Academy / Getting started

What is iRating in iRacing? A guide to understanding it

8 min read · Getting started
What it isA numerical measure of your skill as a driver. It measures how you finish against your rivals, not pure speed. Independent per discipline (Road, Oval, Dirt).
How it's measuredBy comparing your race result with the other drivers', factoring in each driver's iRating. The gap between expected and actual result determines how much it changes.
Points won or lostiRacing redistributes points based on finishing position and iRating differences. No new iRating is created: what some gain, others lose.
Where to find itOn your profile, from Class D license onwards. It's calculated from your first race, but hidden until you reach Class D.
Relation to SoFSoF (Strength of Field) is the average iRating of drivers in your split. It determines race difficulty and Championship Points on offer.

You can find your iRating in your iRacing profile, inside the card for each category (Road, Oval, Dirt), alongside your Safety Rating and license.

How to raise your iRating

iRating rewards consistency, not perfection.

Finish every race

Quitting a race penalizes you: you get 0 points. And the points you don't earn are distributed among the drivers who did finish. Finishing even in last position is almost always better than retiring.

Race clean

Incidents don't directly affect your iRating — that's the Safety Rating's job. But a tap, a spin, or a drive-through cost you positions. The most efficient way to protect your iRating is not losing it to avoidable accidents.

Specialize

Each discipline has its own iRating. Splitting your activity between Road, Oval, and Dirt means slow progress in all three. Focusing on one accelerates progression.

Golden rule: "Don't obsess over your iRating. The point is to enjoy the simulator. I have friends who sometimes avoid racing because they have a good iRating and don't want to 'lose it'. There's no sense in getting to that point."

How it works in detail

The point exchange

The redistribution rule, in detail:

  • Every driver who finishes ahead of you takes iRating from you.
  • Every driver who finishes behind you gives you iRating.

How many points exactly depends on the iRating difference between the two drivers involved.

Randy Cassidy, from iRacing's staff:

"Everyone that finishes ahead of you in the session takes iRating points away from you. You take iRating points away from everyone that finishes behind you. The number of points in each exchange depends on the two iRatings involved and which finished ahead."

Prediction vs actual result

The system predicts how you should finish compared to each rival. Three possible cases:

You finish ahead of drivers with higher iR

You
2.000
vs
Opponent
3.000
You gain iRating

You finish in the position the system expected

You
2.000
vs
Opponent
2.050
Small change

You finish behind drivers with lower iR

You
2.000
vs
Opponent
1.500
You lose iRating

Example: if you have 2,000 iRating and you're up against a 3,000 driver and you finish ahead, you gain a lot of points (the system expected them to beat you). If you finish ahead of a 1,500 driver, you gain fewer (it was already expected).

Why SoF isn't part of the direct calculation

Many people think SoF is part of the iRating gained or lost calculation. According to Randy Cassidy: it's not directly. Each rival's iRating is already included in the individual point exchange, so adding SoF on top would double-count.

What IS taken into account is the grid size (how many drivers are racing): this prevents a 50-driver race from moving iRating much more than a 10-driver one.

That said: even though SoF isn't in the direct calculation, it DOES decide the Championship Points of the race. Higher SoF = more points per position.

The importance of splits

A split is one of the groups iRacing divides drivers into when there are more registered than iRacing allows per race. The split is automatic and based on iRating: split 1 has the drivers with the highest iRating, and so on.

You don't choose splits — you get assigned. What you CAN choose is the series you race. And it's worth understanding:

  • If your iRating is clearly above your split's SoF, any regular result costs you points: the system expected more from you.
  • If your iRating is close to or below the SoF, going up is easier: the system expects less.

You can't know the exact SoF before registering. But after a few weeks you learn the usual profile of each series and time slot, and that helps you choose where to race based on your level.

Provisional iRating at the start

You start with a provisional iRating of 1350. Your first races as a new driver have wide swings because the system doesn't have enough data on you yet. This is both good and bad:

  • Good: if you race clean and well at the start, your iRating goes up fast.
  • Bad: a bad streak early on can drop you faster.

As the system accumulates data, swings stabilize.

What does NOT affect your iRating

To avoid common myths, what is not included in the calculation:

  • Your starting position.
  • Incidents (they affect Safety Rating, not iRating).
  • Positions gained or lost during the race.
  • Fast laps.
  • Whether you got pole or not.
Only your finishing position relative to the others matters.

Frequently asked questions

Does iRating help with license promotion?

No. Licenses are promoted with Safety Rating and races completed in the category. iRating is independent.

Do you lose iRating over time if you don't race?

No. iRating is permanent. You can stop for months and return with the same number.

When does iRating appear in my profile?

From license class D. Before that, it's being calculated but hidden.

Can you have high iRating and low Safety Rating?

Yes — they're independent metrics. But a low Safety Rating limits you to lower categories, where SoF is lower and iRating growth is slower.

What happens to iRating if I quit a race?

You get 0 points. Drivers who beat you do gain theirs. It's almost always worse than finishing last.

View the season →