The Lobby Code

Each scenario shows two top-down diagrams (the clean call vs the foul) and a live poll. Vote how you'd call it. Optional name field lets the crew see your vote. Wherever we agree, that becomes lobby rule. Wherever we split, we talk it out on Discord.

We mostly run 3 to 5 lap sprints, so every lap is late-race territory. The framework draws from FIA, SRO, iRacing, and ACC league play, adapted to what Forza Motorsport and NASCAR 25 actually do.

The one thing every series agrees on: the burden of a clean pass is on the overtaking car. If you can't make it without contact, it doesn't count as a pass.

Background & vocab

For when you want the why behind the rules. Skip if you're here to vote.

Core principles most series agree on

1. The leading car owns the line

Ahead at the braking zone, the line is yours. The trailing car works around it, not through it.

2. Overlap creates obligation

Wheel alongside before turn-in: corner is shared, both leave room. How much overlap counts is the contested part. See Scenario 1.

3. One defensive move

One move off the line. Don't return to the line once a committed overtake is alongside. Weaving is not defending.

4. Make the corner or back out

Can't brake at a normal pace and still hit the apex? Lift, take the loss. Don't use the other car as a backstop.

5. Off-track gains get returned

Four wheels off and you gained? Give it back within a lap.

6. Contact is not racing

Door-to-door rubbing happens. Punting and turning in don't. The wheel out of line owns the incident.

7. Lap one is sacred

Wreck in Turn 1 ends a 3-lap race. Patience is the single highest-leverage skill in a sprint format.

8. Mistakes are paid in time, not metal

Guy ahead makes a mistake? Back out. You don't collect him for handing you a free pass.

Vocabulary

Term	Definition
Racing line	Fastest path through a corner. Late apex on most circuit corners.
Overlap	How far the trailing car's nose is up the side of the leading car. Measurement point varies by series (apex, turn-in, percentage).
Apex	The geometric inside of the corner.
Turn-in	When the leading car commits to the corner. Overlap at turn-in is the usual measurement.
Dive-bomb	Late-braking lunge from too far back. Can only end in contact or both cars wide.
Send-it pass	Aggressive late-brake from a reasonable distance the attacker can complete cleanly.
Bump-and-run	Light contact to the leader's rear bumper to unsettle them through a corner. Acceptable on ovals, not road courses.
Switchback	Defensive response to a dive-bomb. Let the attacker take the apex wide, cut under on exit.
Racing incident	Collision where no driver is solely at fault. No penalty.

Forza Motorsport default ruleset

Short version

FRR catches roughly 89% of fault calls correctly. It's a neural-net model scoring speed delta and outcome. Penalties are time penalties applied to race results. What FRR misses, the lobby has to enforce: overlap calls, defensive weaving, lap-one grace, revenge driving.

Full FRR breakdown

Forza Race Regulations is a neural-network ML model trained on player collision data. It assigns fault to whoever caused the contact at the moment of contact. Stated accuracy is ~89% in current updates, up from ~80% at launch. Penalty severity scales with speed delta plus whether the other player lost time or position. Penalties are time penalties applied to race results, each infraction type capped.

Private lobbies have a host-controlled FRR setting (off, relaxed, standard, custom, strict). Private races never affect Safety Rating or Driver Rating regardless of setting. Our lobby runs whatever the default is, and we get FRR penalties, so it's not "off." Likely standard. Worth confirming on lobby creation if anyone cares to.

The "I hit a spinning car and got penalized" problem

Real and acknowledged. Three causes: speed delta into a stationary car is huge so FRR treats it as severe; the model evaluates fault at the moment of contact, not the chain that led there; the training set was mostly two-car incidents, so three-plus-car pileups are where pattern recognition is weakest. Team has called it a priority fix; accuracy improves each update.

What FRR enforces

Collision penalties (ML-assigned fault, scaled to speed delta)
Track limits (four wheels off + gained advantage → warning or invalidation)
Ghosting in qualifying
Safety Rating (matchmaking only, not race outcomes)

What the lobby has to enforce

Dive-bomb judgments
Overlap calls at turn-in
Defensive moves vs weaving
Lap-one grace
Off-track passes FRR didn't catch
Revenge driving (biggest lobby-killer)

Scenario 1: Overlap and when you measure it

The question

Trailing car closing fast on the inside. Does the leader owe them room, and at what moment do you decide? The percentage doesn't matter as much as the timing. The four real schools of thought: at turn-in, at the apex, any overlap anywhere, or no rule at all.

