Retro stock cars of the Gen 3 NASCAR era have been quite popular with oval racing fans in iRacing, and for Season 4 of 2023, the field is getting stronger: The Pontiac Grand Prix joins the grid, bumping up the in-class car count to four - and it should feel right at home in the new Draft Master series.
Image credit: iRacing
Joining the Buick LeSabre, Ford Thunderbird and Chevrolet Monte Carlo models, the Pontiac Grand Prix ran in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1981 until 1991. In the 1987 season that forms the base of iRacing's class, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace was the best-placed Pontiac driver in the final standings, taking fifth place behind championship winner Dale Earnhardt (Chevy), Bill Elliott (Ford), Terry Labonte (Chevy) and Darrell Waltrip (Chevy).
Only one of the five manufacturers that competed in the 1987 season will be missing from the grid when the Pontiac is released alongside the Season 4 2023 build, that being Oldsmobile. The General Motors brand raced two of its models that year with the Cutlass and the Delta 88.
Ring Meister is joined by Draft Master: iRacers can show their Superspeedway prowess in the brand-new series in Season 4 2023. Image credit: iRacing
With a new series also making its debut, the retro stock cars should see some good use in Season 4 of 2023: Similar to the Ring Meister series introduced for Season 3, the Draft Master series changes up the cars rather than the track on the calendar, although it is going to feature two Superspeedways instead of a single one. Half of the series will be run on at Daytona, the other at Talladega.
Draft Master will be contested exclusively in stock cars (and trucks), even offering two events using a legacy vehicle in the 2009 NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Impala COT. You can find the full calendar below.
Alongside the announcement of the Draft Master series, iRacing also revealed the calendar for the second Ring Meister series. After having four GT3 cars on the schedule for its initial run, the series reduced that number to three, also offering more variety in its car selection - as well as very likely some very hair-raising moments in the Lotus 49 for the final week of competition, as seen in the schedule below.
Image credit: iRacing
Joining the Buick LeSabre, Ford Thunderbird and Chevrolet Monte Carlo models, the Pontiac Grand Prix ran in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1981 until 1991. In the 1987 season that forms the base of iRacing's class, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace was the best-placed Pontiac driver in the final standings, taking fifth place behind championship winner Dale Earnhardt (Chevy), Bill Elliott (Ford), Terry Labonte (Chevy) and Darrell Waltrip (Chevy).
Only one of the five manufacturers that competed in the 1987 season will be missing from the grid when the Pontiac is released alongside the Season 4 2023 build, that being Oldsmobile. The General Motors brand raced two of its models that year with the Cutlass and the Delta 88.
Ring Meister is joined by Draft Master: iRacers can show their Superspeedway prowess in the brand-new series in Season 4 2023. Image credit: iRacing
With a new series also making its debut, the retro stock cars should see some good use in Season 4 of 2023: Similar to the Ring Meister series introduced for Season 3, the Draft Master series changes up the cars rather than the track on the calendar, although it is going to feature two Superspeedways instead of a single one. Half of the series will be run on at Daytona, the other at Talladega.
Draft Master will be contested exclusively in stock cars (and trucks), even offering two events using a legacy vehicle in the 2009 NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Impala COT. You can find the full calendar below.
iRacing Draft Master - Season 4 2023
| Week 1 | NASCAR Truck Series | Daytona |
| Week 2 | [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Impala COT – 2009 | Daytona |
| Week 3 | NASCAR Xfinity Series | Daytona |
| Week 4 | NASCAR Classic 1987 | Daytona |
| Week 5 | Gen 4 Cup | Daytona |
| Week 6 | NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen | Daytona |
| Week 7 | NASCAR Truck Series | Talladega |
| Week 8 | [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Impala COT – 2009 | Talladega |
| Week 9 | NASCAR Xfinity Series | Talladega |
| Week 10 | NASCAR Classic 1987 | Talladega |
| Week 11 | Gen 4 Cup | Talladega |
| Week 12 | NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen | Talladega |
Alongside the announcement of the Draft Master series, iRacing also revealed the calendar for the second Ring Meister series. After having four GT3 cars on the schedule for its initial run, the series reduced that number to three, also offering more variety in its car selection - as well as very likely some very hair-raising moments in the Lotus 49 for the final week of competition, as seen in the schedule below.
iRacing Ring Meister - Season 4 2023
| Week 1 | Ford FR500 |
| Week 2 | BMW M4 GT3 |
| Week 3 | Spec Racer |
| Week 4 | Street Stock |
| Week 5 | Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 |
| Week 6 | Aston Martin Vantage GT4 |
| Week 7 | VW Jetta |
| Week 8 | Radical SR10 |
| Week 9 | Porsche 911 RSR GTE |
| Week 10 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020 |
| Week 11 | Toyota GR86 |
| Week 12 | Lotus 49 |
