New Members

"If you drive it as a game, it's completely useless. If you drive it and you're conscious that it is a race car, and if you're going to make a mistake it's going to hurt, then it's good. When you take the fear out of the simulator, then you're never going to relate to the real car."
Juan Pablo Montoya

New Member Checklist

  1. If you think iRacing is “just a game”, we aren’t the right league for you. Most here practice a lot and take our racing seriously. Because of that, we have a ton of fun with close, safe racing every week. The competition can be fierce but with our camaraderie comes much respect for our fellow racers. Hotheads aren’t welcome!
  2. Join our Discord or Facebook group. If you don’t join one, you might get removed from the league. This is how we communicate with our members.
  3. Join the APEX THIS iRacing league. Don’t wait until the night of the race.
  4. Read the Rules.
  5. Get a headset. Voice communication is one of the primary methods we use on track to make the racing go smoother.
  6. If you are newish to iRacing, race ONLY in the slower classes. Do this until you can run a race with 0 incidents or close to it. DO NOT race in faster cars.
  7. Go through this website in its entirety.
  8. Newish to iRacing? 6 Tips for those New to iRacing

Pick the Right Night and the Right Car

If you are new to iRacing, don’t expect to jump into the fastest cars and do well. You’ll probably cause more harm than good. Feel free to practice with us and if you think you’ll be unsafe in the race, please don’t race. Keep practicing.
 
Don’t pick the fastest class in multi-class racing just because you can. If you aren’t pretty fast in the lower class, then don’t race the faster class car. You’ll have more fun racing with people that are closer to your lap times.
 

Practice

Unless you are an alien racer, don’t expect to show up 30 minutes before a race start and do well. In fact, you may just upset a lot of racers. Good racing takes practice and effort.
 

Communicate

Oftentimes good communication is key to a race win. The use of a voice headset is highly recommended. Get one if you don’t have one! 

Race Within Your Limits

Racing involves a lot of things. We want to drive fast but we have to look in the mirrors, at gauges, the relative box, and communicate to other drivers — all without having an incident. If you’re using 100% of your mental capacity to drive at the limit, how will you do the other things necessary during a race? You can’t. You’re leaving no margin to deal with the tasks that have to be done plus racecraft, surprises, and the many random events that happen during a race.

Too often, ‘learning’ racers race at 100% and then have an off when things don’t go perfect. I know, I used to do this ALL THE TIME. I still do it, but less often now. Why? I leave some mental capacity on the table during the race. Yes, it may mean I’m a bit slower, but I’m also more consistent and finish races in a better position.

Be Aware

You need to know what is going on around you. Look in your mirrors. Watch your Relative Box. Drive the racing line and focus on having a zero-incident race. Make that your goal and you’ll have more fun and fewer wrecks. When someone faster comes up behind, be sure you know our Passing Guidelines.
 

Reenter Safely

If you do go off track or have an incident on track, it is 100% your responsibility to reenter the race safely. Use your relative box after the spin to see where others are around you. Get off the track if you are going to be in the way of others. You might have to wait for a lot of cars to go by, and yes this can be painful, but it is something you have to do. Read our guide on Reentering the Track Safely

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