B got there in time
B has front-axle-past-rear-axle overlap before turn-in. A is required to leave a car's width on the inside. Both make the corner.

B too late, A on the racing line
B is closing fast but has not gotten alongside by turn-in. A keeps the normal line to the apex, crossing in front of B. By convention this is B's problem to solve. The practical question is whether A should lift anyway.

What actually changes the call: when you measure

Same pass, same closing speed, just snapshotted at two different moments. The sim-racing schools call it at turn-in. The open-wheel schools call it at the apex. The trailing car has moved between the two moments, and so has the verdict.

Strict rule (at turn-in)
Verdict: B isn't alongside when A commits. Leader keeps the line. Sim-racing standard.

Late rule (at apex)
Verdict: B has caught up. Leader owes a car's width. F1 / IndyCar standard.

Two other schools sit outside the timing question: touring car (any overlap, anywhere, counts) and NASCAR (no overlap rule, fault is judged on contact and intent).

Vote: When does overlap have to be established?

At turn-in. You need to be alongside before the leader commits to the corner. If you didn't get there in time, you back out. (Sim-racing standard: iRacing, LFM, ACC, IMSA.) By the apex. You have the whole braking zone to get alongside. If you're overlapping at the apex, the leader owes you room. (F1 / IndyCar.) Any overlap, anywhere. Touching counts. If you're alongside at any point through the corner, it's a shared corner. (Touring car: BTCC, V8 Supercars.) No overlap rule. Fault is judged on contact and intent, not geometry. (NASCAR.)

Wrong, or just stupid? The longer take

If the leader sees the closer car arriving fast but not quite overlapping and holds their normal line to the apex, are they out of line? By convention, no. Every series except NASCAR puts the overlap burden on the trailing car. If they can't make it in time, that's on them. F1 stewards have repeatedly declined to penalize leading drivers who turned in normally and got hit by trailing cars without overlap.

Whether it's smart is a different question. In a 3-lap sprint, neither driver wants the wreck. The trailing car loses time backing out; the leading car risks the same wreck. iRacing penalizes both cars in a contact, so the lift-to-survive instinct has cost-benefit math behind it. The phrase is "racing for stewards' decisions" — technically right, finished in the gravel.

The honest answer: the leader isn't wrong to hold the line, but they're sometimes called stupid for choosing principle over preservation. In our lobby, that judgment call is yours in the moment.

How the various series and leagues set the threshold

Convention	How much alongside	Where measured
Sim racing online (iRacing, LFM, ACC league play)	iRacing and LFM ~20%. ACC league play uses 25 / 50 / 75% thresholds.	At turn-in
Forza Motorsport (in-game)	No fixed threshold. FRR uses ML; ~89% accuracy. Severity scales with speed delta.	n/a
NASCAR 25 (in-game)	Yellow line on superspeedways only.	Yellow line only
Formula 1	25-30% (front tire alongside rear tire).	At apex
IndyCar	~50% by turn-in. More contact-tolerant than F1.	Turn-in, judged at apex
Sportscar / GT (IMSA, WEC, SRO GT3)	20-30% (front bumper to front wheel).	At turn-in
Touring car (BTCC, V8 Supercars)	Quarter-overlap or less. Contact expected.	Anywhere
NASCAR Cup (driver convention)	Quarter-overlap on ovals. No formal rule.	Not measured

Scenario 2: Defending the inside line

Common standard

One move off the line, commit to it. No weaving, no brake-checking, no moving back to the racing line once an attacker is alongside.

Legitimate defense
One move to the inside on the straight, commit to it, take the compromised apex. Slower exit, but clean.

Weaving
More than one defensive move on the straight, or moving back to the racing line after an attacker has committed alongside.

Vote: How much defending is too much?

Strict one-move rule. Pick a line and stay there until turn-in. One move plus a return to the line is fine, as long as the attacker isn't already alongside. (Move to the inside on the straight, then drift back toward the racing line before the braking zone.) Anything goes until there's contact. Weaving on the straight is fair game. Brake-checking is fine if the attacker is leaving too little space.

How the various series and leagues call it

Convention	Defensive moves allowed
Sim racing online (iRacing, LFM, ACC league play)	One move rule. Multiple moves trigger an incident point.
Forza Motorsport / NASCAR 25 (in-game)	No formal blocking rule. Contact-based enforcement only.
Open-wheel and GT (F1, IndyCar, IMSA, WEC, SRO GT3)	One move rule. Brake-checking is an automatic penalty.
Touring car (BTCC, V8 Supercars)	One move on paper, multiple-move blocking tolerated in practice.
NASCAR Cup	No formal blocking rule. Blocking on the straight is part of the sport.

