The MAGNAVOX International Race of Champions is a 4 race series designed to crown the best of the best. This series will closely mirror the real IROC that ran from 1974-2006, albeit with minor tweaks to fit the NR2003 theme and style. The ultimate goal with this series is to bring the best online racers from across the community and pit them head to head to find out who is the best of the best. Maybe even bring it as a forefront in the community, labeling it as a prestigious event in NR2003 if you are able to make its 12 car field. Whether or not this goal will be met is surely to be answered, but it should be fun nonetheless.
However, I am well aware that this may be labeled "unfair" to the lesser experienced competitors in the community, being as there are only a set few spots in each season that will take quite a bit to enter into. Although I do understand these concerns, I am here to say that the whole point of IROC is to bring the best of the best. Not someone who is new to the game, is less experienced than most, or just can't get the job done. But, this is not to discourage those who may think that about themselves, or has a lot of people that may agree with those statements towards a certain driver. This could be the very playing grounds where you can show off your muscle, and make a statement that you are better than what everyone else and your own self say about you. Prove to the community that you aren’t the rookie as you might be shown as. No one got to the top of the NR skill ladder by sheer luck, so why not come try it out and see where you rank? You may learn a bit about yourself in the process.
Section 2: Preseason Thunder and Qualifying Procedures
Preseason:
- The Preseason will be mainly comprised of testing out different tracks to get setups finalized and ready for the season. Multiple tracks will be tested and made ready, even if they may not show up on the schedule for that season. Tracks that will most certainly be tested are Daytona, Talladega, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Rockingham, Auto Club, Michigan, Chicagoland, Homestead-Miami, Pocono, and Kentucky. Other tracks may be included in the line-up after different seasons, but as of now those are the current tracks that will be developed for the MIROC.
Qualifying:
- Sign-ups for the MAGNAVOX IROC will be handed out 2-3 weeks out from qualifying. The goal is to get 12 or more drivers by the deadline. If 12 drivers are not met by this deadline, qualifying will not happen and the season will go as normal.
- Each person signed up will be given a number from 1-40 in which they must use for qualifying. The car itself does not matter, just as long as that number is used. In the even we have over 40 signed up, multiple qualifying runs will be ran, with each person getting assigned a specific qualifying session to attend.
- Drivers will come into the session with their assigned numbers and the qualifying will commence. Drivers will run regular qualifying sessions at every track on the schedule, using the built in qualifying feature. After every qualifying run, the export will be saved and we will move on to the next track to do the same. This process will repeat until the final track's qualifying export is saved.
- The positions of each driver will be averaged out and that number will determine their final placement out of all competitors that qualified. The person with the lowest average score will be given the #1 spot, then #2 would be the 2nd lowest score and so on.
o Example: Joe Smith qualifies 2nd at the first track, 33rd the second, 26th the third, and 8th the last. His competitor, John Smith, qualifies 7th, 13th, 12th, and 3rd respectively. Joe's are added up 2+33+26+8, equaling out to 69, then divided by 4, which equals a final placement score of 17.25. John's are added and divided the same way, bringing his average to 8.75. If this were for the cutoff spot at 12th, John would get the 12th place position in the order over Joe because his average is smaller.
Section 3: Car Design Regulation
- Every driver making the final 12 grid will be given a car made on the standard MIROC Dodge Challenger template. Drivers will not be making their own cars, they will be given one custom made by the organizer, Jimmy Powell III.
- Driver names will be based on what they signed up with, with their last names being the ones put on the cars' side panels, back bumpers, and front windshields.
- The numbers will be picked based on final qualifying for the 12 car field. The 1st driver on the list will be given the #1 to drive, the 2nd driver gets #2, and so on. This is similar to the iRating system in iRacing, giving competitors and fans alike a sense of where that particular person ranks out of everyone. This will also give a nice outlook at the end of the season as to how certain drivers improved/faltered throughout the season.
