Southern Superstars Racing Rules

SOUTHERN SUPERSTARS RACING LEAGUE RULES AND GUIDELINES

Updated on December 1, 2011
ALL RULES PREVIOUSLY UNDER REVIEW HAVE BEEN APPROVED AND ADOPTED FOR IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT AS OF DECEMBER 1, 2011

THE DECISIONS AND RULINGS OF THE SERIES OFFICIALS SHALL BE BINDING AND FINAL REGARDING ALL EVENTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES

SPORTSMANSHIP: ALL DRIVERS are required to show good sportsmanship and be respectful of their fellow drivers and of the series officials. This applies at ALL TIMES, whether before, during or after the actual race. A written warning will be logged against a driver for their first offence, 1 week suspension for the 2nd offence, and 30 day suspension for the 3rd or higher offence. Offences include verbal outbursts containing blatant profanity and maliciously ramming another driver's vehicle (based on events leading up to or after the incident) during or after a race.
OVERAGGRESSIVE DRIVING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Continually placing yourself in a position to wreck yourself and more importantly others will be noted by officials and will be dealt with severely. This may include a week or more suspension, and/or a fine of up to $25.00. It could also mean going home and finding a new place to race. See rule number one. Also BLOCKING IS NOT RACING. If you choose to try to block a faster driver behind you in the early laps of an event, then you're being considered as discourteous AND you are asking for disaster. Blocking is somewhat feasible in the final 5 laps or so of a race when trying to protect your position, but again, you must realize that you will have to be prepared for the potential consequences.
CHATTING: Chatting is not allowed during the qualifying session, during any green flag period in the race session nor after the "one-to-go" indication has been given prior to restarts. Exceptions to this are using the text auto-chats to notify fellow competitors of your on-track status (THIS IS ENCOURAGED), and any official statements from series officials, such as Lucky Dog advisories, etc. One of the three race admins will declare a "NO CHATTING" period to begin as the field prepares to take the green flag to start the race. During this period, only brief verbal courtesy advisories will be allowed, such as "go high", or "25 pitting". These will be limited to four words or less, and MUST be of specific benefit to your fellow racers. Any chat outside this scope will result in a warning for the driver's first offence, or a black flag for each offence afterwards, whichever is appropriate. After a caution period begins, the race admin will announce, "LIMITED CHAT ALLOWED". The only chat allowed during this period will be for assistance with getting the driver line-up correct. Any chat outside this scope will result in a warning for the driver's first offence, or a black flag for each offence afterwards, whichever is appropriate. When the leader takes the "one-to-go" indication for a restart, the race admin will declare a "NO CHATTING" period to begin again. After the race concludes, the race admin will declare that chatting is allowed. Remember, only one verbal warning will be given, per driver for a first offence, then a "GREEN-FLAG" black flag for each violation will follow without further warning. If a driver gets his second or later violation at a point in the race where we won't be going back to green-flag racing, then that driver will be debited ONE LAP. Repeated non-compliancy with this policy may result in ejection from both Teamspeak and the race server.
FLAMING, which we define as the use of profanity directed at another driver or an official, IS NOT TOLERATED in the Race Channel on Teamspeak, nor in the NR2003 text chat at any time. ONE WARNING PER DRIVER, PER NIGHT will be given for minor slips of the tongue, however, a repeat offences from habitual drivers and major outbursts will not be tolerated. If you want to speak frankly with, or "have it out" with another driver then invite that driver to one of the alternate channels of the SSRL Teamspeak server. The race channel and lobby channel will remain G-rated channels at all times. Enter all other channels of the SSRL Teamspeak server at your own risk. Offending drivers will be fined from $5.00 to $25, at the lead official's discretion, and may be ejected on the spot. Habitual offenders can expect higher fines and/or ejection without warning. Drivers that have been fined are not allowed to race with the SSRL again until all outstanding league fines against the driver have been paid.
WARP is an accepted inconvenience of online multiplayer gaming, however, if you are warping, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to act in a mature fashion and position yourself at the back of the racing pack to avoid an incident. In cases of severe warp, the warping driver may be asked to leave the server and not return in that event. In this case you will receive points where you finish in the final running order. Drivers who are asked to leave the server and fail or refuse to do so will be subject to ejection and loss of membership status.
YELLOW FLAG INCIDENTS - RACE BACK TO THE CAUTION FLAG AT ALL TIMES, but do it carefully. If you cause an incident while racing back to the caution, then you will be credited with a caution incident and must pit just as if you caused the original caution. We will be using the LUCKY DOG procedures for all caution periods, except for any caution period that occurs inside the last ten laps of the race. The race official in charge of the race will determine the highest-place, non-lead lap driver after the entire field has cycled around to take the yellow flag. Officials will then advise the eligible driver that he will be the "lucky dog" for that period. The Lucky Dog recipient will then come down pit road on the second lap of the caution period, then SPEED while on pit road to draw the EOLL penalty. The driver will signify either via text chat or voice chat to the official when he receives the EOLL penalty from his spotter, then rejoin the field at the tail end. When the race goes back green, the LD recipient will then be given a ONE LAP credit, which should put the driver back on the lead lap. If the official does not hear or see the "EOLL" response from the LD recipient driver before the green flag comes back out, then the driver may not be credited the lap. The driver responsible for the caution period will not be eligible for the lucky dog lap credit. If there is uncertainty involved, and one of the lucky dog recipients is determined to have been at fault for the incident in which he received a lucky dog lap credit, then the lap credit will be removed in the final results. In cases where the perpetrator of the incident would have been the eligible driver for the lucky dog for that caution period, then the next driver in line a lap or more down will receive the lucky dog credit.

