Late Model Dirt Rules

CORE RACING LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES

Season 2 Rules & Regulations

 

Created: August 31, 2021

 

Section I: Administration

All rules and regulations laid out in this document will be in place for the entirety of Season 2 of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series and will be enforced by league administration unless a situation arises where a rule or regulation needs to be changed in order to address shortfalls or issues in race operations that are directly affecting the quality of competition in a negative way.

Any changes to the rules beyond that exception will be considered at the end of Season 2 prior to Season 3.

League Admins for Season 2: Carl Handwerk, Dylan McDonald, Josh Billiter and Wes Fuller
Website Admins for Season 2: Carl Handwerk and Paul Butler
Facebook Admins for Season 2: Carl Handwerk
League Broadcaster: Dylan McDonald

Section II: Race Operations

Season 2 of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series will feature 18 weeks, comprised of 15 Regular Season events.

All races will be run with the following specifications:

– 1 “Fast Repair” Per Driver, Per Race
– Open Setups
– 1 Green-White-Checkers

To qualify to be able to participate in the CORE Late Model Dirt Series, you must meet the following.

– Apply to the league and prove that you can race clean
– Continue to help the league and yourself grow and get better
– Pay the season entry fee of $20

Backup Drivers – Not allowed.

Race Times – All race lobbies for Season 2 of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series will be open at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, beginning with a 30-minute hot lap session where groups of 4 drivers will be called out by the league admin for a set amount of laps.

The hot laps will conclude at approximately 9 p.m. Eastern Time with qualifying starting immediately. Qualifying will be open and have drivers called out one by one to run their laps. Qualifying order will be a reverse order of the current point standings and will be announced the day of the race.

The heat racing will begin promptly at 9:20 p.m. Eastern Time (unless otherwise specified).

Race Format – All races for the entirety of Season 2 of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series will be conducted the same way:

(4) heat races – Top 4 in each advance to the A-Main
B-Main (LCQ) – Top 6 advance to the A-Main
A-Main – Feature race with 22 drivers (16 from heats and 6 from B-Main)

Points – Drivers will receive the following points during the course of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series Season 2:

16+ entries

1st – 35 pts.     11th – 12 pts.      21st+ – 1 pt.
2nd – 30 pts.     12th – 10 pts.
3rd – 28 pts.      13th – 9 pts.
4th – 26 pts.      14th – 8 pts.
5th – 24 pts.      15th – 7 pts.
6th – 22 pts.      16th – 6 pts.
7th – 20 pts.      17th – 5 pts.
8th – 18 pts.      18th – 4 pts.
9th – 16 pts.      19th – 3 pts.
10th – 14 pts.      20th – 2 pts.

11-15 entries

1st – 20 pts.      11th – 6 pts.
2nd – 15 pts.      12th – 5 pts.
3rd – 14 pts.      13th – 4 pts.
4th – 13 pts.      14th – 3 pts.
5th – 12 pts.      15th – 2 pts.
6th – 11 pts.
7th – 10 pts.
8th – 9 pts.
9th – 8 pts.
10th – 7 pts.

10 or fewer entries

1st – 15 pts.
2nd – 10 pts.
3rd – 9 pts.
4th – 8 pts.
5th – 7 pts.
6th – 6 pts.
7th – 5 pts.
8th – 4 pts.
9th – 3 pts.
10th – 2 pts.

Additional Bonus Points – Bonus points will be allocated to drivers at the conclusion of the race and applied to their final total. The bonus points for Season 2 of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series are as follows:

1 Bonus Point For Each of the Following:
– Fastest Qualifier
– Fastest Lap in A-Main
– Hard Charger in A-Main

2 Bonus Points For Each of the Following:
– Heat race win
– 0x in A-Main

Section III: In-Race Driver Rules

Starts – For the entirety of Season 2 of the CORE Dirt Late Model Series, the initial start of any race will be controlled by the leader after he crosses between turns 3 and 4. Jumping the initial start could result in a drive thru penalty, if violated.

Restarts, Resuming Races – For all restarts following the initial start of the race, the leader is considered the control car and will be able to dictate when they decide to resume racing, only after the pace car has dropped off and begun its approach and entry into pit road. Drivers are expected to be within a car length of the car in front of them at the initial start and later restarts unless they feel it will be unsafe. Lagging behind more than a car length in order to try and time the start and get a jump WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. This will be closely monitored by league administrators and penalties may be enforced during and/or after the race.

Black Flags – Black flags will be controlled by iRacing and will not be cleared unless the league administration deems the action that resulted in the black flag was at no fault of the driver penalized. In this case, the series administration will make the decision and all laps may be granted back to that driver except for one.

For example, speeding on pit road in an effort to advance your position or not paying attention to the speed limit does not meet the threshold to have a black flag cleared. Additionally, a driver who is able to drive their vehicle following a crash that places the race under caution and, instead of rejoining the field and performing their pit stop when pits were open, they opt to pit during a closed pits, that also does not meet the threshold of having a black flag cleared.

