Phoenix opener coming this week, we can’t wait to welcome back our series family, and extend an invite to any and all newly interested iRacers to stop in and race with us, whether full or part time. Simply join the ITA/MSR Discord linked on the league page and homepage of this website, find the ITA Open Wheel Challenge channels on Discord, and let us know you would like to race. We’ve got you from there. We can’t wait to see you at that carefully curated Phoenix sunset.

9/10 Phoenix - 80 Laps

9/17 Nashville Fairgrounds - 70 Laps

9/24 St Petersburg - 30 MINS

10/1 OFF

10/8 Sebring - 30 MINS

10/15 Nashville Superspeedway - 60 Laps

10/22 Phillip Island - 30 MINS

10/29 Miami Autodrome - 30 MINS

11/5 OFF

11/12 Iowa - 70 Laps

11/19 San Diego - 30 Mins

11/26 OFF

12/3 North Wilkesboro - 60 Laps

12/10 Daytona Road Course - 30 Mins

12/17 Gateway - 100 Laps (Finale Special)