Draft:Hoosier 500
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| Submission declined on 8 June 2025 by Ozzie10aaaa (talk). needs many references
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This draft has been resubmitted and is currently awaiting re-review. |  |
Comment: may be notable, however needs many references Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 17:09, 5 June 2025 (UTC)
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| Platform | iRacing |
|---|---|
| Venue | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| Corporate sponsor | Performance Racing Industry (2024-present) |
| First race | 2019 |
| Distance | 500 miles (805 km) |
| Laps | 200 |
| Most wins | Hugo Olsson (2) |
| Circuit information | |
| Length | 2.5 mi (4.0 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Lap record | 38.847 sec (231.678 mph; 372.850 km/h) (Wilson Neto, 2020) |
The Hoosier 500, formally known as the Hoosier 500 Mile Race, is an annual simulation racing event held at the virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event is held in mid-December on the Sunday following the Performance Racing Industry trade show in Indianapolis. It is contested on the online sim racing video game, iRacing, with competitors driving a Dallara IR18 INDYCAR. The event, billed as The World's Greatest Sim Race, aims to replicate the Indianapolis 500 via a virtual experience for its competitors and spectators.[1]
The inaugural race was held in 2019 and was won by Michele Costantini.[2] The event was put on hiatus twice, in 2021 due to an ownership transition and in 2023 due to the iRacing/INDYCAR licensing dispute. Phil Kraus, the winner in 2024, is the reigning champion. Hugo Olsson is the most successful driver in the race's history, winning back-to-back races in 2020 and 2022.[3]
The event celebrates Indianapolis 500 traditions via pre-race ceremonies, familiar race procedures, and post-race celebrations. Among them are the 33-car starting grid aligned in rows of three, the annual singing of the chorus of "Back Home Again in Indiana", and the celebratory bottle of milk enjoyed by the race winner. Qualifications require the driver to complete four, rather than one, timed laps, and time trials are conducted on a separate weekend. The event regularly garners over 100 competitors vying for one of the 33 starting positions.[4]
History
[edit]The origins of the Hoosier 500 date back to the founding of Open-Wheels.com in 2012 by Tony Tellez. Initially launched as a blog covering the then-Izod IndyCar Series, the site featured contributions from early writers including Matt Hickey, David Bolton, and a number of other fan contributors.[5]
In early 2017, Tanner Watkins began writing for Open-Wheels, gradually taking on a larger editorial role. Later that year, Tellez stepped away from the project and transferred ownership to Watkins. Under his leadership, the site was relaunched on November 10, 2017, with a new brand identity and a more structured focus on daily news reporting within the Verizon IndyCar Series.[6]
In 2018, Open-Wheels received its first credentials to cover the Indianapolis 500, expanding its presence in professional motorsports media. Over the next three years, the site regularly published interviews with figures such as Mario Andretti and Dr. Jerry Punch, partnered with Driven2SaveLives for May outreach campaigns, and featured ongoing coverage of Road to Indy prospects including Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, and Pato O'Ward.[7]
By 2019, Watkins—a longtime sim racer—began identifying ways to better simulate the Indianapolis 500 experience within iRacing. In response to perceived gaps in the platform's official events, he organized a new virtual race that embraced traditional elements like unlimited qualifying attempts and a three-wide start.[8]
The inaugural Open-Wheels 500 took place on November 17, 2019, and attracted over 100 entrants.[9] It was widely regarded as a standout independently organized event in the sim racing community. Participation grew in the second edition, held in November 2020, which saw 110 entries. True to its grassroots ethos, the race has historically offered free registration and encouraged open participation, reflecting the inclusive spirit of early Indianapolis 500 races.[10]
In 2021, Watkins stepped away from the event, handing the reins to sim racing broadcaster Arjuna Kankipati. Over the next several years, Kankipati managed two editions of the race, including during the challenges posed by a licensing dispute between iRacing and IndyCar in 2023.[11] His stewardship was credited with sustaining and evolving the event during a period of uncertainty.[12]
After discussions throughout mid to late 2024, Watkins reacquired the rights to the race, this time bringing on Ryan Schuld as Chief Development Officer. On December 6, 2024, the event was officially rebranded as the Hoosier 500, a move intended to strengthen its ties to Indiana and the heritage of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The rebranding marked a new chapter in the event's development while continuing the legacy established under the Open-Wheels 500 name. On December 30, it was announced that the Hoosier 500 would have its first title sponsor - Performance Racing Industry.[13]
Winners
