Article header image for iRacing 2026 Season 2 Patch 4 Notes (6th May 2026)
Patch Notes1 min read

iRacing 2026 Season 2 Patch 4 Notes (6th May 2026)

iRacing's fourth patch of Season 2 is a focused bug-fix drop, but the pace car fix and ghost tow exploit closure are the ones online racers will actually feel.

Nathan Lees
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A rogue pace car that would blast out of the pits and latch onto the wrong lead car sounds like something from a fever dream, but iRacing players have been living it. Season 2 Patch 4 fixes exactly that, along with a "ghost tow" exploit where a black-flagged driver could, under very specific timing, gain a full lap on the field. That second one is the kind of race-ruining edge case that sounds rare until it happens to you in a close championship fight.

Nvidia GPU users will see a Windows Security popup after installing this patch asking for network access permissions. It's tied to upcoming Apple Vision Pro support, so if you don't own one, you can safely decline. The AI driver side also gets some attention: Watkins Glen's Boot layout gets an improved racing line, and there's a fix for hosts accidentally spawning inside an AI vehicle, which the patch notes describe with exactly the right amount of dry humour.

Watkins Glen also sees adjusted track limits at the bus stop entry and inner loop, tightening up what counts as a penalty. Small changes, but they matter if you're racing competitively there. Here's everything that changed.

Full Patch Notes

2026 Season 2 Patch 4 Release Notes \[2026.05.04.02]

—---------------------------------------------------------

Patch Release:

This release is a Patch, focusing on additional updates, improvements, and fixes for the 2026 Season 2 Release.

Simulator

—---------------------------------------------------------

General

  • After installing this Patch, customers with NVidia GPUs should expect a Windows Security popup related to allowing public and private network access for iRacing.
  • This is appearing as a result of preparations for the release of the Apple Vision Pro device support, coming soon!
  • If you do not have nor intend to use an Apple Vision Pro device, you can disregard this request.

Race Control

  • Fixed an issue where the pace car could speed out of the pits at an unrealistic velocity, only to pick up the wrong lead car.
  • This was most often triggered in sessions with AI Drivers. Fred, Flawless Wheelman, has improved his ability to identify the lead car.
  • Fixed a “ghost tow" issue where in extremely rare circumstances could cause a driver who had been black flagged for a connection quality issue to potentially gain a lap on the field with the right timing.

    Race Servers

    • Fixed an issue where the host of a session using AI Drivers could potentially connect to their session inside an AI vehicle. Initial studies indicate there should be no long term adverse effects for temporarily embodying an AI driver, but we’d like to see these humans again in 6 months for a follow-up!

    AI Racing

    • AI Drivers have improved their racing line at Watkins Glen International - Boot.

    User Interface

    • The raceline toggle keybind (Ctrl+Alt+L) may now be used in Replay mode.
    • Fixed an issue where the Weather Radar displayed incorrect track map dimensions upon loading.
    • Fixed a crash-to-desktop issue that could occur when advancing to a next Session while on the Drive screen.
    • Fixed an issue where tire checkboxes were getting double-clicked when they had previously been mouse clicked and the user was using the default space bar binding to toggle them.

    Tracks

    —---------------------------------------------------------

    Watkins Glen International

    • Adjusted track limits. In the bus stop entry, 4 tires off = 1x. Half-a-car past the middle curb's left edge is a slowdown penalty.
    • The inner loop entry track rules have been updated.
    • Tags:Patch NotesiRacing
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    Written by

    Nathan Lees

    Gaming journalist and founder of XP Gained. Covering patch notes, breaking news, and updates across 160+ games.

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