Racing Rules

1.1 General

1. In-game race aids that affect the driving of the car in any manner are strictly prohibited. The use of unapproved third-party applications to aid in the driving of the race car falls under a L3 penalty.
2. If a driver is experiencing connectivity issues (blinking), Series Directors will warn the driver and ask them to pull over if it is deemed to be a danger to other drivers. If a driver refuses to pull off of the racing surface, the driver will be penalized in the L2 category, including but not limited to race disqualification.
3. Drivers affected by personal connection or hardware issues (ie. disconnections or crashes due to lag, wheels disconnecting) will not have the consequences of those issues remediated by Series Directors (ie. laps given back). If the issues are caused by iRacing servers, then decisions on how to proceed are at the discretion of Series Directors and are handled on a case by case basis. Personal issues include those specific to the driver, even those that they may not be in control of (ie local weather or ISP downtime).
4. In the event of a mass disconnect or other unforeseen circumstance, all drivers will be instructed to pull into pit road and stop in a straight line without entering their boxes. Series Directors will instruct the drivers on the upcoming procedure and when to exit pit lane to continue the caution procedure.

1.2 Racing

1. It is the responsibility of the passing driver to complete the pass safely. Contact happens as a part of racing, but it is the responsibility of all drivers to avoid unnecessary contact when possible. Reckless driving will be penalized under the L1 tier.
2. The “Bump-and-Run” move is legal in oval divisions. A Bump and Run is classified as contacting the leading car’s rear bumper with your front bumper and moving the car in front of you out of the grove. If you do not cause an incident from the contact, it is a legal move and will not be penalized.
3. Do not force another car off the track by leaving too little room on corner entry or exit. If the other car is alongside you when going into a corner or exiting a corner, you must adjust your line to avoid contact and to not force the other car off the track. Being sufficiently alongside to warrant being left room is generally judged as the attacking car’s nose being alongside or ahead of the defending car’s Quarter Panel. Purposely attempting to force a car off the track will be penalized up to the L2 tier.
4. On straights, if another driver has any part of their car alongside your car, you must respect their position on the track and avoid making any movement into the other car.
5. Weaving and blocking are strongly discouraged. When defending, choose your line and do not deviate. If this is seen and it causes an accident you will be deemed at fault. However, late into the race, you may defend your position the best you can. When a car gets to your quarter panel, do not attempt to block.
6. A lap car is defined as someone who is a lap or more behind the car approaching them from behind. When being lapped, it is your responsibility to let the leaders through safely. Racing to stay from going a lap down is permitted. Maintaining your racing line is key. If you know your significantly off pace, please stay out of the preferred driving line. Know what lap you are on, put yourself in the leader’s seat. If you are already a lap down, allowing lead cars to pass without issue is the respectful thing to do and should be done. Causing an avoidable incident as a lap car will be penalized in the L1 tier.
7. In the event that your car is wrecked and you are unable to catch the field, you have two options: tow your vehicle or call out for an end of line (EOL) penalty. If you do not do one of these two options and another driver gets a black flag because of it, you will receive a L1 penalty.
8. When a full-course caution is thrown, the first action by the driver should be to safely slow down and avoid any further incidents. Once the situation is safe, all cars must catch up to the pace car as fast as possible to avoid confusion and allow all cars a fair chance at pit stops. If a car is slow to catch the pace car due to damage, please pass them and notify Series Directors so they can clear penalties given by iRacing. Failing to catch the pace car in a timely manner will result in a verbal warning. A second warning will result in an L1 penalty.
9. If you spin and end up sideways or backwards on the track, it is your responsibility to hold the brakes and keep your car still and predictable until all cars have passed. Failure to safely control your car after a spin will be penalized as additional incidents.

1.3 Intentional incidents

1. Causing incidents on the track intentionally, by way of intentionally wrecking an opponent, retaliating against an opponent, or intimidating an opponent is strictly prohibited.
2. Intentionally causing an incident with two cars or less is classified as an L1 penalty.
3. Intentionally causing an incident with more than two cars is classified as an L2 penalty.
4. Intentionally causing an incident under yellow is classified as an L2 penalty.
5. Intentionally wrecking a driver with the intention of causing significant damage to their car is classified as an L3 penalty.
6. Crown Jewel Administrators and Series Directors reserve the right to determine if any incidents are intentional. These penalties may be classified as L1, L2, or L3 penalties depending on severity.