[edit]| Year | Date | Driver | No. | Team | Laps | Mi | Km | Time | MPH | KPH | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | November 17 | Michele Costantini | 66 | Apex Racing Team with Indy 500 Group |
200 | 500 | 800 | 2:25:53.160 | 205.641 | 330.947 | PDF[14] |
| 2020 | November 15 | Hugo Olsson | 39 | Powerslide Motorsports |
200 | 500 | 800 | 2:33:40.795 | 195.211 | 314.162 | Recap[15] |
| 2022 | November 19 | Hugo Olsson | 1 | Powerslide Motorsports |
200 | 500 | 800 | 2:37:40.200 | 190.261 | 306.195 | Recap[16] |
| 2024 | November 23 | Phil Kraus | 19 | PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype |
200 | 500 | 800 | 2:31:05.000 | 194.660 | 313.275 | PDF[17] |
Race Specifics
[edit]The Hoosier 500 is held annually on iRacing at the virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile (4 km) oval circuit. The track is a rounded rectangle, with four distinct turns of identical dimensions, connected by four straightaways (two long straightaways and two "short chutes").[18]
The field consists of 33 starters, aligned in a starting grid of eleven rows of three cars apiece. Drivers race 200 laps, counter-clockwise around the circuit, for a distance of 500 miles (800 km). Since its inception in 2019, the race had been scheduled around Veterans Day in mid-November. Starting in 2025, the race will be scheduled for the first Sunday following completion of the Performance Racing Industry trade show as part of the race's corporate partnership. Practice and time trials are held in the two weeks leading up to the race, while miscellaneous preliminary testing is held as early as November.[19]
As the event is not contested as part of a season-long championship, teams prepare for weeks specifically for the Hoosier 500 without distraction from other races in the fall. The race does not utilize the green-white-checker finish in the case of a late-race yellow - similar to the Indianapolis 500 and other IndyCar Series races.[20]
Car
[edit]The event is contested by virtual "Indy cars", a formula of single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel, purpose-built race cars. All entrants utilize 2.2L V6, twin-turbocharged engines, tuned to produce a range of 550-750 horsepower (410-560 kW). Dallara is at present the sole chassis supplier for the event. Firestone, which has a deep history in IndyCar racing dating back to the first Indianapolis 500, is currently the exclusive tire provider.[21]
Field
[edit]The traditional 33-car starting field at the Hoosier 500 is larger than the fields at other IndyCar races held on iRacing. The field typically consists of iRacing IndyCar community regulars - those who race in weekly official series - along with a large contingent of one-off, "Indy-only" entries consisting of drivers from various disciplines such as sports cars, NASCAR, and more.[4]
Technical regulations
[edit]Technical specifications for the race are currently written by Open-Wheels Motorsports Sanctioning. With the event using a spec chassis - and technical limitations specified by iRacing - the rulebook does not change significantly from year-to-year. In fact, Open-Wheels Motorsports Sanctioning does not enforce any specific technical regulations as each car that races on-track needs to pass iRacing technical inspection first.[22]
Qualifying procedure
[edit]The race utilizes a hybrid approach to traditional Indianapolis 500 qualifying procedures. The current four-lap (ten-mile) qualifying distance mirrors the same format which was introduced at the Indianapolis 500 in 1920.[23]
Presently, qualifying occurs across two days. On Day 1, only position 1 is set - a day commonly known as Pole Day. All other positions are confirmed after Day 2 - also known as Bump Day - with the fastest 33 drivers in qualifications making the race. Drivers are allowed a total of three attempts across qualifications, with each new attempt forfeiting the previous time posted by the entry.[24]
- Saturday: All entries are guaranteed at least one attempt to qualify via the qualifications draw, and can make additional attempts as time permits. If a driver misses their time to run in the qualifications draw order, they may request an opportunity to qualify in the open queue as time permits. At the conclusion of first day qualifications, the fastest driver will be awarded the highly coveted pole position and is the only driver whose grid position is confirmed at that point in time trials.[25]
- Sunday: There are no guaranteed attempts to qualify - the full session is open on a first-come, first-served basis for drivers to make qualifying attempts. At the conclusion of second day qualifications, the 33 fastest entries with a posted qualifications attempt will be selected for the starting grid - the pole winner on Saturday, plus the next 32 fastest entries. Of the total field of 33, drivers with times posted only on day one will be gridded ahead of drivers who posted qualifications attempts on day two.[25]
For each attempt, cars are required to run one out lap and one warm-up lap. An attempt can be waived off by the team during the warm-up period for any reason, or by race officials for not meeting warm-up pace minimums. Once an attempt officially begins, the attempt can be waved off at any time during the four-lap period by team, driver, or race officials. (Officials will wave off the run if it is obvious that the run will not be fast enough to qualify and it is getting late in the day.) If an attempt is waved off after the run starts, the attempt counts and the previous time is still forfeited.[25]
