Series Popularity

[Troy Dalton]

I was wondering, "What are the most popular series currently running at iRacing?" The only way that I know how to gauge that is by looking to see how many drivers have participated in official races for each series. So, I dug through the stats and here are the current numbers. Keep in mind that it's only week two and not all series run every night. Just for the heck of it, I'll update this throughout the season.

S1 2010 as of 14:00 3/15/2010.

Oval Series
No. - Series Name / Req. Min License
3,360 - Legends Cup / Rookie 1A
2,330 - Nascar "C" (Trucks) / C License
2,317 - Late Model Tour / D License
2,248 - Legends Cup / Rookie 1B
1,626 - Advanced Legends / Rookie 3.0
1,394 - Nascar "B" (Nationwide) B License
897 - Nascar "A" (COT) / A License
736 - SK Modified / D License
136 - Silver Crown / B License
15,044

Road Series
No. - Series Name / Req. Min License
2,063 - Solstice / Rookie 1A
1,577 - Skip Barber / D License
1,396 - Solstice / Rookie 1B
1,202 - