Main Overview:
The International Competitive Racing Series is multi-tiered division ranking stock car racing series in the simplest of terms. Depending on the driver's team setup they will start in one of the lower divisions. Each Division has a schedule of tracks and field limit, higher divisions having longer races, more races, and more cars in the field. For drivers to advance to a higher division they must finish in the standings within a specific range of positions. Drivers outside of those top position either stay in the current division while drivers at the bottom of the standings will de-rank to the division below it.
Unlike other racing series the ICR series has no cap on driver entries. Similar to a bracket system where 2 different battles can occur parallel to eachother and the winners advance, each Division can have multiple seasons occurring at once if need be.
Official logo:
The official remains the iconic deal design. As of the new changes to divisions the colored ICR logos are no more and the main team logo is promoted for each race.
Season Division breakdown:
There are currently 13 official Divisions. Each Division is broken down into Class Skill tiers as well. The divisions are officially licensed meaning drivers who compete in these will receive points, earnings, and ranking. While the ICR Series has other unofficial Divisions which can still earn earning and a low number of EXP that goes towards their driver rating.
Divisions vs Ranks
Each Division is a rank skill. Previously Ranks were separate from divisions but now they are directly correlated to a Division. As a driver advances in skill winning races or finishing in the required standings they will advance to the next Division. Currently there is no way for a driver to derank backwards to a previous division, however drivers can derank in the classes within a Division. This will allow the more skilled drivers per division rise to the top while still allowing slightly lesser skilled drivers be competitive in their division. Each Division begins to get tougher to advance. The race lengths and schedules begin to get longer. The points distribution also becomes less forgiving where only the most consistent and best of the best will rise and advance.
While the above overview gives a quick breakdown for all the details and exact breakdown per division to advance you can view the in-depth and detailed look at each division and its set parameters you can view and download the Division Rules here (updated as of 3/7/2024)
Season Division Schedule design:
The schedules for each Official Division in the series is randomly generated except for the Legend and Race Legends Divisions. With over 700+ supported tracks in the roster currently, each time a new schedule for a division is created it will pull from the pool of compatible tracks. Except for the Legend and Race Legends Divisions where they are a more curated and planned set schedule of the best tracks to provide the best racing and most competitive balance between track types to allow a varied schedule to test the best of the best for the Ultimate Championships.
As for the other divisions, for example the Intermediate Division is requires 43 max starters and any track type is allowed. So only tracks that support 43+ starts would be in the pool when the schedule is randomly generated. Another example the Novice Division on allows short tracks and 12 max starters. So all track that are short tracks only and have 12 or more starting positions will be in the pool when a schedule is drafted. The Division Rules includes the parameters each Divisions requires for schedules and max starters.
Non-Season (Official) Division breakdown:
[rank logos to come in the future]
Unlike the Division Series From Novice all the way up to Race Legends these two race divisions are run on a per-race event. In basic terms the races events run are never-ending and drivers from any skill level and division can compete in them at any time, as much, or as less as they want. These are known as horizontal divisions which won't improve or demote a driver's Division status but can improve their overall driver rank. The Competitive Ranked and Unranked 'playlists' (better known as race lists) provide drivers and team unique opportunities different from the Seasonal Divisions. The point breakdown per these division can be found in the Official Competitive Series Exp and Earnings Rulebook (link pending). Here are the major points of differences and bonuses they offer:
- Drivers who compete can earn earn points and wins.
- Championships are not awarded as these are one and done events.
- Drivers and teams, if they so choose, can grind as many races as they want, there is no limit
- Races run can be run at the same track dozens of times in a row or random event to event, in some cases a track may be showcased and raced more often
- Drivers who wish to compete in the Unranked or Ranked Divisions must have at least completed 1 season in any of the ICR Series Official Season Divisions.
- Points awarded from event to event can fluctuate. For example the base amount a driver is awarded points for finishing 1st in a ranked race is currently set at 92 points. However, if the event is set to be super long or one week its announced double experience point week then the overall point earnings can be changed.
Here are the key differences between the two Divisions:
Ranked
- The winner of a ranked event awards the driver 1 full win. For example, if they win, the win counts as whole win in their stats
- Drivers who compete against eachother are matched of similar skill in regards to their overall official division rank (t current division and class they are in)). For example in ranked, a driver who is an A-Class driver in the Rookie division can only race against a driver who is 1 division higher r lower than them by 4 classes
Unranked
- The winner of an unranked event awards the driver half a win. For example, if they win the win counts as 0.5 (or half) win in their stats. This is similar to how the Novice and Rookie Season Divisions only reward a driver 0.5 a win. This is to prevent extremely skilled driver from racking up large amount of wins against lesser skilled drivers.
- Points awarded at the end of a race are half of what the Ranked Division receives. For example if Ranked races award the 1st place driver 100 points, the race winner in an unranked event only earns 50 points.
- Drivers of any skill and rank can be randomly formed for an unranked event, their official division placemet does not matter who they race against. As a result if a driver is 1st in the rankings they could potentially race against a driver 100th+ in the leaderboard standings. The unranked distribution can allow for more lopsided races but also will have more flexibility as well.
- Race lengths in Unranked are typically shorter than Ranked events, however similar to a ranked event, if the race is quite long additional points would be added to finishing positions to offset the time the event requires to complete
The car:
The ICR Series car was built from the ground up specifically for this series. It includes a of top the line digital dashboard, modern safety features, and flexibility for different manufacturers. All of this combined the car is cost effective to maintain and build allowing it to be affordable for the Series to manage so many different teams and single car owners that need the parts and car built for owning and renting.
The current list of manufacturers competing in the ICR Series as of 2022:
- Chevy
- Honda
- Nissan
- Saturn
- Subaru
- BMW
- Dodge
- Audi
- Ford
- Infiniti
- Mercedes
- Tesla
- Volvo
- Acura
- Holden
- Mitsubishi
- Pontiac
- Toyota
ICR car decal placement guidelines:
Like with any Series certain decal guidelines are required. The ICR Series has a Decal placement rulebook you can view for these details updated as of 3/22/2021
ICR Series revenue and popularity:
Another huge factor is drivers can either rent or own a car/team. Less experience enthusiasts can rent an ICR Stock car. If they prove their worth and advance further they could gain sponsorship and possibly become an owner of their car or multiple cars to from a team. On the flip-side veteran drivers and teams that are backed by large Sponsorship or outright buy the car licenses have a might better chance to make it into the higher divisions. Regardless if a team/driver(s) owns or rent, or is experienced or inexperience, all have a way forward to bring fame and fortune if they have the talent and resources enough to do so. Think of it similar to how anyone can join an app platform such as Youtube or twitch for fun, but if you do well you can eventually turn the hobby into a career and make a profit. The ICR series is an international series viewed by millions and rakes in large sponsorships and broadcasting rights. This revenue in part allows the official ICR body to lease and build multiple cars that can be raced by drivers who can rent for a small fee. No doubt even as cost effective as the sophisticated stock car is when repairs and wrecks occur it can be quite expensive but the revenue in viewership, deals, sponsorship, and fan attendance far outweighs the series costs for allowing a more accessible entry point for newer drivers.
As popular as the series is as well there are fans in the millions for nearly every top driver and as new ones come to surface they can quickly gain momentum as well. Just like with any sport, the teamwork and rivalries between drivers and teams is just as intense as one would expect. From controversies to certain team trying to gain an edge or 2 different fan clusters ad odds with who they back the action on, off and surrounding the series is always at an all time high as it continues to grow more and more.
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