1. General Racing Rules

1.1 EOLS

1. Absolutely ZERO EOLS will be given at the start of the race, unless there is a connection problem or a driver is serving a league administered penalty.

2. During the race a driver may request an EOL if they have damage or anything that may impede the upcoming restart.

   • Drivers who receive an EOL MUST line up on the inside/bottom lane.

1.2 Race Start/Restarts

1. Restart zones will be used when available. When they are not, the rules listed below (2, 3) will be in effect in its place.

2. Initial start is on the green flag, this means the leader does NOT have control of the start. 

3. All restarts are at leaders discretion, the leader may go once the pace car has all 4 wheels off of the racing surface or below the white line.

4. Drivers must maintain a speed within 5 MPH of the pace car speed. 

5. All drivers must maintain a 1 car length gap or less on any start/restart and must maintain their lane until the Start/Finish line.

6. Any driver that violates these rules will be subject to a penalty in-race or post-race.

7. Cars may not drive below the painted inside line until after the start finish line on all starts/restarts.

1.3 Lucky Dog/Wave Around

1. Lucky dogs and wave arounds are handled by iRacing and will absolutely not be given by Race Control. (Unless there is an iRacing error)

1.4 Pit Road

1. When under caution all drivers must enter single-file and stay on the RIGHT side of pit road on ovals and the opposite side where applicable.

2. Drivers are limited to using 9 total pitboxes to enter and leave their box (4 in, pit, 4 out). 2 Wheels in a box simultaneously count as entering.

   • Driving through 10 boxes; Level 1

   • Driving through 11 or more boxes; Level 2

3. Drivers must maintain near the required pit road speed limit at all times unless stopping for their box. 

4. Pit road black flags will not be cleared unless for an iRacing error.

5. Drivers must call out over the drivers voice or text chat when they are entering and exiting the pits near another driver. If a driver fails to call out a pit entry/exit and causes an incident they may be penalized.

6. All drivers must understand they are in charge of their own vehicle and any incidents caused by not following these rules will result in a penalty.

1.5 On-Track

1. Every driver must maintain a safe and predictable line. This means staying high when there is a car low. This also means as a lapped car you are asked to hold your line, stay predictable and use the radio if necessary. Do not create an unsafe situation for other drivers.

2. Yellow line rule: track limits are marked by a yellow line at Daytona/Talladega (white line at the 2022 version of Atlanta Motor Speedway) separating the apron from the racing surface. Exceeding track limits to advance one's position is subject to a drive-through penalty (unless the driver gives up the position gained, within 1 lap). If the foul occurs on the last lap that car will be relegated to the last car on the lead lap in official race results.

3. Leaders are in charge of their own race car and must not expect a lapped car to move for them. This also goes for lapped cars. Even if a driver has fresher tires this does not mean anyone has to give up the racing line.

4. Any Aggressive move that results in an altered outcome of the race will be reviewed and addressed accordingly. This includes things such as; blocking, brake checking, door slamming, self-spinning or any other racing move that would be considered “dirty.”

5. Using the wall or any other non-racing surface to advance your position is strictly prohibited and will result in a minimum L3 penalty.

6. Be considerate of other cars, give adequate room where needed. Leave enough gap under braking so as to not run into the cars in front.

7. If a driver exits the racing surface, they must rejoin safely and off the racing line.

1.6 Cautions

1. Manual cautions will be initiated only under the condition that iRacing does not automatically throw the caution when there is a 3+ car incident stopped on the racing surface. Manual Caution will not be initiated in the event that it is an obvious intent of bringing out a caution to affect the result of the race.

   1. In the case of a road course event, if there are cars blocking the racing line, and pose a threat to oncoming traffic, a caution may be initiated by race control.

2. Under yellow drivers must maintain pace and stay within 1-3 car lengths of the car in front.

3. All drivers must NOT stop on track for anything. If a driver absolutely HAS to stop, they are asked to immediately tow to pit lane or drive down pit lane.

4. If a driver receives damage and cannot maintain pace speed or catch the field in a timely manner they are required to tow to pit road.

5. When a caution comes out, all drivers must reduce speed and watch for stopped cars. CTCRL has no tolerance for “ARCA Braking'' and minimum Level 2 penalties can be handed to drivers who do not slow down under yellow.

6. If a driver intentionally causes a yellow flag to come out, they can receive a minimum Level 6 Penalty.

7. If a driver has issues and stops on track during green flag conditions, the driver is asked to pull off of the racing surface as to not cause a yellow. If the driver is unable to control their car this will fall under the hardware failure rule.

