1.2 Limit On Protests - Each Competitor shall have the right to file a protest within 48 hours after the completion of the event being protested, but after a 24 hour cooling off period, unless otherwise stated. Each competitor has a minimum of one(1) protest allowed during entire the event. It is considered a protest when Once the one(1) protest is used Rule 1.3 comes into play.

1.3 Frivolous Protests - No competitor shall be allowed to file a protest until after 24 hours following the completion of the event. This will be a cooling off period to allow yourself to gain composure and think the incident through. Contacting any Event Admin or Official about the incident for any reason during this period will also not be allowed. All protests must be based on a specific violation of the rules by a driver. Any Competitor submitting a protest that is determined to be invalid or the protest is found to require no penalty, the driver sending in the protest will not be allowed to send in another protest for the rest of the event. Protests cannot be submitted against the Online 500, Admins, or Sponsors of the Online 500.

1.4 Filing Procedure - Protests must be submitted via e-mail to the Online 500 Competition Director within forty-eight (48) hours after the completion of the race under protest, but after a twenty-four (24) hour cooling off period (unless otherwise stated). All protests sent in within 24 hours of the completion of the event being protested will be ignored. No protest will be reviewed unless it is sent during the allotted time period. Once the 24 hour cooling off period is up, each competitor will have another 24 hours to file the protest. The protest must clearly state the rule number, who the violator is, the opinion of what happened from the side of who is submitting the protest, and must be accompanied by a replay or other evidence. If this procedure is not followed exactly, the protest attempt will be ignored, and the driver subitting the protest will forfeit the right to submit any more protests during the event.

1.5 Protest Pending - The results of an Event, including any individual race, time trial, or qualifying race shall not be considered official while a protest is pending. The results of the Event shall be considered official once the decisions of all protests have been announced.

1.6 Finality of Decisions - All decisions by the Online 500 officials regarding protests are only appealable by the Online 500 Director.

II - Miscellaneous

2.2 - Any racer may be ejected from the race at any time for any reason. If it is abrubt without explanation; In most cases it will be for causing too many cautions by wreckless/rough driving or by severe warp. In most cases you will be told to leave and given ample time to save setups, replays, etc before leaving. If the driver does not comply then he/she will be ejected immediately.

2.3 - Always race others clean, or at least the way you would like to be raced. Absolutely no retaliatory wrecking of others that may have bumped or even wrecked you.

2.4 - NO abusive conduct will be tolerated in any way. No flaming or arguing with another driver or admin during a race. Be civil to your fellow racers, discuss racing issues like civilized people after the completion of the race. We encourage you to race and even chat with complete control. This avoids personal embarrassment to your own character as well as distractions for others. Any cursing/flaming towards another driver or admin (even with the chat filter people have found ways around it) may be subject for removal from the event.

2.5 - If you have caused an accident, or even may have been involved in the cause, it is good racing etiquette to apologize as soon as possible. I have witnessed a great number of arguments immediately subdued by an individual who has the sense to apologize even when an accident has not necessarily their fault. It's a rather amazing phenomenon actually, but very effective in keeping the peace. When wrecked, please stay still until traffic is clear. If you have spun off the track, DO NOT re-enter the track until your vehicle is up to a respectable speed. If your vehicle has received heavy damage, or is smoking, get it to the pits for repairs, or exit the race. Any driver causing a crash by just sitting on the track yelling at someone, or stepping on the gas jumping in front of oncoming vehicles, will be ejected!

2.6 - NO CHEATING: All drivers must use the stock N2003 game with no altered files other than those altered by official patches by Papyrus or by the Online 500. Anyone found to be altering files other than from the Online 500 will be Disqualified from the event immediately and stripped of any awards or prizes he or she may have won. There will be zero tollerance for cheating. Cheating may also be described as deliberate breaking of the Ontrack Rules found in Section III of the rulebook.