Any driver that "self-spins" or otherwise causes a caution period will receive a caution credit, and must come down pit road on the SECOND lap of the caution period that ensues for that incident. Any incident claimed immediately after the incident will not be reviewed after the race, and credit given to the driver claiming responsibility. All other yellow-flag incidences will be reviewed by the race review panel (see rule # 9), made up of the top three finishers of the event. In addition, the following policy applies to repeat offenders:

DRIVER'S SECOND CAUTION: If you cause a 2nd incident during the same race event then you must park your car for the night.

If you are found to have not pitted on the second caution lap of a caution that you are ruled to have caused, then you will be penalized ONE LAP per violation at the end of the race and be scored at the tail of that lap. If you are found to have not parked your car after two caution credits, then scoring for you will stop at the point of the second incident. Anyone causing a yellow flag that results in the race not going back to green-flag condition will be scored at the tail end of the lap that they finish on. If you're not on the same lap as the guy that you're involved in an incident with, unless there's clear intent to make contact demonstrated by the higher running order driver, then credit for the incident will go to the lower-running order driver. Incidents occurring between two drivers where clear, singular fault cannot be determined will likely be credited to BOTH involved drivers. In this case, both/all drivers involved would be expected to come down pit road to serve their penalty. Any driver deemed as responsible who was not found to have pitted as prescribed will be docked one lap in the final race standings and placed at the tail of that lap.

FINAL LAP - Any driver that spins or wrecks another car on the final lap while racing to the checkered flag will be charged with a caution incident and placed at the tail of their lap, whether or not the caution flag comes out.

SPECIAL CASE 1: Anyone that attempts a jack-rabbit start or restart (speeds up then slows down) that results in a yellow flag will be credited with the caution incident. Anyone that runs into another car/truck on the start or restarts which results in a yellow flag will be credited with the caution incident, unless the vehicle run into failed to accelerate with the cars around him AND did not verbally warn drivers behind him that he would have trouble getting up to speed prior to the restart.

SPECIAL CASE 2: Any car that is more than two laps down to the leader must yield to all lead-lap cars inside the final ten laps of the race. Any yellow flag incident caused by the interaction between a lead-lap driver and a driver two or more laps down will automatically be credited to the lesser-laps driver.

SPECIAL CASE 3: If you lose control of your car and, as a result slow and cause the car behind you to make contact, spin you and bring out a caution, then YOU will be deemed as responsible for the caution period. WARNING: This is NOT a free ticket for the car running behind to nail the car ahead if the car ahead merely wiggles and doesn't lose forward momentum. Any "ripple" effect further back in the field that results from this contact will not be of consequence to the driver getting loose up front unless the driver that gets loose up front actually wrecks or makes contact with another car and causes him to wreck. These calls will be judgment calls by the officials, and the officials decision will be final.

