In the competitive world of iRacing, iRating has become much more than a matchmaking number. For many virtual drivers, it’s an invisible badge that represents progress, skill, and status within the simulator.
However, this same figure—originally intended as a technical tool—has sparked a growing psychological phenomenon: the paralyzing fear of losing iRating.
A Number That Weighs Too Much
In theory, iRating is simply a tool to group similarly skilled drivers and ensure fair racing. It doesn’t grant rewards, open career paths (with rare exceptions), or directly affect the simulator experience beyond what split you land in.
However, for a significant portion of the community, that number becomes their identity. Gaining iRating becomes the goal; losing it, a personal failure. This pressure leads many to avoid official races—even after hours of preparation—out of fear of disconnections, mistakes, or getting caught in someone else’s crash.
Symptoms of iRating Anxiety
This fear manifests in several common ways:
- Avoiding official races after a week of practice to protect iRating.
- Extreme nervousness during races, leading to preventable errors.
- Loss of motivation and enjoyment due to pressure.
- Constant comparisons with other drivers based solely on numbers.
Some drivers with iRatings above 5,000 openly admit that every race makes them more anxious than excited, and they often choose not to race rather than risk a drop in their stats.
What Fuels This Fear?
Several factors contribute to the pressure:
- The visibility of iRating, constantly present in stats and profiles.
- The belief that high iRating equals real skill, when in fact it depends on many variables: category focus, race frequency, racecraft, and more.
- The competitive mindset of simracers, many of whom seek perfection and results.
In some cases, community discourse focused on “status” reinforces the idea that dropping iRating is equivalent to failing.
Rethinking Our Relationship With iRating
The solution isn’t to remove the system—which serves a real purpose—but to redefine how it’s interpreted. Many experienced racers suggest the following strategies:
- Join private leagues where performance is measured by consistency, racecraft, and respect—not a number.
- Explore other racing disciplines where the pressure feels lighter (ovals, rallycross, open wheel, etc.).
- Turn off overlays or tools that show live iRating changes.
- Shift the focus: race to improve, learn, and enjoy—not just to climb a stat.
iRating Is a Tool, Not the Goal
The iRacing community needs to talk more openly about this issue. The fear of losing iRating is real, valid, and common, but it shouldn’t become a barrier to enjoying sim racing. After all, the core of this hobby lies in the thrill of competition—not in preserving numbers.
It’s worth remembering: we race for the joy, not for the score.
- Remember, you can join iRacing clicking here.
Happy Racing!
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I agree with your article regarding iRating. So many drivers base there succes from how high of an iRating number they have. When I joined iRacing in 2020, I found myself chasing for a higher IR than getting my elbows out and racing to win and having fun. I also race in a league with guys that have much higher IR than myself. The guys in the league I race with are absent in the official races, they won’t jeopardize losing IR. Luckily I realized this and felt why let this IR keep me from racing official races. As a result in 2023 I came in 1st place in all 4 season in my divisions. Divisions? Yes, my iRating goes up and down dramatically from racing official races. I don’t care. I’m here to enjoy the privilege we have to race against people across the world who love motorsports as much as me. I’m sure when other racers see my IR, they automatically assume I’m a horrible, risk taking driver to avoid. Which isn’t the case whatsoever. My IR is the result of racing official races and accepting things will happen that are out of my control. Thanks for your article addressing this issue.
Written by a non iRacer. Dismissing IR as an irrelevant number is a clear indicator of an uninformed writer. IR determines what split you get put in, and thus drives the entire iRacing experience. Iracing is expensive and time consuming. Having that essentially wasted by low skill or immature drivers is an absolutely valid concern. No one wants to shell out piles of money and invest hours of time only to have it squandered. Iracing as a business wants as many subscribers as possible, not neccessarily skilled drivers. The IR system exists to provide that level of competition worth the time and money iRacing demands. The time and expense of iRacing is not a filter for casuals and trolls, leaving only IR as a filter for quality racing. Most people dont quit iRacing due to suddenly not being interested in auto racing. They quit because they came for a sim level racing experience but get a low tier demolition derby instead. Its not a number that serious racers are chasing, its the effect of being placed in higher splits with better and more dedicated competition, away from the kids and casuals that dont care where or even if they finish a race. I often say i have far more fun getting a mid pack finish in a middle split than simply surviving to win a bottom split.
I’ve been on iRacing for 12 years and have a 7000 iRating. I’ve seen hundreds of smurf accounts created because people don’t want to risk losing iRating and ruining their main iRacer account which ends up breaking the matchmaking and division system. I’m guessing this opinion comes from someone who isn’t an iRacer.
My apologies. I forgot to give my full name in my comment above. I can be located in iRacing by Mauro Ramirez.