2.6b - NO CHEATING: Replays may be requested from anyone at anytime during the TSW 500 event in the interest of cheat prevention. This includes but is not limitted to: Open Qualifying, Race Qualifying, Practice, Warmup, and/or Race sessions. Replays are good tools to use to help catch cheaters. Thanks to Papyrus, enough data can be extracted from the replay due to telemetry settings found in the core.ini file to help make sure the game is being run as is and not altered for performance gains. The TSW 500 reserves the right to require all participants to use such settings in the core.ini file that will help allow us to prevent cheating. The settings to be used, if used, will be announced prior to the start of Qualifying along with step by step instructions on how to edit the core.ini file to add these settings. These settings will not hurt performance of any competitor (unless that competitor is cheating) or lower the performance of anyone's computer.

2.7 - ANTI-CHEAT DETECTION: Anti-Cheat detection software may be used if feasible. If anti-cheat detection software is used; all competitors must download, install, and run the software during all Online 500 events. Those found not using, hacking, or finding loopholes around the software will be banned from the event.

2.7b - ANTI-CHEAT DETECTION: We reserve the right to use whatever means necessary to prevent cheating. We may, at anytime, request replays, setups, screenshots, or the use of anti-cheat detection software from any driver at anytime. Failure to adhere to the event administration's wishes on this matter may results in an automatic disqualification from the event.

2.8 - Provisionals: Champions Provisional - A provisional start will be given first and foremost to past winners of the event. If the driver chooses to take the provisional they will skip open qualifying, the Qualifier races,the Last Chance races, and the Twin 175's and will be forced to start at the back of the field for the 500. They will also lose the ability to use the provisional in future Online 500's unless they win it again. In other words each driver will get one provisional per win.

Champion's Provisional
   Trey Eidson x 1
   Chris Bland x 1
   C. Shearburn x 2

2.8b - Provisionals: General Provisional - A provisional spot may also be given by the TSW 500 Director and/or any admin of the TSW 500 to anyone for any reason. The provisional can also be extended to someone not registered for the TSW 500 as long as they agree to obey all rules and procedures. Just like the Champion's Provisional, the driver(s) will be forced to start at the back of the field for the 500, skipping qualifying, qualifier races, and Twin 175s. NOTE: This provisional as of 2005 has not been used and will definitely not be used if all slots in the main event are taken up. Asking for this provisional will almost certainly guarantee you do not get one. This provisional is at the Online 500 administration's discretion, so don't ask. :-)

2.9 - Membership Agreement:

Membership for the Online 500 begins upon acceptance of your registration form and ends at the event's completion. We reserve the right to accept or reject anyone for any reason. As a member of the 2007 Online 500, you agree and accept the following terms: You agree that your membership of the Online 500 does not end until the completion of the entire event(unless otherwise stated), and that you may be left on the mailing list and/or driver's list until that time regardless of whether or not you are still participating in the event. You agree to follow and abide by all rules and procedures that are given by any and all Admins of the Online 500. You also agree that all rules and procedures may be changed at any time for any reason. You agree to follow all instrucitons given by the Admins of the Online 500 at all times while participating in the Online 500 event in 2007. You agree to never tarnish the name of any sponsors or Admins in any way for any reason while a member of the Online 500. We do this for your enjoyment, not to be flamed or slandered. You agree to bring up any quarrels you have with other drivers or any Admins to the Online 500 Director by private e-mail only. At no time will public degrading of any driver or admin for any reason be allowed by any Online 500 members. You agree to not hold any admin of the Online 500 reponsible for any harm done to you, your computer, or any of your posessions. You agree to run any anti-cheat software at any time during the event while a member of the Online 500 in the interest of cheat prevention. Finally, you agree to the right of the Online 500 Director to make final decisions on all matters.