SPECIAL CASE 4: For races that are run with yellow flags disabled, the following policy will apply: If you spin someone and it's your fault, then you must immediately pull over to a SAFE area and come to a complete stop until either the driver that you spun gets back by you, or TEN SECONDS, whichever of the two comes first. Failure to comply will result in a one-lap penalty, post-race.

INTENTIONALLY CAUSING A YELLOW FLAG INCIDENT: Any driver that appears to intentionally wreck or spin their vehicle, or that slows dramatically on the track and causes, or attempts to cause a yellow flag to be displayed, or stops on the track and causes, or attempts to cause a yellow flag to be displayed will be closely scrutinized. If it appears to officials that the driver in question deliberately spun or wrecked his vehicle, stopped on the track, slowed dramatically on the track or otherwise tried to cause the yellow flag to be displayed, then the driver in question will be placed on probation for no less than three months. If the offence occurs while said driver is already on probation, then said driver will be suspended for no less than two weeks across ALL active series, and cannot use a provisional during that period. A driver's history will be considered when making this call.
DRIVER ETIQUETTE WHILE UNDER CAUTION: After you have taken the caution flag, you are required to immediately catch up to the driver that you are scored behind of and maintain no more than THREE car lengths distance between yourself and the car scored ahead of you. Drivers are not allowed to slow more than FIVE MPH below the pace car speed unless the car ahead is holding him up. If the driver immediately behind you in position pits and is subsequently black-flagged for passing under yellow due to you slowing down without justifiable cause, then the penalized driver may request that his black-flag be cleared, on this basis only. However, the incident will be reviewed post-race, and if the black flag was determined to be NOT due to the fault of the other driver, then the black-flag will be reinstated and a TWO LAP penalty will be assessed to the driver in question, POST RACE.
HOW CAUTION INCIDENTS ARE RULED ON: All caution incidents are ruled on by the race review panel, made up of the top three finishing non-involved drivers of the race event. The review panel is responsible for determining who was at fault for each caution incident of the race based on the below guidelines. Failure to perform your duty if you are on the review panel will result in a last-place finish for the event in question. The lead official will ensure that the review panel rules FIRST: according to the below guidelines; and SECOND: according to common sense if there isn't a guideline listed below for the scenario encountered. We try to do this logically, based on who committed a fault that triggered a yellow flag condition. The following are a few "problematic" scenarios seen in the past, and how they will likely be ruled on.

a. If you run into someone's rear bumper during a race, then you'll probably get credit for the incident unless the driver you hit is already out of control and slowing his forward progress while under green. Of course, this does not include the car in front slowing down to negotiate a corner.

b. If you are inside of another driver going into the corner, can't hold the bottom groove and force by contact the outside-lane driver into a situation that causes a caution incident, then you can expect to get credit for that incident unless there is overwhelming evidence that the incident was caused by another driver's fault.

c. If you bounce off the wall and make contact with another car and either of you spin and cause a caution, then the car bouncing off the wall will likely get credit for the caution.

d. In cases where two drivers are racing each other and make contact where the trailing driver makes forward contact with the rear of the lead driver's bumper and the contact results in an incident between the two, then the trailing driver will receive credit for the incident.

e. In cases where two drivers are racing each other down into the corner and make contact, if the driver in the inside lane and has any part of his car to the inside of the other driver's car, holds his line and contact occurs causing an incident, then the outside-lane driver will receive credit for the incident. Same applies to racing off the corner and on the straight-aways, unless the inside car crowds the outside car into the outside wall.

f. In cases where two drivers are racing each other and make contact, if the driver in the inside lane gets forced onto the apron by contact from the outside car and the inside car, as a result drifts up into the outside car and causes an incident, then the outside-lane driver will receive credit for the incident.

g. In cases where several cars are in nose to tail proximity, referred to as car "A", "B", and "C", in that order from lead to tail, and car "B" makes contact with car "A" ahead of him and causes a sudden loss of forward momentum that results in car "C" spinning car "B", then car "B" will be deemed at fault. This scenario is difficult to rule on, so the basis will be the initiator of the contact that caused the loss of forward momentum.

h. If two drivers are racing side-by-side and contact between them causes an incident, and officials can't determine which of the drivers was out of their rightful lane (textbook example of "just hard racing"), then both drivers will be held at fault.

i. If you are having obvious connection issues and choose to stay on the race track and subsequently cause a caution incident due to your connection issue, then you will receive two caution credits for the incident.

