The Month of May for MAD Sim Racing has always been a highlight; a unique and meaningful single-driver event in cars the team drivers don’t often drive, in perhaps one of the greatest rushes in sim racing. This year, as covered in the previous madsimracing.com article, that energy was built up and focused into the Speedway 500 presented by the Majors Series. The MAD Sim Racing Oval Program took a firm grasp of this event, a program where in-house MAD Sim Racing competitors finely tune in-house engineered setups. That was no different for the competitive debut of the Dallara IR-01 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Qualifying and Race Trim Setups were adjusted up to the end of race week to power MAD Sim Racing Drivers through Pre-Qualifying, Bump Qualifying, and 500 Miles. For several drivers, the high stakes of close, fast open wheel racing proved destructive. The risks taken to stay in a competitive place on track at 245+ MPH. All drivers represented the team with quick cars and dedicated team work–something always seen in MAD Sim Racing, where the success of one is the success of all. And so it came down to one with a shot in the Pacific Majors Top Split, with drivers knocked out or not participating gathering around the live broadcast feed to pull for MSR driver Miles Crabbe in the Blue and White MAD Sim Racing/Into The Apex Motorsport Podcast Network Dallara. In the Top 5 with a handfull of laps to go, Crabbe was fighting in an incredibly tight group of cars at the top end of the leaderboard. The Dallaras were intense, especially at the front. There is little room for error, and no podiums for hesitation and a momentary lapse of attention. It seemed for the Dallara IR-01 that the pack racing was more prevelent than the usual IndyCar; at least that was so at the end of this event. MSR’s Miles Crabbe was in and out of a podium spot–largely holding onto it–through the final laps. A late caution led to a short shootout with Crabbe restarting near the front. What happened next was a highlight of entertainment and competition in iRacing: while on the final lap, with it appearing that the leader was in great shape, or at least the first two cars in good competition–the entire front running field stormed in a slipstream of momentum, side by side, cleanly to almost an upset, and a photo finish for the podium spots. Miles Crabbe edged out a P2 finish, with MAD Sim Racing Team Members watching and going crazy over what had just been watched. In a style of racing–and racing generally–where all sorts of chaos can happen and we simply have to accept it, this is what we prepped for, this is what we race for, this is what we get hyped for.