2.10 - Membership Requirements:

1. All drivers must have a unique version of NASCAR© Racing 2003 installed and with the latest patch from Papyrus.

2. All drivers will register and race under their real names during 2007 Online 500. We are trying to separate online racing from the typical First Person Shooter games where you see names such as BiGgUnS99. We understand many people like to associate themselves with a catchy nickname or screenname. However, whether you win or lose, you should be known by your real name. Variations of your name to be used in your screen name are as follows:
           John Doe
           John_Doe
           JohnDoe
           JDoe
           J_Doe
      Adding your favorite number (EXAMPLE: J_Doe55) will be allowed as long as no other characters are used, including the # key. Team/Clan tags will also be allowed (EXAMPLE: (TBR)J_Doe or J_Doe-TBR). If you plan to use a screen name variation that is not specifically mentioned here, please e-mail chris@online500.com for approval before creating a Sierra account and registering for the event.

3. NOTE: There is NO minimum skill level, LPI, league participation requirement, or even an entry fee for the 2007 Online 500. Entry into this event is free and is open to those who meet the above requirements and are not on the banned list.

III - On-Track Rules

3.2 Exiting Pits: Drivers are allowed to enter the track when the game allows. However, During greenflag pitstops only, each driver must keep their car in the bottom lane until getting up to speed sometime during the backstraightaway. All drivers, during greenflag pitstops only, are required to giving there "EXITING PITS" autochat signal somewhere before entering turn 1 after their pitting attempt. When coming up to speed after exiting the pits all cars must keep it in the low lane until traffic is clear. During caution flag pitstops, drivers can exit how they wish, though it would be a good idea to keep to the grrenflag pitting rule just to make it a habbit.
-Penalty during race=Drive through pits during green flag racing.
-Post-race Penalty=Docked three(3) positions per infraction off the final results.

3.3 Entering Pits: All drivers must enter the pits in a safe and efficient manor by safely getting to the bottom as quickly and safely as possible. During greenflag pitstops only, all drivers are required to give their "ENTERING PITS" autochat signal on the backstretch previous to their pitting attempt, but ONLY UNDER GREEN FLAG CONDITIONS. Drivers shall not come off turn 4 and cross the track from above the bottom lane to enter the pits.
-Penalty during race=Docked 1 lap in scoring.
-Post-race Penalty=Admin's discretion

3.3 Racing Down Pitroad: There will be no racing down pitroad when coming into the pits. Whether it is a greenflag or yellowflag pitstop; all drivers pitting should be singlefile once they get onto pitroad until they reach their pitstall. This creates less confusion and less issues when someone is trying to get to their pitstall. The only exception would be if a car is not maintaining at least 50mph down pitroad. The pit speed limit is 55mph, so all drivers should at least maintain within 5mph.
-Penalty during race=Drive through pits under green, or restart at the back of the longest line under yellow
-Post-race Penalty=Admin's discretion

3.4 Bumpdrafting: Bumpdrafting will be allowed but at your own risk. If you cause the driver to crash, cause him to crash another car, or cause damage to his or someone else's car you will be penalized. If the driver requests that you not bumpdraft him or her and you persist, then you will also be penalized.
-Penalty=Admin's Discretion

3.5 Blocking: There are so many arguments and different types of blocking that we will allow it. However, we will not allow a car to run another car into the grass or into the wall. Once a car's front bumper is aligned with the other car's rear bumper both cars must hold his/her line enough to avoid an incident. Contact is part of racing, and incidents do happen. However, rough driving will not be tolerated. It will also be taken into consideration the timing of the pass attempt on whether or not is was early enough for the driver who is being passed to react. We realize racing at Superspeedways is close and it is not easy to see all the way around the car or make quick enough decisions to avoid a crash; so common sense will prevail in making penalty decisions.
-Penalty for rough driving=Admin's discretion

3.6 Apron Passing: Simply put, it is not allowed. All racing needs to be done above the white line. Apron Passing is defined as a driver putting any part of the car onto the apron (below the white line) and forcing their way past another driver. Exceptions would be if there was a wreck ahead, the driver was forced down there, or the driver swoops down and puts part of the car onto the apron for a second, but came back onto the track and did not force his or her way underneath someone.
-It is the Admin's discretion on any incident where it may be considered an apron pass and what the penalty will be.

