OAKLAND CITY— Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been extended beyond May. The Dallara/AK Esports Indy Challenge is the first-ever university competition held at the Dallara IndyCar Factory. University students throughout Indiana competed in driving simulation race cars around the famous 2.5-mile oval in the iRacing challenge.
The iRacing Challenge consisted of 22 drivers running qualifying laps, with the top 10 drivers qualifying for the 50-lap feature race. The top 10 drivers ran a second qualifying four laps for starting positions. OCU Freshman Aydan Corn showed his driving prowess, qualifying in 7th among the 22 drivers for the 50-lap race. Corn held his position on the track for several laps before surging to third with less than 20 laps to go.
With ten laps left, Corn was positioned for a podium finish, running in third position just six seconds off the pace. As the greatest spectacle in simulation racing closed in on the finish, Corn’s tires gave way and forced him to be passed by drivers with fresher tires. As the white flag dropped, Corn found fifth place for his final 2.5 miles and crossed over the bricks one last time, holding on to that fifth position.
OCU Esports head coach Caleb Hughes was proud of Corn’s outcome, “I am impressed with Aydan’s ability to finish so highly in the standings on one of the biggest stages in collegiate iRacing with only two months of simulation experience.”
Although Corn did not land a podium spot or get a taste of milk, Corn was able to compete as a student-athlete on OCU’s Esports team.
Corn described his experience as follows: “To see an Esports local area network (LAN) tournament has been a dream of mine. To take fifth place at the first LAN event was even more surreal. Two years ago, I did not see myself sim racing at any competitive level. I cannot thank Coach Hughes and the university enough for giving me this opportunity.”
The Dallara/AK Esports iRacing Challenge featured ten fully equipped simulators featuring:
• Fanatec Podium DD1 F1 Equipment
• Fanatec Pedals V2 Elite with 2 Pedals
• 49” Curved Gaming display screen from MSI
• iRacing (PC Platform), with drivers competing in a Dallara IR18
The entire 50-lap race can be seen at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/live/NLLQ3egQyOo
Esports is a scholarship program at Oakland City University under the leadership of head coach Caleb
Hughes.