1.7 Post Race

1. Following the conclusion of the race, all drivers are expected to reduce speed and safely drive down the pit lane to their respective box. The leader is allowed to engage in post-race celebrations on track.

2. All drivers other than the winner must exit to the pits and shall not interfere with the race winner. (Winner can also have teammates and/or affiliates on track as well)

3. Any intentional wrecking, even after the checkered flag waves, is unacceptable. Drivers who intentionally wreck another driver will face a minimum L4 Penalty.

1.8 Hardware/Connection Issues

1. Drivers who are continually blinking or dropping due to a hardware or network fault must request an EOL or exit the racing surface until the issue is resolved.

2. All drivers are responsible for their own hardware and penalties can still be issued for hardware faults. Please ensure all hardware is working and reliable before racing.

3. If a driver experiences a hardware/connection failure during the race and causes an incident it can result in a minimum L1 Penalty, each instance afterward will warrant a higher penalty level.

4. Massive dropout: In the case of more than 25% of the drivers losing connection due to an iRacing server issue (before halfway in the race), the race will be halted and resumed in a new session at a different point in time. If this occurs after halfway, the race will be scored from the last complete lap before the dropout.

5. If a driver loses connection before the initial start of the race, and is unable to start the race on time. The driver will be allowed to earn their laps back, up until 1 lap down, at the next opportunity.

1.9 Voice Chat

1. Drivers are expected to keep voice chat to race-chatter only, during green flag conditions. Although non-race chatter is allowed under yellow, it should be kept to a minimum.

2. Drivers must be professional and must not use profanity, slurs, or any other unprofessional language on track or on the broadcast.

3. Any drivers engaging in an argument with one another during green or yellow flag conditions will be warned and the next offense will be a chat mute and subsequent post-race penalty.

1.10 Cheating

1. Any sort of cheating during the practice, qualifying, or race session will result in a removal from CTC Racing Leagues and the offending driver will be reported to iRacing.

2. Black flags will only be cleared for incidents/penalties that are outside of the driver’s control. If a driver knowingly asks for a black flag which has been given correctly they will be penalized.

2. Penalties and Protests

2.1 Penalties

1. Penalties can include anything from an EOL to removal from the series and league. List of penalty severity listed below.

2. Penalty Level System.

1. Warning

2. EOL for the next race

3. Points penalty

4. Disqualified from race session

5. 1-14 week probation

6. 1-6 week suspension

7. Suspension for remainder of the season

8. Removal from league

1. Any driver in violation of the rules listed in this rulebook can be given any number of the penalties listed depending on the severity of the incident. 

2. Any black flags given by iRacing during the race will be handled by iRacing only. There will be no black flag clears, although there are a few exceptions depending on the race track.

2.2 Protests

1. Drivers are encouraged to message league admins or race control about incidents. It is impossible for admins to see everything happening on track so it is imperative that drivers are alerting admins about rule violations or any incidents involving another driver. This does NOT mean that drivers cannot be penalized without being protested. 

2. League admins have the right to penalize any driver violating series rules.

3. Drivers electing to appeal a penalty they received, must do so before the day of the next race. An appeal should be a well-written analysis and explanation of why the penalty may be incorrect or need to be readdressed.

2.3 At-faults

1. Each driver will start at 5 points. Each caution/incident a driver is found at fault for, will deduct one point. Each point level will warrant its own penalty, these are listed below.

5- Starting point (Max)

4- Warning

3- EOL in next race

2- Drive through penalty at the beginning of the next race.

1- Suspended for 1 race.

0- Suspended for the remainder of the season.

2. For every clean race a driver runs (meaning no at-fault incidents), they will earn 2 points back.

3. If an incident is found to be a "racing incident" meaning no driver is clearly at fault. No one will receive a point reduction.

4. All at-fault penalties are assessed post race.

3. Practice/Qualifying sessions

3.1 Practice

1. During the pre-race practice session drivers must be professional and drive how they would in the race.

2. Drivers must be mindful of others on track and will not impede the racing surface.

3. We understand practice is the time to get out those gremlins before the race starts but please be mindful of other drivers that are trying to practice.

4. Drivers are encouraged to join the race session at least 15 minutes before the start of qualifying. While not required, lack of practice will be factored into penalties if the driver has caused a problem during the race.

3.2 Qualifying

1. CTC has zero tolerance for “cheesing” or cheating the qualifying. Any sort of tire scrubbing, wall tapping, or other methods of cheating will result in a penalty given by iRacing or Race Control. All race sessions will have qualifying conduct scrutiny set at the “Moderate” level.