3.7 Lapped Car Rule: If a caution comes out within 13 laps (or less) left in the race, any driver a lap down must at least drive through pit road at the pit road speed limit the 2nd caution lap around to help ensure restarting behind lead lap cars. Drivers do not have to pit, but must obey the official at the end of pitroad. The driver(s) must only do it once on the designated lap; after that it is up to the lead lap cars to stay in front of you. This will ensure the leaders to be able to line up nose to tail for a final restart (if when everyone gets the 1 lap to green signal and the spotter tells you to line up under the leader then go ahead and do so). If another caution comes out within the same 13 laps, the lapped cars are not forced to pit again, but must line up wherever their spotter tells them to. However, if damaged you are very encouraged to do so.
-Penalty for not pitting when suppose to (During race)=Blackflagged by Admin
-Penalty for not pitting when suppose to (After race)=Put at the end of the lap the driver finished on

3.8 Slow Vehicles: Cars off the pace by damage must stay in the top lane when other cars are coming unless racing for position. This applies to damaged cars that are blatantly off the pace. This should give the leaders enough room to be double file or even three wide in some cases. All cars must maintain a minimum speed of 170mph at all points of the track. Cars have 3 consecutive completed laps to get up to speed no matter what speed their car is capable of. If the minimum speed cannot be maintained after the 3 given laps then that driver must leave the race.
-Penalty for causing a wreck for being in the way while damaged/off pace will depend on situation
-Penalty for not leaving when told to=Disqualification and removal from race

3.9 Warping: If you get clock zapped physically ahead of where you were running originally then you must let off to try to get back to where you were before you were clock zapped. (the previous sentence comes from N3 days and most likely does not apply to N2003. However, it is here just in case) If you, and only you are warping and are told by several other drivers or the admin, please safely fall back in the pack you are in or safely pull to pit road to avoid ruining other driver's races. We all know there is a little warping sometimes, but if you and only you (other words not the server or internet) are warping badly be respectful to everyone and safely get out of the way or get out of the race. If you continue on and cause incidents while warping you may be not only penalized, but removed from the race. If an admin tells you that you are warping and instructs you to either leave the race or get out of the way YOU MUST DO IT, no questions asked. We hate to tell anyone not to race, but all drivers are responsible for maintaining a raceable connection to the server and we cannot let one person ruin it for eveyrone else.
-Penalty=Admin's discretion

3.10 End of Race: After the completion of a race no one shall intentionally crash their car or others for any reason. Drivers are not required to drive back to the pits after a race, but encouraged to. Penalties may be handed out at the admin's discretion.

3.11 Qualifying:

1. The weather for open qualifying will be Clear 70° 0mph wind
2. Once you complete a timed lap, your run will count regardless if you crashed, blew up, got booted, DQed, or anything else unforseen happens. Qualifying runs that result in a game DQ (IE: you touched or cut through the grass and the game DQed you) still count as a qual attempt if you completed a timed lap.
3. There will be no cutting down pitroad or through the grass during any lap of your qualifying run. If you do you will be DQed from the event. All drivers must stay on the paved surface (Running on the Apron during Qualifying is allowed. However, DO NOT TOUCH THE GRASS!).
4. Burnouts are not allowed. A burnout is considered a driver spinning the tires under acceleration which produces even a minor ammount of smoke. With a restricted engine and a high gear ratio there shouldn't be anyone spinning the tires on accident.
5. Doing doughnuts or spinning out will also not be allowed. If you spin out, your qualifying run is complete.
6. You are not allowed to stop on the track for any reason once you leave the pits until after your qualifying attempt is complete. Any driver stopping on the track after leaving the pits will be DQed from their qualifying run. The exception will be after you complete your run.
7. No driving backwards or in reverse at any time.
8. You must run your own qualifying run. No substitute drivers allowed. Any driver found to be racing or qualifying for someone else will be disqualified from the event as well as the driver being driven for.
9. NO CHATTING DURING QUAL! If you have something to say to someone, please do it via a whisper. Chatting distracts the other qualifiers. If the admin deems you as a disruption you may be ejected.