Broadcasting
[edit]Each edition of the race has been broadcast live in its entirety on YouTube since 2019. RaceSpot TV carried flagship coverage of the race broadcast since the race's inception in 2019 through the 2024 event, additionally adding final-hour qualifications coverage of the event on both Pole Day and Bump Day.[26][27][28][29]
In 2025, coverage of the Hoosier 500 will move to the Performance Racing Industry's Facebook and YouTube pages as part of the race's new corporate partnership. [30] Production of the event will be handled by P1 Broadcasting, who will provide daily coverage of practice and qualifications in the buildup to race day.[31]
In past editions of the race, practice and qualifications were streamed live on the Open-Wheels YouTube page before RaceSpot TV broadcasts would begin. Today at the 500 is the race's flagship daily show, running for one hour while covering the latest storylines during the event.[32]
References
[edit]- ^ "About the Hoosier 500". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ^ thepitwindow (2019-11-18). "iRacing: Constantini Wins Open-Wheels .com 500". The Pit Window by Mike Silver. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ tjwhoosier500 (2024-09-13). "Back Home Again: Open-Wheels 500 Scheduled for november 2024". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b thepitwindow (2019-11-07). "There Is Some Other News". The Pit Window by Mike Silver. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Open-Wheels » About". open-wheels.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Open Wheels - Wheel-to-wheel coverage of the Verizon IndyCar Series". Open-Wheels.com. Archived from the original on 2017-11-11. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Indianapolis 500 | Page 2 of 28 | Open-Wheels.com". Open-Wheels.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Release: Open-Wheels.com 500 Mile Race to be held this November on iRacing". Open-Wheels.com. 2019-06-24. Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ thepitwindow (2019-11-07). "There Is Some Other News". The Pit Window by Mike Silver. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ tannerjwatkins (2019-06-28). "Good morning everyo…". r/iRacing. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Straw, Mike (2023-11-15). "IndyCar Terminates Agreement With Motorsport Games". Insider Gaming. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ tjwhoosier500 (2024-11-24). "Schuld, Watkins Re-Acquire Open-Wheels 500". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "PRI Becomes Title Sponsor, Official Broadcast Partner of Hoosier 500". Performance Racing Industry. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
- ^ open-wheels.com https://web.archive.org/web/20191206081937/http://open-wheels.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2019-OW-500-Race-Results.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Sweden's Hugo Olsson wins second running of the Open-Wheels 500". Open-Wheels 500. 2020-11-17. Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ^ tjwhoosier500 (2024-09-13). "Back Home Again: Open-Wheels 500 Scheduled for november 2024". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ tjwhoosier500 (2024-11-23). "Kraus wins 2024 Open-Wheels 500". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "rpm.espn.com: Indianapolis Motor Speedway History". www.espn.com. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ^ "Schedule". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ^ Peeters, Rob. "Marcus Ericsson on controversial finish: 'I don't think it's the right way to end the race'". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Anatomy of an INDYCAR". www.indycar.com. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Competitors". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Old Qualifying Rules for the Indy 500, Brickyard 400 and other races at IMS". indymotorspeedway.com. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ @thehoosier500 (July 1, 2025). "X". X.com.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c tjwhoosier500 (2025-06-30). "2025 PRI Hoosier 500 Rulebook Released". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ iRacing Broadcast Archive (2019-11-17). The 2019 Open-Wheels.com 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via YouTube.
- ^ RACESPOT TV (2020-11-15). The 2020 Open-Wheels 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via YouTube.
- ^ RACESPOT TV (2022-11-19). The 2022 Open-Wheels 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via YouTube.
- ^ RACESPOT TV (2024-11-24). The 2024 Open-Wheels 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via YouTube.
- ^ "PRI Becomes Title Sponsor, Official Broadcast Partner of Hoosier 500". Performance Racing Industry. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ tjwhoosier500 (2025-02-10). "P1 Broadcasting Leading 2025 PRI Hoosier 500 Practice and Qualifications Productions". PRI Hoosier 500. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Hoosier 500 Mile Race (2020-11-15). Open-Wheels 500 Pre-Race Show. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via YouTube.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)