2. Once a driver completes their qualifying run, drivers are expected to safely slow down and drive or tow to pit lane.

3. There will be 1 session every week to qualify.

   • Qualifying will take place shortly before the race, 5 minutes for ovals, and 10 minutes for road courses.

4. Qualifying procedures.

   • Superspeedways (>2 Miles, Daytona, Talladega, Atlanta 2022, etc.) will consist of 1 timed lap.

   • Intermediates/Short Tracks (<=2 Mile tracks) will consist of 2 timed laps.

   • During the separated qualifying format. A Tier 3 charter holder may use their charter to hold a starting position at the tail end of the field without participating in qualifying. So long as there are not more than 43 cars qualified for the event.

5. Provisional requests must be sent in to an admin BEFORE the start of the requested race.

3.3 Race

1. Session Opens: 8:00 pm ET 

2. Race/Gridding: 8:30 pm ET

3. Weather is set during the race week to mimic real world conditions.

4. 75% Fuel 

5. Tire sets will be set differently for each track.

6. 1 Fast Repair 

7. Unlimited overtime attempts

4. Points System

4.1 Regular Season Points

• Finishing points:

• 5 Points for Leading a lap

• 5 Points for Leading most laps

4.2 Playoff Points and System

1. The Playoffs will consist of 12 total drivers to begin with at Week 11, and will narrow down to 4 total in Week 15.

2. A champion will be decided over a 5 week chase/playoff format.

3. A driver must participate in at least 6 of 10 regular season races to be playoff eligible.

4. T3 Charter drivers will receive 2 last-place provisionals to use throughout the season.

5. Last-place provisionals count as a race start and last place (behind the last finishing driver) finish in points.

6. A race win locks a driver into the chase. Race wins will NOT lock a driver into the final 4.

7. After the first 10 races of the season, all drivers with wins (must meet minimum starts) will earn a spot in the playoffs. Followed by the top points finishers to fill out the rest of the 12 spots. All drivers in the Playoffs will have their points total adjusted. All playoff drivers in the standings begin the playoffs with 3,000 points, plus an additional 10 for each regular season win.

8. After 4 weeks, the top 4 in points will be reset to 5000, the driver that earns the most points in the championship race will be the champion.

9. Earning race points will be the same during the chase.

10. Ties are broken as follows:

• Most wins

• Average finish

• Top 5s

• Least total Incident points

4.3 Teams

1. Each team will have a maximum of 6 drivers running for points.

2. Team points are recorded each week by adding the top 2 finishers from each team’s points together.

3. The total team points at the conclusion of the season are the sum of the team’s points from each week.

5. Driver Requirements

5.1 Ratings

1. We require drivers to have at least a D Class Oval License.

2. Drivers must have at least 800 Oval iRating.

6. Charter System

1. Free (Tier 1)

   • For several years now, the series has been completely free to race, and that will absolutely not be changing. The free version is what the Cup Series has been for the last 5 seasons.

2. $5 Charter (Tier 2)

   • 2 last place provisionals, (counts as a race start and last place finish)

3. $10 Charter (Tier 3)

   • 3 last place provisionals, (counts as a race start and last place finish)

   • A maximum of 36 may be sold per season. This is because a T3 charter purchase gives drivers a guaranteed starting spot in every points race during the season. Assuming there are more than 43 drivers qualifying for a race this would be very important to guarantee a spot in a race. 

   • Driver prizes and rewards. (Dash 4 Cash, Misc. Awards, Championship standings prizes, etc.)

We hope everyone likes this idea, and we certainly are excited to see what the future brings with this new system! If you are interested in purchasing a charter and have not been contacted about it, please reach out to an admin in the CTC Discord, or email us at racingctc2020@gmail.com. 

7. General Guidelines

7.1 Discord & Toxicity Guidelines

1. Drivers must remain calm and professional on or off the race track no matter the circumstances. Remember that everyone is racing to have fun.

2. Anything to target specific groups/individuals is prohibited.

3. Discriminatory language and hate speech is forbidden.

4. Be respectful and welcoming to new drivers.

5. Drivers paint schemes must be PG-13 (Refrain from anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see).

6. Do not send any malicious and harmful links or files, or anything that jeopardizes the security of others.

7. Bullying and harassment is not tolerated.

8. Controversial topics such as religion or politics are not allowed.

9. Alternate accounts are not allowed under any circumstances.

10. Do not advertise without permission. (The promotions channel is fine as long as the content is safe to view)

11. Only communicate in English.

7.2 Usage Policy

1. By joining a race session, drivers agree to their name and likeness being used on CTC related promotions and broadcasts.