3.12 Rough/Wreckless Driving: Any driver may be penalized for rough or wreckless driving during an event. Rough driving includes but not limited to: Purposely attempting to take out another competitor or purposely taking out another competitor; Running another car into the grass or wall after he/she has a fender along side (also see rule 3.5); consistently making bold and wild moves resulting in other driver's misfortunes.
-Penalty for obvious rough or wreckless driving=Admin's discretion

3.13a Chatting: All drivers must turn their chat on. There is a box to turn the incar chatting off, however, in the Online 500 you must be able to see all chatting, especially from admins. Miscellaneous chatting from drivers will not be allowed. The occasional "Thanks" or "Welcome" will be allowed, but only under green. NO MISCELLANEOUS CONVERSATIONS. Continuous chatting under green will also not be allowed. Again, the occasional chat as mentioned above will be allowed, but keep concentrating on your driving. This will be at the race admin's descression. Chatting during a qualifying session WILL NOT be allowed, period.
-Penalty for Excessive Chatting=Admin's discretion
-Penalty Chatting during Qual=Docked one(1) lap at the begining of the race.

3.14b Chatting/Autochats Under Caution: Chatting/Autochats will not be allowed during caution (such as ENTERING PITS, EXITING PITS, etc) until the Admin calls OPEN CHAT. This is so all drivers can see the instructions from the admins and the admins can see who were involved in the incident. Beware, the Admin(s) may never call OPEN CHAT during a particular caution period. Whispering between drivers is allowed as long as no one else can see it and it doesn't disturb the admin's job. It is the job of each driver to be able to see each Admin's instructions.
-Penalty= -1pt per infraction during Qual Races / During 175s and 500=Drive through pits under green

3.15 Racing to Caution: Racing back to the yellow flag is allowed and actually recommended. It would be wise during the early laps of a long distance race to hold your position and take what is given to you until you cross the line to take the yellow flag. Making bold moves just to gain a position or two, or even a lap back, while coming back to take the yellow flag once the caution has come out is not wise and can result in a wreck that could have otherwise been avoided. Once crossing the line to take the caution, DO NOT hit the brakes or abruptly let of the gas. Ease off the gas entering turn one and coast to the backstretch and wait for the pacecar if needed. We need to avoid crashes while taking the caution. There is a good chance you will be in heavy traffic when a caution comes out so watch whats going on and avoid making irratic moves until you are safely behind the pacecar.

3.15b Racing to Caution: Drivers must use common sense when the yellow flag comes out. Just because racing back to the line is allowed does not allow for causing wrecks or crashing into already wrecked cars just to gain a spot or two. If a driver is found to be driving wrecklessly while coming to the yellow flag and is either causing wrecks or has slammed into a wrecked car without a reasonable attempt at avoiding the wreck; then that driver may be penalized accordingly. It is not fair to a driver that has already been wrecked, but can still finish a race, to be slammed by yet another car that may be going 180mph or more, disabling the already damaged car, and keeping him from finishing the race. Drivers should make a reasonable attempt at avoiding a wreck regardless of whether or not they are racing back to end a race. Unless it is the checkered flag, the race is not over yet and some drivers already wrecked may still be able to finish the race and salvage some sort of decent finishing position. In a race where the main goal is a transfer position, this can mean a lot even on the last lap.
-Penalty for Wrecking after the Yellow has come out=Admin's discretion depending on circumstances

IV - Race Settings

Game: NASCAR® Racing 2003 by Papyrus
Track: DaytonaMOD (version 2) AVAILABLE SOON)
Series: Cup
Mode: Simulation
Forced Cockpit: Off (Any view allowed)
Driving Aids: Not Allowed
Setups: Open
Damage: Realistic
Racing Weather:Clear conditions with temp and wind determined by the game
 

V - Vehicle Damage

VI - Race Incidents

6.2 Incidents - Incidents are defined as: a) a driver by himself causing a yellow for something other than a blown engine. b) contact with another car causing damage to the other car. If a penalty is to be handed out for only causing damage to a car; the damage has to be enough to hinder the performance of the car (a hood pop would not count). This will be the admin's discretion.