1.4 Pit Lane Procedures

1. The start of the pit lane is defined by a pair of yellow cones, one on each side of the lane. The end of the pit lane is defined by a pair of green cones, one on each side of the pit lane.
2. All pit lanes will feature a commitment line defined on the track or an imaginary line defined by Series Directors. When pitting, all cars will be required to cross the commitment line when pitting. Failure to make the commitment line under yellow flag conditions and still pitting will be an end of line penalty. Failure to make the commitment line under green flag conditions and still pitting will be a drive-through penalty. Crossing the commitment line and not pitting under green or yellow will result in a drive-through penalty.
3. Drivers must remain in the right lane while driving down the pit lane. This gives all cars ample space to get in and out of their pit boxes. Drivers not driving on the right of the pit lane when able to will be given an end of line or drive-through penalty. Drivers may only drive through 3 pit boxes when entering or leaving their pit stall.
4. Drivers must slow to the posted pit lane speed limit prior to passing through the two yellow cones that mark the entrance to pit lane, and drivers may not accelerate above the pit lane speed limit until after passing through the two green cones that mark the exit of pit lane. This rule will be automatically enforced by iRacing and will not be cleared by Series Directors.
5. At tracks with defined pit lane entry and exit, as indicated by existing painted lines, barriers and/or cones, drivers must observe and obey such demarcations. This rule will be automatically enforced by iRacing.
6. Drivers who cause a wreck entering or exiting pit lane are subject to a penalty, up to disqualification, at the Series Director’s discretion.

1.5 Track Limits

1. Cutting corners, or extending the track, to gain an advantage is automatically officiated by iRacing. All slowdown penalties must be adhered to, and will not be cleared by Series Director.
2. The yellow line rule is in effect at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, and red line at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Passing under the demarcated line and failing to give back the positioning will result in a drive-through penalty.
3. In the event that a car leaves the racing surface, it is the responsibility of the driver off the racing surface to re-enter safely. Causing an incident by failing to re-enter the racing surface safely may result in additional penalties after incident assessment.
4. Drivers must stay within the track limits while pacing under yellow-flag conditions. Failure to remain on the track or purposely leaving the track surface will result in an end of line penalty.

1.6 Start and Restart Procedures

1. All North Star-sanctioned races will feature double-file rolling starts.
2. Once all cars are on the grid, the pace car will lead the field around the track and exit at the pit lane entrance. The pole position car will then take control of the field and will be expected to maintain pace speed until the green flag is waved.
3. The “Choose Cone” rule is in effect for all A Series, B Series, and C Series events. The procedure is as follows:
   • On all restarts, the choose cone procedure will be in effect.
   • When approaching the start-finish line for one-to-go, a driver must choose between the top line or the bottom line. The decision must be made by the start-finish line.
   • If a driver fails to make a visible decision, or attempts to switch lanes after the start-finish line, Series Directors will move that driver to the end of the longest line. Series Directors reserves the right to extend the caution to ensure all cars are properly positioned.
   • In the event that a driver does not catch the field by the start finish line, the driver shall treat the choose cone as an end of line penalty and tag onto the longest line in the order in which they arrived at the line. The only exception is the lucky dog driver - who should let everybody by and start at the tail end of the longest line, within reason.
   • Lap down cars are allowed to choose, provided they are caught up to the field. Lap down cars must allow any lead lap car behind them to take position in front of them, within reason.
   • Lap down cars in front of the leader coming to the choose cone may pass the pace car coming out of the final turn to avoid any confusion for lead lap cars. Lap down cars are NOT to take a wave around if any lead lap cars are between them and the pace car.
4. North Star Administrators and Series Directors reserve the right to disable the “Choose Cone” before or during a league-sanctioned event for any reason. In the event the “Choose Cone” procedure is disabled, standard iRacing restart procedure will be used:
   • North Star Racing will use iRacing designated positioning for restart. The leader of the race will have lane choice for the restart. All other drivers must line up in their intended lanes besides 2nd place, who will go opposite of the leader.
5. For tracks with a designated restart zone, the leader will maintain pace speed until inside of the restart zone and where the restart control will then be relinquished to them. It is the responsibility of the 2nd place car to stay below pace speed with their bumper in between the lead cars front and back bumpers while in the restart zone.
6. For oval tracks without a designated restart zone, the leader will receive control of the restart the moment the pace car passes the entrance to pit lane. For road courses without a designated restart zone, the Series Directors will create a restart zone and visualize it so that all drivers know where the zone begins. The leader will receive control at that point.
7. Series Directors reserve the right to alter restart procedures mid-race to police or improve racing product. This includes but is not limited to; extending or shortening pace laps, moving starts to single fine or double file.
8. Drivers are to remain inside of track limits until crossing the start/finish line on all starts and restarts.
9. Drivers are required to stay in their pacing line and not pass any cars on starts and restarts until they pass the start/finish line.