- Colors will be randomly selected for each driver based on a pre-determined color palette. Ideas for letting drivers choose their own colors was considered, but rejected due to many of them choosing very similar colors that didn't look right on track. These colors are non-negotiable, so don't complain about having a pink car to me. If color of the car truly is the deciding factor of you wanting to race, you might as well not bother showing up.
- Each driver will be given a simple pit crew in the event they are needed during the race. The goal is to eliminate the need for pit stops during a race, so don't expect any extravagantly designed war wagons.
Section 4: Race Procedures and Rules
- Each race in the schedule will open the session with around 30 minutes of practice to let drivers feel more comfortable with the track itself.
- Qualifying will NOT happen during any event, and neither will Happy Hour. Each track will have an extra lap put in the ini file to allow cars to get in proper order on the first lap. Here is that procedure:
o For every first race of each season, drivers will line up after the green flag in the order of the numbers on their cars. Every subsequent races' orders will be determined by the last race's points standings, inverted. This means the 1st place driver in points from the last race will start at the tail end of the field for the next race.
o When the green flag is initially waved, cars are to not speed up significantly and get in the proper order that they are expected to be in. After the field is put in the correct positions, drivers will maintain pace speed until coming around to the line the next lap to take the official green flag of the session.
- Every start of a race and restart will be in double-file fashion.
- Automatic cautions will be used throughout each race, though manual cautions may be displayed if wrecks are severe enough to be called yet weren’t by the automatic system. Severity is ranked by number of cars, with 3 or more allowing this rule to come into effect.
- Aprons are NOT a part of the racing surface whatsoever, and cannot be used to advance positions. If it is shown that the driver was forced under the dividing line, and got back onto the racing surface cleanly, they will be waved off as good. Failure to comply with this rule will result in a black flag that must be served.
- Black flags of any kind will not be cleared under any circumstances, as those at the "champion" caliber should already be aware of those limits put in place.
- Lowlining at any track is permitted, especially those at Daytona and Talladega. Drivers should make use of multiple lanes at their discretion, and failure to do so is not a fault of the driver out in front by any means.
- This series will use a "2-and-park" system for those that cause accidents during the race. The first offense for causing a wreck will be an EOLL on restart and loss of a lap; second offense is an automatic park from the event. This may seems stern but it's just another protective measure to make sure everyone is aware of their race and can compete without wrecking into each other all the time. The "Cs and Is" type of calling out is not needed for this event, as it's a small field and race control will be available the whole time to check replays.
- Blocking is permitted throughout the race. If an accident occurs due to a bad block, the blame will be put on the driver doing the blocking.
- Race chatter should be at a minimum, including the text chat during the race. Be courteous please.
Section 5: Points and Scoring
- Here are the official points for each place:
o 1st: 21
o 2nd: 17
o 3rd: 14
o 4th: 12
o 5th: 10
o 6th: 9
o 7th: 8
o 8th: 7
o 9th: 6
o 10th: 5
o 11th: 4
o 12th: 3
o Most laps led: +5
o 2nd most led: +3
o 3rd most led: +2
- Provisional points will not be given to anyone for any reason. Provisional points are defined as last place credit even though they weren't able to attend a race.
- Drivers are allowed to bring in substitute drivers if they so please. These substitutes must drive the car of the driver they are subbing for, and the points earned that race go to the driver whose name is on the side of the car.
o Substitutes can only run a maximum of 2 races per season. Having a substitute run the whole schedule negates the purpose of the main driver even qualifying for that season.
o Please communicate the need of a sub ahead of time to get approved. If you ask to be substituted on the day of the race, you will automatically be denied.
Section 6: Global Points
- Every driver that runs in MIROC will have their regular season points that will determine the champion for that particular season. However, those points will also count towards their Global Points Standings. This list is not limited to any one season, and won't necessarily have a definite champion. This list adds up all points collected from every season for each driver that makes it, which will show where those who have participated in IROC stack up against the rest.