6.3 Incident At Faults - Each driver will be given more than one "mulligan" per race to drive clean and safe. Meaning: Each driver is given at least one incident before being asked to leave the race. The ammount of chances or "mulligans" will vary depending on the race which will be spelled out below.

Qualifier Races: Each driver is given two chances (at fault) to race clean during a Qualifier race. The third incident a driver is found at fault, that driver will be told to leave the race and scoring for that driver will end at that time. If the driver does not leave immediately without question, the driver will be ejected, in which the final finishing position of that driver may be altered (penalized) at the admin's discretion.

During the Qualifier races, driver's are racing to earn points to transfer to the Twin 175s. Because of this, and the fact that we are hoping to get 32 of the cleanest drivers possible; points penalties will also be assessed. For each at fault the driver will be assessed a penalty according to the below structure:

• 1st At Fault: -2pts & sent to the end of the longest line.
• 2nd At Fault: -4pts & docked 1 lap, also restarting at the end of the longest line.
• 3rd At Fault: -8pts & removed from race.
• incident under caution: -4pts per instance, sent to the end of the longest line, or a drive through penalty

Twin 175s: For the Twin 175s, the penalty totals will be carried over from the Qual Races. This insures a driver cannot cause two incidents in the Qual races and another Two Incidents in the 175s and still make the show. There will also not be any point penalties for the Twin 175 races. Penalties will be similar to the Qualifier Races minus the points. The penalty structure will be as follows:

• 1st At Fault: sent to the end of the longest line.
• 2nd At Fault: docked 1 lap, also restarting at the end of the longest line.
• 3rd At Fault: removed from race
• incident under caution: sent to the end of the longest line, or a drive through penalty

(new as of 1/18/06) Qualifier, and Twin 175 races ONLY - Many times an incident will occur during the last few laps of a race where there cannot be a restart, and the incident cannot be reviewed in time before the finish of the race. In this case the incident will be reviewed during the given time after the race. Since the race has already concluded; any drivers that are found at fault will still receive an at fault penalty in which the penalty will be implemented to the final results of that race. However, instead of just being placed at the end of the lap that particular driver finished on (which is the equivalent of being sent to the tail-end of the field); the driver will be placed behind any cars involved in that particular incident to ensure that the driver will not take a transfer spot ahead of another driver that may have otherwise. This should help keep anyone from being able to take another driver out keeping the other driver from finishing in a transfer position and taking one themselves.

• Late Race At Fault: Placed behind all drivers involved (within reason - admin's discretion)

Online 500: Each driver is given two chances (at faults) to race clean during the race. The third incident a driver is found at fault, that driver will be told to leave the race and scoring will end at that time. If the driver does not leave immediately without question, the driver will be ejected. Each at fault the driver will be given an equal penalty. The penalty structure will be as follows:

• 1st At Fault: Sent to the end of the longest line.
• 2nd At Fault: Docked one(1) lap.
• 3rd At Fault: Removed from the race
• incident under caution: sent to the end of the longest line, or a drive through penalty

6.4 Rough/Wreckless Driving Incidents - If a driver is found to be driving wrecklessly then that driver may be ejected without warning in order to keep the racing clean. Each driver is responsible and expected to bring a stable setup and be prepared for each race in order to race clean. Racing rough or wrecklessly will not be tolerated.  

VII - Clauses

7.2 Anything not mentioned in the rules does not make it legal. All things protested and/or suspected as unfair to the drivers can and will be decided upon any or all of the Online 500 admins.

7.3 Any rule or set of procedures can be modified or added by the Online 500 Director at any time for any reason. The Online 500 rules and procedures need to be flexible because of the uncertainty of the internet, online racing, and its drivers and servers. This rule will only be used in cases where it may be in the best interest of the event to add, remove, or modify a rule or procedure. All drivers that register and compete in this event must realize it is the right of the Online 500 Admins to do this. No one is forced to run in this event, it is completely up to each participant to accept and agree to all rules as listed above including the membership terms and requirements as listed in Rules 2.9 and 2.10.