Thursday Night Lights — Porsche Cup Pro-Am

THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Season 3 · Porsche Cup Pro-Am — two classes, one grid.

Six weeks of iRacing in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, with Pro and Am classes racing together on one grid, scored as two separate championships. Mid-pack drivers finally battle for a title of their own instead of just chasing the fastest drivers up front. Best five of six rounds count — one drop week built in.

Clean racing. Real competition. Race from anywhere. Beginners welcome, competitive enough for veterans — and you don't have to win a single race to leave with something.

Thursday nights · Qualifying 7:30 PM ET · Green flag 8:00 PM ET · Season opens Thursday, September 3.

🏠 RACE FROM HOME — $20 for the season 🏁 RACE AT THE LOUNGE — $40 per race

📅 Season Schedule

• Round 1 · Sep 3 — Road Atlanta
• Round 2 · Sep 10 — Barcelona-Catalunya
• Round 3 · Sep 17 — Nürburgring GP
• Round 4 · Sep 24 — Zandvoort
• Round 5 · Oct 1 — Road America
• Round 6 · Oct 8 — Phillip Island (finale)

🏁 Race Format

• Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
• 6-week championship — best 5 of 6 rounds count, one drop week (a bad night won't sink your season)
• Two classes: Pro & Am, scored as separate championships on a shared grid
• Race night: Thursdays
• Qualifying: 7:30 PM ET · Green flag: 8:00 PM ET
• Race length: 1 hour
• Broadcast: live by Academy Sim Racing

🆕 Pro & Am Classes

Two classes, one race. Pro and Am drivers share the same track and the same green flag but compete for separate championships. The front-runners fight for the overall win, and everyone else fights for the Am title. A driver who never finishes on the overall podium can still go home a champion. That's the whole idea.

How you're placed: road iRating under 2,000 runs in Am, 2,000 and above runs in Pro. We'll move an obvious ringer up to Pro regardless of rating — that's what keeps the Am title worth winning.

Entry Options

🏠 Race from home — $20 once, covers all six rounds. Uses your own iRacing account. Pay one time at the start of the season and you're in for the whole championship.

🏁 Race at the Tampa lounge — $40 per race. No iRacing account needed and nothing to set up — we have the car, the track and the seat ready when you walk in. Book only the rounds you want; there's no season commitment.

That $40 is our standard one-hour rate, but a league night runs qualifying at 7:30 through the finish — so you're on the sim for roughly 1.5 to 2 hours for the price of one.

How to Join

1. Purchase your league entry above.
2. Request to join the Academy Sim Racing League on iRacing — search "Academy Sim Racing" in the Leagues section and click Request to Join.
3. We match your application to your order by name — nothing else to send us. If the name on your iRacing account is different from the name on your order, just say so in the notes when you submit your join request.
4. We'll approve your request once we've matched it to your entry.
5. Register each week — every round appears in your iRacing league dashboard for practice, qualifying, and the race.
6. Confirmation email with full instructions, the Discord link, and the season schedule sent within 24 hours of purchase.

🏆 Prizes

Two classes means two title fights — and prizes built so everyone has something to race for.

PRO CLASS

• 🥇 1st — $60 cash
• 🥈 2nd — free entry into the next Academy league

AM CLASS

• 🥇 1st — $40 cash
• 🥈 2nd — free entry into the next Academy league

WHOLE FIELD — both classes eligible

• ⚡ Hard Charger — $40 to the driver who gains the most positions across the season. Objective, and anyone can win it.
• 🎟️ Attendance drawing — $40. Every race you attend earns another entry into the end-of-season draw.

Even if you never win a race, you can still take the Am title, the Hard Charger, or the attendance draw. Nobody races for nothing.

Pro pays more than Am on purpose. If both titles paid the same, a quick driver would have a reason to hang back and farm the easier class — the gap removes that incentive and protects the drivers the Am title was built for.

📖 The Rules

Classes, the points table, the drop week, on track conduct and how protests work, all published in full.

Read the official season ruleset

💬 Join the Community

Join the Discord for league announcements, practice sessions, team-ups, and live updates.

Questions? Drop into our Discord or email info@academysim.com.

THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is presented by Academy Sim Racing, Tampa, Florida. Visit academysim.com to learn more about our lounge, custom simulator builds, and upcoming events.