On the opposite side, a driver may have used pit road to avoid a crash and entered at a high speed, getting a black flag. That may warrant a review by league administration to see about removing that flag or a situation where a driver did not grid up properly, causing others to receive a black flag for passing under yellow, that, too, would be grounds enough to allow for a review of the black flag for possible clearing.

As a rule of thumb: Black flags will not be cleared unless there are extenuating circumstances that warrant it, which will be reviewed by league administration, such as being the innocent bystander in an incident or having to use pit road to avoid an incident.

“Lucky Dog” Free-Pass & Wave-Around – In season 2 of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series, the “Lucky Dog” free pass will NOT be in effect. Wave-Arounds will NOT be in effect and cars behind the pace car, but ahead of all lead lap drivers will be sent to the rear of the field. Again drivers must follow the rules and prompts on screen from iRacing.

The league administration reserves the right to determine if a driver is laps down due to a computer situation or iRacing error. In this case, the series administration will make the decision and all laps may be granted back to that driver except for one. This rule will be in effect for the entire season and will not be subject to modification until Season 3.

Cautions & In-Race Penalties – The CORE Late Model Dirt Series was created to get drivers together and have a good time. Racing incidents can and will happen over the course of a season. Our goal is to help drivers clean up the unnecessary and avoidable incidents that cause more harm than good to the league. Aggressive hard driving is allowed and is encouraged, if it’s done at the proper time and can be handled cleanly. Racing like an idiot or pushing too hard too fast (going 3 or 4 wide on lap 1) can result in a penalty.

This season, if a driver is found to have been the principal cause of a caution flag that was egregious and avoidable, their first penalty will be an End-of-Line (EOL) penalty where they are sent to the rear of the field.

If that same driver is found to have been the principal cause of a second caution flag that was egregious and avoidable during the same race, that driver will then receive a one-lap black flag penalty. They will be required to stay in the pits and let the field pass by one full lap.

If that same driver is found to have been the principal cause of a third caution flag that was egregious and avoidable during the same race, that driver will then be immediately removed from the server by race administration.

Additionally caution laps will not count for all races.

Section IV: Driver Behavior

Managing tempers – We understand racing can result in some heated moments between drivers as they all jockey for the same real estate week after week to get to the same goal, winning the race and eventually a championship. To that end, we also understand things can be said “in the heat of the moment,” but there will be an expectation be mindful of what is said in a fit of anger, or not.

Series administrators reserve the right to assess penalties and other action against drivers who make offensive comments in text and/or voice communications toward drivers or others participating in the CORE Late Model Dirt Series, ranging from warnings, to point penalties, to as severe as complete removal from a race lobby or the league outright.

These are actions the administration would prefer not to take, but again this league was created for those that like to have fun and race hard but clean. The league racing and Discord will not be ruined based on the reckless comments or actions of someone who may not be able to control their temper during a moment of a given race or after.

Intentional wrecking, RetaliationThis will not be tolerated. In a similar vein to managing tempers, there is an understanding that close quarters racing can heighten emotions when battling for position but, should a battle result in drivers using their cars to retaliate over a perceived slight against them or a move on the track they didn’t like, or take someone out for any reason, the driver found to be intentional wrecking and/or carrying out retaliation will be IMMEDIATELY removed from the race server, with the series administration reserving the right to completely remove the driver(s) from the series.

This behavior will not be tolerated and race administration will be monitoring each race to ensure competition remains close, competitive but free of offensive communications and detrimental on-track conduct.

Section V: Penalties, In General

Following a race the series administration may then enforce the following penalties to a driver depending on their on and off track behavior:

– Level 1 Penalty – Verbal Warning
– Level 2 Penalty – 1 month probation and EOL to start the next race
– Level 3 Penalty – 3 months probation and 1 race suspension
– Level 4 Penalty – 1 month suspension and rest of the year probation
– Level 5 Penalty – Removal from series

Probation – A period of time where series administrators will be closely monitoring behavior and driver conduct where, if additional infractions occur, further penalties could be assessed against the driver.

In-Race Penalties – Penalties delivered by race administrators during a CORE event at any time.
1st Offense – End of Line penalty
2nd Offense – 1 lap penalty
3rd Offense – disqualification from race

Any questions regarding this penalty system can be directed to CORE Late Model Dirt Series owners Wes Fuller and Carl Handwerk.

Section VI: Fees

Season Fees – Entry to Season 2 of the CORE Late Model Dirt Series will be $20 per driver to compete in the championship.

Payments – All season fees will be used for series purposes only and will be tracked. Records of income and disbursement of these fees will be made available for anyone in the league upon request.

Section VII: Season 2 Awards

TBD – Based on finalized entry list