# IndyCar iRacing Challenge

The IndyCar iRacing Challenge (stylized as INDYCAR iRacing Challenge) was a series of esports events held as a temporary replacement of the suspended 2020 IndyCar Series due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series was run on the platform of iRacing. The virtual races were broadcast on various IndyCar social media channels. Additionally, all races, but the first one, were broadcast live on NBCSN.
The races featured full time and part time drivers currently on the Indycar grid. They also featured guest drivers from other racing series' like Formula One and NASCAR.

## Teams and Drivers

| Team | No. | Driver(s) | Round(s) |
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 4 | Sébastien Bourdais | All |
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 14 | Tony Kanaan | All |
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 41 | Dalton Kellett | All |
| Andretti Autosport | 26 | Zach Veach | All |
| Andretti Autosport | 27 | Alexander Rossi | All |
| Andretti Autosport | 28 | Kyle Kirkwood | 1-2 |
| Andretti Autosport | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 3-6 |
| Andretti Autosport | 29 | James Hinchcliffe | All |
| Andretti Autosport | 39 | Scott Speed | 6 |
| Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian | 98 | Scott Speed | 1-2 |
| Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian | 98 | Marco Andretti | 3-4, 6 |
| Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian | 98 | Chaz Mostert | 5 |
| Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport | 88 | Colton Herta | All |
| Arrow McLaren SP |
| Arrow McLaren SP | 04 | Lando Norris | 5-6 |
| Arrow McLaren SP | 5 | Patricio O'Ward | All |
| Arrow McLaren SP | 6 | Robert Wickens | 4 |
| Arrow McLaren SP | 7 | Oliver Askew | All |
| Carlin | 31 | Conor Daly | 6 |
| Carlin | 31 | Felipe Nasr | 3-5 |
| Carlin | 59 | Felipe Nasr | 1-2 |
| Carlin | 59 | Max Chilton | 3-6 |
| Chip Ganassi Racing | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | All |
| Chip Ganassi Racing | 9 | Scott Dixon | 2-6 |
| Chip Ganassi Racing | 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | All |
| Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh | 55 | Álex Palou | All |
| Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan | 18 | Santino Ferrucci | All |
| Dale Coyne Racing with Byrd & Belardi | 33 | James Davison | 3, 6 |
| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 24 | Sage Karam | All |
| Ed Carpenter Racing | 20 | Ed Carpenter | 6 |
| Ed Carpenter Racing | 20 | Conor Daly | 1-5 |
| Ed Carpenter Racing | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | 4-6 |
| Ed Carpenter Racing | 21 | Ed Carpenter | 2-3 |
| Ed Carpenter Racing | 50 | Ed Carpenter | 4-5 |
| IndyCar Provisional | 3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 3 |
| IndyCar Provisional | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 1-2 |
| IndyCar Provisional | 51 | Kyle Busch | 4 |
| Juncos Racing | 11 | Kyle Kaiser | 1-5 |
| Juncos Racing | 25 | Stefan Wilson | 6 |
| Meyer Shank Racing | 60 | Jack Harvey | 2-6 |
| Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 15 | Graham Rahal | All |
| Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 30 | Takuma Sato | 4-6 |
| Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with Citrone/Buhl Autosport | 45 | Spencer Pigot | 5 |
| Team Penske | 1 | Josef Newgarden | All |
| Team Penske | 12 | Will Power | All |
| Team Penske | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | All |
| Team Penske | 2 | Scott McLaughlin | 1-5 |
| Team Penske | 40 | Scott McLaughlin | 6 |
| Team Penske | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | 4 |
| Team Penske | 911 | Hélio Castroneves | 6 |
| Top Gun Racing | 99 | RC Enerson | 6 |

## Schedule

| Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location |
| 1 | March 28 | American Red Cross Grand Prix | R Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, New York |
| 2 | April 4 | Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by AmFirst | R Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 3 | April 11 | Chevrolet 275 | O Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan |
| 4 | April 18 | Firestone 175 | O Twin Ring Motegi | Motegi, Japan |
| 5 | April 25 | AutoNation IndyCar Challenge | R Circuit of the Americas | Austin, Texas |
| 6 | May 2 | First Responder 175 | O Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana |
| Source: |||||

## Results

| Rd. | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Race Winner | Race Winner |
| Rd. | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Watkins Glen | Sage Karam | Will Power | Sage Karam | Sage Karam | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
| 2 | Barber | Sage Karam | Felix Rosenqvist | Sage Karam | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske |
| 3 | Michigan | Marcus Ericsson | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Sage Karam | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske |
| 4 | Motegi | Robert Wickens | Sage Karam | Will Power | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske |
| 5 | COTA | Lando Norris | Lando Norris | Lando Norris | Lando Norris | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 6 | Indianapolis | Scott McLaughlin | Stefan Wilson | Will Power | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske |
| Source: |||||||