It's impossible to list all of the possible scenarios that cause cautions, so most of them will be ruled on using common sense. Officials reserve the right to overrule a driver's claim to a caution credit if he deems fault should clearly go to the other involved driver. Therefore, it would be in a driver's best interest to take the trip down pit road unless he's sure that he didn't cause the incident in question. Common sense has to be used in making these kind of determinations.
YELLOW LINE ON SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Drivers may not pull alongside another car with any portion of their race vehicle while below the yellow line at any point on the speedway while under green or while racing back to the caution flag. If they do so, then they must fall back completely behind the car that they pulled alongside of while they were on the yellow line before attempting any subsequent pass attempt on that car. Under no circumstances will a driver be allowed to gain a position at the start/finish line if ANY part of the pass was made while said driver was on or below the yellow line. Since it is too difficult to establish just how far across the line is too much, the line will be drawn right on the yellow line's outer boundary. That means, if you so much as touch it ANYWHERE on the track while attempting to gain a position on the driver directly in front of you without being forced down there by direct contact, then you must fall back behind the car. However, if you are being challenged by another car on the outside and you, as the inside car touch the yellow line then you may hold your ground and race for the position. This rule applies only to the driver touching the yellow line while making a challenge to advance his position on the inside lane.
BLOCKING: There is a fine line between aggressive blocking and taking the driver behind's line away. If you erratically change lanes to block another driver on a straight-away and cause a wreck that results in a yellow flag, then the blocking driver will probably be given credit for the incident. But be advised, just because the driver in front moves down in the corner directly in front of you to protect his position, that isn't considered over-aggressive blocking.
APRON: Stay above the out of bounds lines when making a pass! Any driver touching the apron (the area below the apron boundary line) that results in contact with another car that results in one or both cars being involved in a wreck and related yellow flag will be given credit for the incident, and will be required to take the pit road penalty on the second lap of caution. If this occurs with less than enough laps remaining to allow for the pit road penalty, then the offending driver will be scored at the tail-end of the current lap that he was on when the incident occurred.
BUMP-DRAFTING: No bump-drafting allowed in the corners. That means the corner entries, as well. If you wreck another driver due to bump-drafting him in the corner then you will be ruled at fault for the incident.
STARTS AND RESTARTS: On the initial start of the race, the pole-sitter is responsible to maintain pace speed all the way to the point where the green light comes on with no more than a +/- 3 mph variation in pace speed. The racing begins ONLY when the green light is displayed on the initial start of the race. If the pole-sitter fires early, then he must come down pit road under green the next time by, or he will be penalized one lap in the final standings. On all race restarts, the race leader must maintain a constant pace speed (+/- 3 mph) beginning when he takes the one-to-go indication and must hold that speed until the green light come on or he crosses the start/finish line, whichever comes first. On all starts and restarts, drivers are required to maintain no more than a one and a half car length distance between themselves and the car in front of them, and cannot break the plane of the rear bumper of the car in front of them until the green light comes on. You may not begin closing the gap on the car ahead of you until AFTER the green light comes on. Any driver that causes the gap between them and the car in front or behind them to increase beyond 2 car lengths between turn 4's exit and the point where the green is displayed will be subject to a penalty if he is protested for excessive variation of the pace speed. Any driver that gets caught getting a run on the driver in front of them before the pole-sitter/race leader has fired or the green light comes on, whichever comes first, and gains positions as a result of getting the run will be penalized the number of positions he gained in the final standings, unless he gives the positions back before the following lap is completed. Any driver that has his car's nose in front of the car ahead's rear bumper plane when the green light comes on and does not drop back behind the car ahead before reaching turn one will be penalized one position for each position he gains over the course of the lap.

SPECIAL CASE 1: If you are not within the prescribed two car length distance to the car in front of you when the green light comes on, then you must be running no more than FIVE mph over the pace speed when the green light comes on. The intent of this case is to prevent cars that are lagging behind from gaining an advantage on restarts. If the car lagging behind doesn't pass another car that's up to speed before reaching the back stretch, then there will be no penalty for violation of this special case rule.

