History
MIRL begain in June 2005, to provide a venue for drivers who want to race the Nascar Racing 2003 Open Wheel Mod, running road courses and ovals. The original intent was to mirror the IRL, running high speed ovals and mainly street courses. MIRL has continued to evolve over its history, introducing lower speed ovals and more traditional road courses as well.
Season
1
The first season of MIRL began June 8, 2005 at Indianapolis, won by Louie Bell. AJ Hamel was the admin for the season. Season 1 had 15 races on the schedule, 8 ovals and 7 road courses. The story of season 1 was the dominance of Ray Alfalla. Ray won 6 races that season, including a series record 5 in a row. Other multiple winners were Louie Bell with 3 wins, and Matt Smith with 2. The top 5 points finishers were Alfalla, Bell, Matt Smith, William Kabela, and Sam Allison.
Season 2
The second season of MIRL began October 26, 2005, with Louie Bell and Peter Berry adminning. Season 2 had an 11 race schedule, with 6 road courses and 5 ovals. A highlight of the season was the appearance of the MIRL on OLRTV at Indianapolis. The story of season 2 was the dominant driving of Jeff Mueller. Mueller won 4 races and the championship despite joining the season for the 3rd race. The top 5 points finishers were Mueller, Sam Allison, Robert Smith, Ayrton Perry, and William Kabela.
Season 3
MIRL came to a crossroads after season 2. The series had struggled during season 2 due to the amount of accidents in the oval races, and it was thought that there would be no more MIRL racing. Joe Taylor stepped up to take the admin role and put together a 14 race schedule, that would end up being 12 points races and 1 non point OLRTV event. The season was quite successful with good racing on the ovals as well as the road courses. The major story of season 3 was the driving of Robert Smith. Robert won 6 of the 12 races that season, with Matt Smith regaining his season 1 form an winning 4. The top five points finishers for season 3 were Robert Smith, Louie Bell, Matt Smith, William Kabela, and Justin Lemke.
Season 4
MIRL changed to the OWR06 body style for Season 4, and saw very high car counts early in the season. Troubles on the ovals returned, as the high car counts resulted in more yellows than desired. However, the racing was strong on both ovals and road courses. Another big change for the season was the introduction of 3 championships up for grabs. The schedule had 16 races, with 8 ovals and 8 road courses. A separate championship was given out for ovals, road courses, and for overall. The championships came down to the last weeks, with Matt Fields winning the oval championship when points leader Sam Allison blew an engine while leading in the last oval. Fields didn't waste the opportunity, winning the race and taking the title. Allison would hold the points lead for overall and road courses, taking the win in the last road course win of the season at Bridgehamption. The top five overall points finisers were Sam Allison( 2 wins) , Matt Fields( 2 wins), Brendan Kaczmarek (who lead the series with 5 wins), Rob Thaeler, and Louie Bell.
Season 4 Road Course Standings
Season 5
MIRL saw big changes for Season 5, moving to rFactor and the Nippon Racing 1.2 mod. No ovals were run for the first time in MIRL. The series struggled with lower than usual car counts, but the racing did not suffer. Manuel Paredes put in a dominant performance with 5 poles and 3 wins on the 8 race season, including a hair raising duel with Shane Metzger at Suzuka that will be rememberd for some time. Rob Thaeler won for the first time in the season finale and finished second in points. Sam Allison finished in 3rd, while Rodrigo Munoz was in 4th. Munoz had the second highest win total on the season with two. William Kabela rounded out the top 5 points finishers.
Season 6
MIRL saw more changes for Season 6, changing from the Nippon racing mod to rF3. Oval racing came back as well. Car counts continued to grow as the season wore on, with 25 cars taking the green flag a Phoenix, the high water mark for the season. Sam Allison would be the first driver to be a repeat MIRL champion, winning by 1 point over newcomer Jordan Lee. Sam won the championship on the strength of 4 top five oval finishes, including 1 win and 3 podiums. Allison also benefitted from Lee's late start in the series. Lee did not make his first start until the 4th race of the season, but he strung together 8 consecutive top five finishes along with 4 wins to present a stout challenge. Rounding out the top five finishers were Eric Taylor, who was also running in his first MIRL season, and MIRL vets Rob Thaeler and William Kabela.
Season 7
The triple championship format used in Season 4 came back for Season 7. rF3 would again be the car of choice, as MIRL hosted a 16 race schedule. Car counts were generally in the 20s for most of the races. Sam Giltner would dominate the standings, winning a series high 5 races. Giltner won the overall and road course championships. Newcomer Tracy Valley won 4 races, but did not have enough starts to contend, and finished just outside the top five. Jimmy Jones, Sam Allison, Doyle Lowrance, and Gerald April rounded out the top five in the overall standings. Giltner won the road course title over Jimmy Jones, Gerald April, Doyle Lorwance, and Jordan Lee. Sam Allison rallied to take the oval championship over Giltner, Jones, Lowrance, and Dale Robertson.
Season 7 Road Course Standings
Season 8
Sam Giltner became the first repeat champion in series history, sweeping the 3 championships in Season 8 on the strength of 9 wins, with 6 on road courses and 3 on ovals. Car counts were high as the series moved to the long awaited iDT ChampCar mod. Giltner won with a 201 point cushion over Courtenay Smith, with Jordan Darwin, Kevin Brents, and Barry Blocker rounding out the top five. The oval race went down to the wire, with Giltner topping Smith by 29 points Dwight Lewis, Kevin Brents, and Sam Allison were the top five finishers. The road course standings were dominated by Giltner, as he had a 136 point lead over Jordan Darwin, with Courtenay Smith, Kevin Brents, and Barry Blocker in the top five. Giltner also took the team crown with his Torrent Motorsports teammates Mike Theis (races 1-8) and Joe Wilbert (races 9-16).
Season 8 Road Course Standings
Season 9
Sam Giltner took his third straight combined and road course championships, winning 8 races on the season. Giltner won 2 oval races and 6 road races. Dwight Lewis realized the potential he had shown for several season by taking the oval crown. Lewis won 1 race, and showed the best consistency on the ovals for the season. Lewis took the oval crown by 12 points over Joseph Mudrak and Joe Hassell, who tied for second. Giltner was 1 more point back to finish 4th. Norm Graf was 5th 31 points back. Oval race winners were Giltner (2), Graf (2), Lewis (1), Hassell (1), Scott Berube (1), and Carlos Rocha (1). Giltner dominated the road course standings, topping Mudrak by 46 points. Jordan Darwin was third, 109 points back. Norm Graf was fourth, 115 points back with Justin Lee 131 points behind in fifth. Race winner were Giltner (6) and Mudrak (2). In the combined standings Giltner was 45 points ahead of Mudrak with Graf (-133), Lewis (-152), and Darwin (-172) in the top five.
Season 9 Road Course Standings