Scenario 3: Side-by-side through a corner

Common standard

Inside gets the apex. Outside gets the exit. Both leave a car's width. Inside that drifts wide on exit and runs the outside car off owns the foul.

Racing
Inside car takes the apex tight, leaves one car's width on the outside. Outside car runs a wider arc, gets the better exit. Position can swap on the way out.

Squeeze
Inside car uses the whole road on exit, runs the outside car off. Owns the apex but does not respect the outside car's space.

Vote: Who has the right of way side-by-side?

Share the corner. Inside takes the apex tight, outside takes the wider arc, both leave one car's width through to the exit. Position can swap on the way out. Nose-ahead owns the lane. Whoever's nose is in front at any moment owns the whole track at that moment. The car behind slots in, even if it has to drop wheels off to do it. Outside backs out if not alongside. If you went around the outside and didn't get fully alongside by the apex, you take the long way around. The inside car uses the whole road on exit. Big-overlap shares it, small-overlap doesn't. Half a car's overlap or more by turn-in and you've earned a shared corner. Less than that and the outside backs out.

How the series set the sharing threshold

Convention	Sharing threshold
Sim racing online (iRacing, LFM)	Front bumper alongside rear of leading car (~20%). Strictly enforced.
ACC league play	50% or more shares the corner; 25% or less, outside backs out.
Formula 1	Front wheels alongside or forward (~30%). Less than that, outside yields.
IndyCar	~50% overlap. More contact-tolerant than F1.
Sportscar / GT (IMSA, WEC, SRO GT3)	20-30% (front bumper to front wheel).
Touring car (BTCC, V8 Supercars)	Quarter-overlap. Side-to-side contact expected.
NASCAR Cup	No formal threshold. Side-by-side is normal racing.

Scenario 4: The bump-and-run

Common standard

Ovals yes, road courses no. Light tap on corner exit at Bristol or Martinsville is a recognized move. Contact under braking on a road course is a punt, not a pass.

Acceptable on ovals
Light tap exiting a short-track corner. Lifts the leading car just enough to get alongside on the next straight. Both cars stay on the track.

Not on road courses
Hitting a car under braking on a road course is a punt, not a pass. Tires are loaded, the leading car cannot save it.

Vote: When is a bump-and-run acceptable in our lobby?

NASCAR short tracks and superspeedways only. Never on road courses. Only in the last few laps when a position is at stake. Light contact, no punts. Never. Any contact under power is a foul. If you've been faster for several laps and the leader's holding you up, light contact is fair.

Where the bump-and-run lives, by track type

Track type	Bump-and-run?	Notes
Oval, short (Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond)	Yes	Expected. Light contact on corner exit is part of the game.
Oval, intermediate (Charlotte, Kansas)	Light only	Light side-draft contact. Heavy contact wrecks the field.
Superspeedway (Daytona, Talladega)	Yes, drafting	Bump drafting on the straights only. Corners are dangerous.
Forza road course (any)	No	Punt under braking is a punt, period.
Forza oval cars (Hot Lap, Indy)	No	Open-wheel cars can't take contact. Wheels touch, someone's in the wall.

Scenario 5: First-lap chaos

The stakes

Cold tires, bunched cars, no ghosting in our lobby. A wreck on lap one ends a 3-lap race. The rule we land on shapes the whole night.

Vote: What is the lap-one rule for our lobby?

Single-file through Turn 1. No passes until the exit of the first corner. Single-file the entire first lap. Pass on lap 2 or later. Normal racing, but extra grace. Spins forgiven on lap one. If you caused it, you give the position back. Race lap one, but no late lunges into Turn 1. If you weren't already alongside off the grid, don't try to make it happen on the brakes. Green means go. Race from lap 1, corner 1. Damage is part of the game.

The lap-one principles

Single-file through Turn 1. Cold tires, bunched cars. The move never sticks anyway.
You inherit overlap from grid position, you don't create it. No new dive-bombs into T1.
Patience pays even in a sprint. A wreck on lap one ends your race entirely.
If you spin someone, even unintentionally, wait. Pull off, let them rejoin, give the position back. Highest-impact rule.