The penalty for violation of any part of this rule is at the discretion of the league admins and officials.
RETALIATION: If you have a problem with another driver, it will be settled in a private (one on one) chat with that driver after the race, or over private e-mail. It will NOT be settled on the track nor in the chat during the race. Anyone that retaliates against another driver on the race track, either during or after any race event will be penalized. Repeat-offenders may be suspended from the SSRL league. First-time offenders have the option of a either a one-race suspension from the series in which the violation occurred or a $15.00 fine, plus three months probation. Second-time offenders will have the option of either a two-race week suspension from ALL SSRL racing activities or a $25.00 fine, plus six months probation. Third-time violators will be banned from the league for the remainder of the current calendar season, or 90 days, whichever is longer plus a $50.00 fine due at the time of reinstatement. Any violations of this nature while on probation will result in an automatic 90-day suspension from all SSRL series, plus a $50.00 fine to be reinstated.
SECURITY: Members of the SSRL will not, at any time publish, relay, or pass along in any form or fashion SSRL race event passwords to anyone or anything. The SSRL is a PRIVATE league, and its members were invited individually to participate in the league. Penalty for infraction will be immediate ejection from the league. Members are not allowed to share their SSRL RaceLM, CFM nor forum login credentials with any other person. Penalty for infraction will be immediate ejection from the league.
SSRL "SPECIFICATION" NR2003 EXECUTABLE: Beginning on July 1st, 2010 all SSRL competitors will be required to be running the SSRL "specification" NR2003 executable file in their NASCAR Racing 2003 Season folder. This file installer can be downloaded now on the Downloads page of the SSRL Forum. Instructions are posted in the file description area for the file. After June 30th, 2010, any top-three finishing driver who's Hacker Smacker report shows non-compliant file attributes for the NR2003.EXE file will be WARNED that he is non-compliant with the SSRL NR2003.EXE file specifications. Any repeat non-compliancy will result in the driver being disqualified from the event in question. 3rd time and habitual offenders will be subject to ban from the SSRL.
TECH INSPECTIONS: As a continued effort to discourage hacking and cheating, all top-three finishers are subject to have their Hacker Smacker processes report reviewed after race events have concluded. If any of these drivers is found to have not been running the SSRL "specification" NR2003.EXE file for the session, then he will fail the tech inspection process. Any driver in the top three finishing positions that is caught running ANY computer process that's reported size by Hacker Smacker significantly differs from that reported by a Google search of the authentic details for the specific process will fail the tech inspection process. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT DRIVERS UTILIZE END-IT-ALL, GAMEBOOSTER, OR WINDOWS TASK MANAGER TO SHUT DOWN ALL UNNECESSARY PROCESSES AND APPLICATIONS PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LOCK-DOWN PERIOD EACH RACE NIGHT. FIRST OFFENDERS will receive a warning strike, noted on the Driver Roster page under their name. They will also be notified via the SSRL Forum that they have been flagged for the violation. At that point, no penalties will be assessed against the driver. However, if the driver fails the tech inspection process again, then he will be DISQUALIFIED from the event in question. Repeated violations afterwards will warrant a ban from the SSRL. The SSRL will not tolerate any driver that cheats. This includes the driver's use of performance enhancing modifications to the NR2003 file system or memory map, performance enhancing additions and the use of memory debugging tools such as "RAM Cheat". We will also be doing random F1 and F5 screen shots for the top three finishers if officials feel that a driver is performing well above and beyond his usual level. Our drivers and officials have come to be able to recognize drivers that perform grossly beyond their natural potential, so if you fall into this category then expect to be questioned by officials. The accused driver's attitude and response to this questioning will be a key consideration in the league's rulings against the driver in question. Penalties range from probation to permanent ban from the league, at the officials' discretion.
CONNECTION ISSUES WITH SERVER: NR2003 server crashes and game crashes do occur from time to time, everyone needs to realize these facts. In the event of a server crash or server connection issue where EVERYONE gets disconnected due to the server issue:

a) If the race event has not yet gone green, the session can be restarted ONCE.

b) If less than half of the scheduled event laps have not been completed, then the race will be cancelled, and will not be rescheduled.

c) If half or more than half of the scheduled event laps are completed, then the race will be called official IF scoring is available. In that case, we will go back to the last-completed green-flag lap and that will be the official finish. If no scoring is available due to the incident causing the crash, then the race will be cancelled and will not be rescheduled.

