Never protesting is not something to be proud of

This might be a controversial opinion but I am willing to die on this hill regardless.

I’ve been on iRacing for more than eight years, and I’ve seen my fair share of stupid things. I don’t race officials that much but when I do, 5 out of 10 times I see someone doing something that is either protestable or borderline worth protesting.

iRacing rarely gets involved in official races. The way the sporting code and protest system works is that it’s up to the community to clean up situations where members do malicious things or something against the rules.

Read closely to what I’m about to write: if you do NOT protest situations you see happen to others on track or do not protest malicious actions against yourself - you are part of the problem.

Saying “I’ve never protested anyone” is not an achievement or something to be proud of. Chances are you have seen or noticed someone blatantly been taken out or other actions against the sporting code.

You’re not an advocate for good community standards if you glance away and pretend it never happened.

The way iRacing’s protest system works is anonymous. The user that’s protested will not know who sent the protest, which is why you should never include details in it that says “I” or “me”. Just write it in third person regardless if it’s for you or someone else.

I’ve protested many drivers throughout my time on iRacing that have done something malicious to me, and to others without me even being indirectly involved. I’ve protested things I’ve seen in spectator mode too. Most protest goes through, some don’t and that’s okay too. It’s more important to report something that you feel is against the rules than to not do it. And if iRacing agrees with you - well, then the driver you protested broke the rules.

Posting a clip on Reddit asking “should I protest?!”. If your gut says yes and you read the sporting code and its definition is similar to what you’re seeing on your replay. Just do it. You don’t even need to say much in the description. One line that describes the incident is enough.

And if you haven’t done already. Actually take some time to read the sporting code. It’s there for a reason.

Yes, it’s a game and maybe we shouldn’t take a game so seriously. However, I take the competition seriously and I hope you do too.

(Yes, this is posted on an alt-account. I’m part of a tight knitted iRacing community and I don’t want to be identified using my real Reddit user.)