How the series and leagues handle lap one

Convention	Lap-one rule
Sim racing online (iRacing, LFM, ACC league play)	Many leagues run a "no passing through T1 on lap one" rule. ACC leagues often require single-file through the first 2-3 corners.
Forza Motorsport (in-game)	FRR applies the same model on lap one as the rest of the race.
NASCAR 25 (in-game)	Pack contact on superspeedways is normal at the start. Road courses follow FRR.
Formula 1	"Inherit overlap from grid position." Stewards more lenient on contact, but dive-bombs still penalized.
IndyCar	Similar to F1, more contact-tolerant.
Sportscar / GT (IMSA, WEC, SRO GT3)	F1 standard plus class-passing nuance.
Touring car (BTCC, V8 Supercars)	Aggressive lap-one expected.
NASCAR Cup	Pack contact expected. Short tracks too. Road courses lean F1.

Scenario 6: You got punted. Now what?

The single biggest lobby-killer

If you have to choose between being right and keeping the lobby together, keep the lobby together. You can be right next week.

Vote: How do we handle a guy who punts you and doesn't wait?

Finish clean, raise it on chat after, lobby decides. They have to wait and give the position back, same race, no exceptions. Square it up next race, light bump or hold them up for a lap. Done. Three-strike rule. First time forgiven. Second, position next race. Third, sit out.

Principles that keep a lobby together

Voice complaints, not bumpers. If you think it was deliberate, say so on chat. Don't retaliate on track.
If they wait, you take the position back. That's it. No grudge into the next race.
If they don't wait, finish clean and raise it after. Lobby decides whether someone owes a position next race.
Revenge driving punishes everyone. The lobby loses a guy, the rest of the night is ruined.

How the series and leagues handle a punt

Convention	When you get punted
Sim racing online (iRacing, LFM, ACC league play)	Incident points apply to the puncher's Safety Rating. Protests can be filed. Many leagues require wait-and-give-back; refusal is a separate penalty.
Forza Motorsport (in-game)	FRR time penalty scaled to speed delta. Weakness: rear-end hits and multi-car incidents can misassign fault.
NASCAR 25 (in-game)	FRR-style penalty. No formal give-back mechanic.
Formula 1	Stewards investigate. Time or grid penalties for deliberate or careless contact. No give-back convention.
IndyCar	Similar to F1. More contact-tolerant on ovals.
Sportscar / GT (IMSA, WEC, SRO GT3)	SRO Stewards Manual explicit about contact penalties.
Touring car (BTCC, V8 Supercars)	Contact is part of the sport. Only deliberate or excessive contact penalized.
NASCAR Cup	Self-policing. Late-race retaliation is part of the sport.

Scenario 7: The sprint-race square tap

Specific to our format

3-lap race, you catch a slower car. Not slow enough to pass cleanly, slow enough to hold you up. Is a light tap on their rear bumper, enough to break their momentum, acceptable?

Vote: Is a square tap on a blocker acceptable in our sprint races?

Yes, any lap. In a 3-lap sprint every lap is the last lap. A light tap to slow a blocker is fair. Last lap only. Earlier in the race you find another way around. Only on oval-style courses. Road courses: no deliberate contact ever. Never. Deliberate contact is unsportsmanlike regardless of race length or track type.

Why this is the question our format actually forces

In a 20-lap race you have laps to set up a clean pass. In three laps you don't. American oval and touring car traditions accept deliberate light contact. Open-wheel, sportscar, and sim racing treat it as a foul. The deciding question: is our 3-lap sprint closer to a Bristol short-track sprint (contact tradition) or a Watkins Glen sprint qualifier (no-contact tradition)?

How the series and leagues would call it

Convention	Sprint-race tap to slow a blocker
Sim racing online (iRacing, LFM, ACC league play)	Not acceptable. Safety Rating drops, collision penalties, protest review.
Forza Motorsport (in-game)	Depends on speed delta. Light brush may not penalize. A firm tap that costs time triggers a penalty.
NASCAR Cup (short track, late race)	Acceptable. Bump-and-run is a recognized move.
Touring car (BTCC, V8 Supercars)	Acceptable. Contact is part of the sport.
NASCAR Cup (road course)	Conditional. Light push at low-speed corner exit only.
IndyCar	Conditional. Short-track ovals yes; road course no.
Open-wheel and sportscar (F1, IMSA, WEC, SRO GT3)	Not acceptable. Deliberate contact penalized regardless of race length.

NASCAR 25: where the rules diverge

Key difference

NASCAR has almost no formal overlap rules. Practical convention: quarter-overlap forces the lead car to hold their lane. Contact tolerance is much higher than F1, SRO, or sim racing.