Internet data interruptions and computer crashes are inevitable. Sometimes a single core router on the internet can hick-up, causing everyone hopping across it at that time to lose connection. Sometimes computers lock-up, and sometimes you accidentally hit the Windows key. The SSRL makes no concessions for these occurrences. If your computer locks up or you get disconnected from the server while you're leading on the last lap, well, just like in real racing unexpected problems can strike at any time. You will be scored wherever the official results file places you. NO EXCEPTIONS!! Just deal with it, and make the best of the situation and move on.
RACER IDs: All SSRL drivers must use driver names/ID with, at minimum their first initial and full last name. We will ask for resolution one time without penalty. If the problem is not corrected for the next event then that driver will not be allowed to race.
CAR NUMBERS: Car numbers must be approved by the SSR webmaster in order to be used in SSR competition. Car numbers are assigned to drivers when they sign-up with the SSRL. However, any SSR member that is considered as "stagnant", or that has not raced in a SSRL event for a period of one month is subject to lose his assigned car number upon it being requested by a new driver sign-up.
RACE SERVER RESTARTS: There will be no restarts of the qualifying session for the purpose of allowing a driver having connection troubles or other technical difficulties to get into the race session. The will be no restarts of the race session after the green flag has been waved.
LAPPED CAR ETIQUETTE: When racing at tracks other than Daytona or Talladega, if you are about to be lapped and are impeding the race leader, you are allowed three laps to try to stay ahead of a greater-laps driver. After three laps of impeding that driver you must yield to that driver and the remaining greater-laps drivers. The greater-laps driver is required to give the lesser-laps driver a PUBLIC verbal warning at least TEN SECONDS prior to physically moving him. Ten seconds after the verbal warning has been given, the lesser-laps driver is considered as "fair game" for the greater-laps driver. When racing at Daytona, Talladega or Coca Cola Speedways, lapped cars are allowed to hold their position without regard for the interests of greater-laps drivers UNTIL the "five laps to go" period has been reached. However, if a lapped car has nothing to gain (or no one in his vicinity on the same lap) by impeding the lead-lap cars, then he must yield the position immediately upon request by the advancing driver. Any yellow flag incident that results from a lesser-laps driver being moved out of the way as prescribed above will be credited to the lesser-laps driver.

Lapped cars, please do not ask for laps back from the leader. If they want to give them, they will move to the top side of the track and slow-up. That will be your indication that the lap is being offered by the leader. HOWEVER, it is our recommendation that the leader remain at race speed until he takes the yellow flag, in the interest of preventing a major wreck. ANYONE SLOWING BEFORE TAKING THE YELLOW FLAG AND CAUSING ANOTHER WRECK WILL BE CREDITED WITH A YELLOW FLAG INCIDENT, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT HE CAUSED THE ORIGINAL CAUTION PERIOD.
DAMAGED CAR ETIQUETTE: If you have severe engine damage, to the point where your race vehicle is smoking then you are prohibited from further racing in the current event. If you attain a "smoker" status during any race event while under green flag conditions, you are required to go to your pit stall for evaluation by your crew within three laps of the onset of the smoking condition. If you attain the "smoker" status while under caution, or your "smoker" status carries over into a caution period, then you are required to pit under that caution period and report to your pit box for evaluation by your crew. You may not reenter the race with a smoking race vehicle.