## Driver Standings

| Pos | Driver | WGI | ALA | MIS | MOT | COTA | INDY | Pts |
| 1 | Scott McLaughlin | 4 | 1$^L$ | 2 | 24 | 4 | 1$^L$ | 213 |
| 2 | Will Power | 3$^L$ | 2 | 4$^L$ | 3$^L$* | 6$^L$ | 14$^L$* | 195 |
| 3 | Simon Pagenaud | 6 | 5 | 1$^L$ | 1$^L$ | 14 | 25$^L$ | 182 |
| 4 | Felix Rosenqvist | 2 | 6$^L$ | 21 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 152 |
| 5 | Santino Ferrucci | 8 | 10 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 138 |
| 6 | Sage Karam | 1$^L$* | 23$^L$* | 14$^L$* | 7$^L$ | 33 | 27$^L$ | 120 |
| 7 | Graham Rahal | 14 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 13$^L$ | 113 |
| 8 | Conor Daly | 10 | 23 | 13 | 11 | 29 | 2 | 108 |
| 9 | Marcus Ericsson | 18 | 25 | 19$^L$ | 4$^L$ | 8 | 11$^L$ | 107 |
| 10 | Patricio O'Ward | 13 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 2$^L$ | 5 | 104 |
| 11 | Álex Palou | 20 | 4 | 10$^L$ | 22 | 9$^L$ | 26$^L$ | 100 |
| 12 | Scott Dixon | | 16 | 30 | 2 | 11$^L$ | 10 | 99 |
| 13 | Oliver Askew | 5 | 15 | 31 | 21$^L$ | 28 | 4$^L$ | 98 |
| 14 | Josef Newgarden | 7 | 9 | 24 | 15$^L$ | 10 | 22 | 98 |
| 15 | Zach Veach | 19 | 19 | 11$^L$ | 8$^L$ | 26 | 8 | 96 |
| 16 | Jack Harvey | | 28 | 6 | 6$^L$ | 16 | 18 | 88 |
| 17 | Alexander Rossi | 17 | 22 | 7$^L$ | 28 | 15 | 12 | 86 |
| 18 | Dalton Kellett | 11 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 31 | 80 |
| 19 | Sébastien Bourdais | 23 | 13 | 20 | 20 | 24 | 6$^L$ | 79 |
| 20 | Colton Herta | 22 | 7 | 28 | 18 | 13 | 32 | 73 |
| 21 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | | | 8$^L$ | 16 | 31 | 7 | 70 |
| 22 | Robert Wickens | | 8 | 26 | 5$^L$ | 32 | DNQ | 66 |
| 23 | Lando Norris | | | | | 1$^L$* | 21 | 64 |
| 24 | Scott Speed | 21 | 3 | | | | 15 | 61 |
| 25 | Ed Carpenter | | 18 | 9 | 17 | 22 | 28 | 60 |
| 26 | Felipe Nasr | 15 | 29 | 17$^L$ | 31 | 12 | DNQ | 57 |
| 27 | Kyle Kaiser | 12 | 21 | 12 | 27 | 27 | DNQ | 55 |
| 28 | Tony Kanaan | 24 | 26 | 18 | 30 | 23 | 33 | 40 |
| 29 | Rinus Veekay | | | | 23 | 7 | 24 | 39 |
| 30 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | | | 3 | | | | 35 |
| 31 | Kyle Kirkwood | 9 | 20 | | | | | 32 |
| 32 | Jimmie Johnson | 16 | 12 | | | | | 32 |
| 33 | James Hinchcliffe | DNS | 17 | 22 | DNS | 19 | 30 | 28 |
| 34 | Takuma Sato | | | | 12 | 30 | 30 | 28 |
| 35 | James Davison | | | 15 | | | 19 | 27 |
| 36 | Max Chilton | | | 27 | 32 | 21 | 23 | 26 |
| 37F | Marco Andretti | | | 29 | 25 | | 17 | 23 |
| 38 | Hélio Castroneves | | | | 29 | | 16 | 19 |
| 39 | Kyle Busch | | | | 13 | | DNQ | 17 |
| 40 | Chaz Mostert | | | | | 20 | | 10 |
| 40 | RC Enerson | | | | | | 20 | 10 |
| 42 | Spencer Pigot | | | | | 25 | DNQ | 5 |
| 42 | Stefan Wilson | | | | | | 29 | 5 |
| Pos | Driver | WGI | ALA | MIS | MOT | COTA | INDY | Pts |
| Color | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd-place finish |
| Bronze | 3rd-place finish |
| Green | Top 5 finish |
| Light Blue | Top 10 finish |
| Dark Blue | Other flagged position |
| Purple | Did not finish |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Brown | Withdrew (Wth) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did Not Start (DNS) |
| White | Race abandoned (C) |
| Blank | Did not participate |
In-line notation :
| Bold | Pole position (1 point; except Indy) |
| Italics | Ran fastest race lap |
| $^L$ | Led race lap (1 point) |
| * | Led most race laps (2 points) |

## Indianapolis race controversy

The final race of the series, the First Responder 175, saw a driving standards controversy. With nine laps to go in the race, Simon Pagenaud had been leading, only for him to run into the wall. Pagenaud pitted following the crash and while on the pits, told over the radio "We take out Lando [Norris], let's do it", in reference to an earlier incident they had during the race. With two laps to go, Pagenaud, who was slowing down, promptly collided with Norris, who was leading at the time of the incident. Heading into the finish line, Santino Ferrucci took a hard left into then-leader Oliver Askew, who flipped; Scott McLaughlin crossed the finish line, from the pole.
Both Pagenaud and Ferrucci received criticism for their poor conduct during the race. Norris alleged that Pagenaud did so in order to prevent a non-IndyCar Series regular from winning the race; McLaren CEO Zak Brown tweeted that what Pagenaud did was not something expected from a former Indy 500 champion. Pagenaud insisted that he only intended to impede Norris, while his spotter Ben Bretzman denied instructing Pagenaud to crash into Norris. Ferrucci, in denying that his collision was deliberate, claimed that his collision at the end of the last lap was an attempt at a NASCAR-style side drafting, although during the stream he quipped that his clash was "worth it" and he did it "for the fans". Although iRacing's sporting code explicitly prohibited deliberate behavior, iRacing did not penalize both drivers, as it was deemed as a private league organized by INDYCAR themselves, rather than iRacing; INDYCAR themselves did not issue penalties for both Pagenaud or Ferrucci. Motorsport journalist Marshall Pruett later confirmed that an unnamed party involved in the incidents had also received death threats.