NASCAR track type	Overlap convention	Contact tolerance
Superspeedway (Daytona, Talladega)	Quarter-overlap, lead holds the line.	Bump drafting on straights expected. Yellow line is the only hard rule.
Intermediate oval (Charlotte, Kansas, Vegas, Atlanta)	Quarter-overlap, lead holds the lane.	Light side-panel contact normal. Side-drafting is the primary move.
Short track (Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond)	Overlap matters less; contact resolves disputes.	Bump-and-run, slide jobs, side rubbing all standard.
Road course (Watkins Glen, Sonoma, COTA, Indy GP)	Closer to F1/SRO, more permissive on light contact.	No contact under braking. Slide jobs must complete cleanly.

Why NASCAR's "no rulebook" doesn't mean "no rules"

NASCAR 25 (iRacing-developed) applies most of the same racecraft principles as Forza, but stock cars take contact in ways open-wheel and GT3 cars can't. Drafting changes oval geometry. Yellow flags introduce restart sequences road racing doesn't have.

The practical oval convention: front fender alongside the lead car's rear quarter panel and the lead car holds their lane. Less than that, the lead car moves freely. More lenient than F1 (wants front wheel alongside rear wheel) but stricter than the formal rulebook (silent on the question). On road courses, NASCAR drivers shifted toward road-racing conventions over the past decade, but contact tolerance is still IndyCar-level.

Superspeedways: Daytona and Talladega

Bump drafting on straights is the whole strategy. Required to make passes work.
Bump drafting in corners is dangerous. Save it for the straights.
Yellow line rule. No passing below the apron line. NASCAR 25 enforces with penalties.
Side drafting. Cut a car's air by pulling alongside and slightly ahead, then let them fall back. Strategic, not contact.
The Big One. Statistical certainty. If you're not in front of it, expect to be in it.

Short tracks: Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond

Bump-and-run is the move. Light tap on corner exit to lift the leader, get alongside on the next straight.
The chrome-horn punt is not. A bump-and-run that wrecks the car in front is a foul.
Side panel contact. Door-to-door at 90 mph is normal. Pinch a guy, don't push him.
Slide jobs. Cross under the leader through the corner, end up outside on exit. Clean = legal. Fenced the leader = foul.

Road courses: Watkins Glen, Sonoma, COTA

All seven scenarios above apply. Bump-and-run is off the table.
Track limits enforced. Abuse them, get a stop-and-go.

Quick reference card

Common standard on one screen. Once the lobby votes, this shifts to match.

Situation	Rule
You are catching a car on the straight	Get overlap by turn-in or back out.
You are defending on the straight	One move. Commit to it. No weaving.
Side-by-side through the corner	Inside gets apex, outside gets exit, both leave a car's width.
You went off track and gained a place	Give it back within one lap.
You spun someone, even unintentionally	Wait for them. Hand the position back.
Someone spun you and did not wait	Finish clean. Raise it after. No revenge driving.
Lap one, turn one	Patience. Single-file. A wreck on lap one ends the race.
You are bump-drafting at Talladega	Straights only. Never in the corners.
You are at Bristol	Bump-and-run, do not punt.
You are at Watkins Glen	Road racing rules. No bump-and-run.
You are about to send a dive-bomb	Ask yourself if you can make the corner alone. If not, do not send it.

The Lobby Code

At a glance

Background & vocab

1. The leading car owns the line

2. Overlap creates obligation

3. One defensive move

4. Make the corner or back out

5. Off-track gains get returned

6. Contact is not racing

7. Lap one is sacred

8. Mistakes are paid in time, not metal

Forza Motorsport default ruleset

The "I hit a spinning car and got penalized" problem

What FRR enforces

What the lobby has to enforce

Scenario 1: Overlap and when you measure it

What actually changes the call: when you measure

Vote: When does overlap have to be established?

Scenario 2: Defending the inside line

Vote: How much defending is too much?

Scenario 3: Side-by-side through a corner

Vote: Who has the right of way side-by-side?

Scenario 4: The bump-and-run

Vote: When is a bump-and-run acceptable in our lobby?

Scenario 5: First-lap chaos

Vote: What is the lap-one rule for our lobby?

Scenario 6: You got punted. Now what?

Vote: How do we handle a guy who punts you and doesn't wait?

Scenario 7: The sprint-race square tap

Vote: Is a square tap on a blocker acceptable in our sprint races?

NASCAR 25: where the rules diverge

Superspeedways: Daytona and Talladega

Short tracks: Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond

Road courses: Watkins Glen, Sonoma, COTA

Quick reference card

Share the crew's current vote