If you are otherwise damaged to a lesser degree, and are not smoking then you will be allowed to race, but must not in any way impede the progress of other racers. You will be highly scrutinized upon involvement of any caution incident while having a pre-existing damaged status, and are very likely to receive the credit for such an incident.
BLACK FLAGS DUE TO SIM / TRACK BUGS: Black flags will NOT be cleared unless:
a) there is a DEDICATED, non-racing SSRL admin overseeing the race, and the issue that caused the black flag can be determined by the dedicated admin as invalid.
b) the black flag was caused by reason outlined in rule # 8, DRIVER ETIQUETTE WHILE UNDER CAUTION. There are provisions to this clause, as defined by rule # 8. If this black flag is requested to be cleared by driver in question, cleared by the admins as a result of the request, then determined in a post-race review to be unwarranted pursuant to the rule then driver in question will be penalized TWO laps, post-race.
c) the black flag was a result of a "jumping the restart" penalty caused by passing another driver who has spun before the start/finish line on a restart. If this black flag is requested to be cleared by driver in question, cleared by the admins as a result of the request, then determined in a post-race review to be unwarranted pursuant to the rule then driver in question will be penalized TWO laps, post-race.
DRIVERS MEETING PROCEDURE: Drivers' meetings will be held at 7:45 PM CST on race nights on Teamspeak, on the specified channel. Drivers are required to be connected to the Teamspeak channel by 7:45 PM. If you're not in the chat room by then, you may be required to sit out qualifying for the race. A minimum of six drivers are required in the practice session by 8:00 PM in order for the race to be counted as an official points race. Otherwise, the race will be counted as a "fun run" only, and no points will be awarded. Immediately following the drivers meeting, the server will be reset. After reconnecting to the server, drivers will not be allowed to disconnect and reconnect again for any reason during the remainder of the night's session. Any driver disconnecting and reconnecting for reasons other than a server or server network issue, after the post-meeting reset but before the green flag is given will not be allowed a top three finish.
CONNECTS/DISCONNECTS AFTER LOCKDOWN PERIOD HAS BEGUN: Race officials will make a verbal announcement to the entire group of drivers via Teamspeak at 7:55 PM, five minutes before open practice is scheduled to end. This announcement will advise all drivers that they now have five minutes to stabilize and "lock-down" their race server connection. At 8:00 PM the race server will be reinitialized back to the "lobby" state for a period of 60 seconds (ample time for drivers' connections to stabilize) and the field of drivers for the night's race event will be locked upon reentry into the practice session. No manual connects or disconnects will be allowed from this point forward. Any driver connecting to, or disconnecting from the race server manually, or intentionally after the lockdown period has begun will not be allowed to compete in the event in question, and will be ejected if they manually disconnect and then reconnect after the lockdown period has begun. However, if a driver is disconnected due to THROUGHPUT issues (connection issues) after the Lockdown period has begun then the driver in question will be allowed to reconnect, but is subject to the following penalties:

1st offense: Loss of any and all bonus points for current event, sit out next qualifying session for the current series.

2nd offense: Loss of any and all bonus points for current event, sit out next qualifying session for the current series, and FIVE point deduction from event final standings.

3rd offense and additional: Disqualified and ejected from the event, sit out next qualifying session, FIVE point deduction, and automatic last-place finish.

All offenses are counted PER SERIES only. Multiple offenses per event will be counted as one offense. Three consecutive events in a given series without a throughput disconnect will erase a driver's most recent offense for that series.
PITTING PROCEDURES: Any driver that elects to come down pit road under yellow-flag or one-to-go conditions CANNOT improve his position over cars that did not pit with him. The driver in question will be responsible for ensuring that he does not violate this rule, either by holding up at the end of pit road, maintaining a reduced pit road speed or by stopping in his pit area. Any driver that gains positions unrightfully due to exploitation of this condition and does not give them back in turn 1 when the green flag comes back out will be penalized 1 lap.

Drivers that are under a black flag condition CANNOT lay back in order to get onto pit road just as the green flag comes out unless they are at the absolute tail end of the field. All drivers, except for the absolute tail-end of the field driver must maintain pace speed and proper formation directly behind the car that they are supposed to be behind, in order to not affect the position of other cars behind them. The penalty for violation of this rule will be either:

a) if the offense is caught and officials notified during the race, then another green-flag period BLACK FLAG will be issued against the offender.
b) if officials aren't notified during the race, then a one lap penalty will be assessed against the offending driver, post-race.

