iRacing’s Season 3 2026 development update confirmed that Dirt AI is arriving alongside a new AI Heat Racing mode, together representing the most significant expansion of the sim’s artificial intelligence capabilities for dirt oval racing. Dirt oval AI has been limited compared to what paved oval and road racing drivers have had access to in AI mode. Season 3 addresses that gap directly with both general dirt AI functionality and a structured heat race format that mirrors how real-world dirt oval events are actually run.
Dirt AI: What Changes
Dirt oval AI presents a fundamentally different challenge than paved circuit AI because the driving lines on dirt change constantly as the surface rubbers in, dries out, and evolves across a racing program. The optimal path at the start of a heat race can be entirely different from the optimal path by the end of a feature event. Building AI that responds to that surface evolution requires a different approach than the relatively stable behavior of asphalt. The Season 3 development update confirms that iRacing has addressed this, though the full detail of how the AI handles evolving conditions will become clearer once the build is live and community testing begins.
What this means practically is that drivers who prefer to practice on dirt ovals without joining hosted sessions or official races now have AI opponents available, and the quality of that experience should reflect the real-world character of dirt oval racing rather than being a rough approximation borrowed from paved oval logic.
AI Heat Racing: A Complete Event Format
The addition of AI Heat Racing goes beyond simply having AI cars present on a dirt oval. Heat racing is the standard format for almost all dirt oval events at every level of the sport. A typical program runs qualifying, multiple heat races where cars are grouped by qualifying time, a B-main to set the feature starting grid, and then the feature event itself. Results from each stage determine starting positions for the next, which means every stage has meaningful stakes and the format creates natural drama throughout the entire program.
Bringing that structure into AI mode means drivers can run a complete dirt oval program against simulated opponents, progressing from qualifying through heats to the feature. For drivers who want to practice dirt oval racing in a realistic event context without the commitment of an official race session, this is a substantial addition. It also creates new possibilities for hosted AI leagues and solo campaigns that follow the actual format of real dirt oval racing.
Catching AI Up to Dirt Racing’s Growth
Dirt oval has grown significantly in iRacing’s official structure over the past several seasons, with new dirt tracks, new dirt cars, and an increasing number of official series supporting the discipline. The AI infrastructure has lagged behind that growth until now. Season 3 closes that gap and brings dirt oval practice and solo racing in line with what paved oval and road racing drivers have been able to do in AI mode for some time. The Season 3 build is expected to go live in the coming weeks.