I joined Iracing back in February of this year 2025. I am a real life sport car enthusiast and former motorcycle racer. I invested in a full motion rig and play in VR to get the most immersive experience possible. I drive EVERY race as I drive my cars in real life. I lose Irating because I go out of my way to avoid incidents and in my rig I feel every collision and mistake. I went from Rookie and just got my A license this season. I care more about safety rating than Irating because I see people doing things in sessions they wouldn’t try in real life. Their racecraft is horrible and wreckless. Everything i do in Iracing is what I do in real life.. I do well in races because i survive accidents when everyone crashes out, and im consistent in my lap times. My Irating is low and my only motivation to increase it is to get in lobbies with more safe drivers.
Been at iRacing 17 years today. iR doesn’t mean much and here is why. I was once a 5000 iRating oval, and was in the Inaugural Pro Series.
Prior to iRacing my SIM Racing journey began in 1999 at age 26. I’m now 52…..Retired USAF, and a little slower than wat back when.
I have a great time just having fun, chasing podiums and wins……stuck on 495 wins at the moment. But it’s important to remember that most of us are here because of our passion for motorsport but particularly our love of SIM Racing.
Cheers,
Matt (16648)
Soon as I stopped worrying about my irating and start to just race, I enjoyed it much more and it even started to go up. I’m now chasing the 3k mark in oval. Sometimes I have bad weeks and it drops but mostly stays around 2.5k. I run mostly the NIS races and run with lots of the same guys. I’ve learned what guys can run side by side with and the ones to get around in a hurry
I think you just demonstrated nicely the point of the article. You say you’ve stopped worrying about your iRating but in the very next sentence you say you’re chasing 3000 iRating.
I’m not getting at you, I just think it demonstrates how difficult it is to switch off from your iRating, even when you think you have. I absolutely agree with the OP that it should be hidden more.
Article is on point, IR is why I quit IRacing. Once I got over 2000 on road everything became about getting and starting over 2000. Plus I had kids yada yada. You need time and focus for IRacing that I just don’t have anymore. I do Forza now lol
I have been
VERY interesting article. I have been in iracing since 2012 with some off’s here and there, i have gone all the way in with this sim in extreme ways, both financially and in ways affecting my family.
Irating was causing me incredible anxiety, exactly as you describe it, i was avoiding official races, it was taking all the joy away etc.. the problem was that i was always involved heavily in various teams because i loved endurance team racing. And when you are involved in team racing, irating means almost everything as it affects in which split your car will end up, meaning that it also affects the status within your team… IMO and i have stated this multiple times in public, iracing should make a new algorithm about how irating is calculated (gaining/losing) and about how it affects race splits. There is much more than in which position you end up. There are stuff like consistency, clean racing etc.. in other words i mean something like SR also counting in race splits.
Anyways personally i took a huge 12 month break and i just very recently came back but i am only doing AI races for now, and i am very surprised with their new adaptive AI, 360hz ffb, implemented foveated vr…
I may start official races too as i don’t plan in doing team races anymore.
I can relate to this article entirely. My goal for a very long time had been to hit 5000iR in formula cars. The pressure as I got closer and closer was immense, and the frustration was enormous when someone would punt me or I’d make a mistake and set myself back. But I told myself once I got to 5000 I’d let this all go and just enjoy sim racing again. Well I got to 5000 and suddenly I was like “ok, I just need to consolidate and get to about 5200 to give a buffer. Then I can relax.” I got to 5189 then I had a few disaster races and suddenly I’m back in the high 4000s again…. And here I am again trying to grind to 5000 once more. I really wish the iRating system was invisible but the truth is it would solve nothing. People would turn to other stats as a point of comparison – wins, points, podiums, etc. I think the issue is an individual one, not necessarily an issue with iRating itself. Some people worry too much about what others think and put too much pressure on themselves to be exceptional. I’m unfortunately one of these people. At least recognising this is a way to try to carry it a little more lightly.
The phrase “money can’t buy happiness” can only be said by someone who’s had enough of it.
The same goes for iRating
I feel this in my bones. For so long I was so anxious at the start of races I would be shaking. It would take me three laps to get myself under control enough to not be miserable. It would affect me so much when crashing that it would ruin my night. My iRating would fluctuate massively. It was so unhealthy and it was causing me more stress than enjoyment to join races. I took a long break from simracing, and when I came back I decided that I was racing to have fun and nothing else. I realized that if I dropped iRating that did not really matter for the race itself. So what if I go from 2nd to 3rd split? All of a sudden my enjoyment of iRacing shot up like crazy. I started joining way more races even early in the week with little practice. I’m having so much fun now, and incidentally my iRating have been steadily climbing — I suspect that is because I’m much less nervous, and therefore much safer on track. What’s important is that the fun I’m having is unmatched. Now I’ll be happy and consider the race good if I was racing close to others and fighting for position, no matter if I was fighting for a podium or fighting for p15 after getting pitted by a reckless driver in turn 1. It’s liberating and has truly unlocked the hobby for me in many ways.