Repeat offenders will be ejected from the race.
PIT ROAD ENTRANCE: At all venues and events where there are two entrance paths to pit lane, drivers will be required to use the FIRST entrance of the two. For example, Nashville Superspeedway has an entrance that begins in turn 3, as well as an entrance in turn 4. In that case, you would enter pit road in turn 3. See the Penalty Box page of the SSRL website for penalty description.
STARTING LINEUP PROCEDURE: All races start straight-up unless the random invert is in play.
TIE-BREAKERS FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: In the event that two or more drivers have the same number of championship points at the end of a series, the deciding factor will be the number of race wins for the current series' season. In any series that features a chase for the championship format and associated regrouping of the points, then the chase races will be considered a separate series from the regular-season events. If there is a tie for the number of wins in the current series, then the deciding factor will be the percentage of laps led for the current series' season. If there is a tie on the percentage of laps led, then the deciding factor will be the number of laps completed for the current series' season. If there is a tie on the number of laps completed, then the championship will be decided by the number of pole positions won during the current series' season. If there is still a tie after all of the above considerations, then both drivers will share the championship.
PAYMENT OF FINES DUE: Once a fine is levied against a driver, his RaceLM account with the SSRL will be deactivated and no provisionals will be allowed to the driver while his account is in a deactivated state due to non-payment of fines due. His account will be reactivated upon settlement of all fines due. Payment must be either CASH, in-person to a league admin or via PayPal donation to the SSRL league. If a driver's fines are paid by another person, then it must be noted in the transaction clearly that the payment being made is to go towards the specific driver's fine(s) for the fines to be settled.
DISABLED CAR ETIQUETTE: Any car that runs out of fuel, gets stuck in the grass, can't move due to flat tires, or otherwise becomes disabled and slows to more than 5 mph below pace speed must IMMEDIATELY, upon request from any driver behind him CALL THE TOW TRUCK or otherwise remove themselves from the race track. Failure to comply will result in:

a) if the offense is caught and officials notified during the race, then a green-flag period BLACK FLAG will be issued against the offender.
b) if officials aren't notified during the race, then a one lap penalty will be assessed against the offending driver, post-race.

Vehicles that run out of gas on the last lap may not be assisted in any way by another vehicle in crossing the start/finish line. Any driver that assists another disabled driver by pushing him while under yellow-flag conditions or on the last lap of a race will face the same penalty outlined above.
CHASSIS SETUP AND HARDCORE POLICY -

a. Pro Cup Series: Chassis setups for each race will be selected on race night at 7:30 PM CT using a random draw from a pool of setups uploaded by drivers that completed the previous Pro Cup Series race. The setup pool will be located on the SSRL Car File Manager, in a special section called "Pro Cup Series Setups". At 7:30 on race night, the league admin will total the digits of the fastest practice lap, and do a final approval of all setups that have been uploaded the previous week. Then, all setups posted by unqualified uploaders will be deleted. The remaining setups will then be sorted in ascending date/time order based on when they were posted, with the oldest one at the top of the list. Starting at the top of the list of uploaded setups, the league admin will count down the number equal to the sum of the digits in the fastest practice lap as noted previously, returning to the top of the list as required and finally landing on the counted setup. This setup will then be downloaded from the CFM and loaded on the race server as the fixed setup to be used for the current race. The practice session will then be restarted.

b. Grand National Series: FIXED FAST and NON-HARDCORE (All aids allowed). If setup bottoms-out excessively, we will stiffen springs evenly on all four corners to correct the condition. If engine temps are excessively high, we will reduce grill tape to correct the condition. If RPMs are excessively high, we will reduce differential gear ratio to correct the condition. All adjustments will be made on race night no later than 7:45 pm.

c. Truck Series: FIXED FAST and NON-HARDCORE (All aids allowed). If setup bottoms-out excessively, we will stiffen springs evenly on all four corners to correct the condition. If engine temps are excessively high, we will reduce grill tape to correct the condition. If RPMs are excessively high, we will reduce differential gear ratio to correct the condition. All adjustments will be made on race night no later than 7:45 pm.

d. Huntsville Speedway Challenge Series: FIXED CUSTOM SETUP and NON-HARDCORE (All aids allowed).

e. Tony Walls 200, Alabama Gang 200: FIXED FAST and NON-HARDCORE (All aids allowed). If setup bottoms-out excessively, we will stiffen springs evenly on all four corners to correct the condition. If engine temps are excessively high, we will reduce grill tape to correct the condition. If RPMs are excessively high, we will reduce differential gear ratio to correct the condition. All adjustments will be made on race night no later than 7:45 pm.

f. Snowball Derby: OPEN SETUP and HARDCORE (Driving aids and visual aids not allowed).

g. Music City 400: FIXED CUSTOM SETUP and NON-HARDCORE (All aids allowed) for Pro Late Model 200. OPEN SETUPS and HARDCORE for Super Late Model 200.

¹ A server or server network issue is defined as a condition that simultaneously disconnects at least HALF of the total number of drivers originally connected, with the same symptoms.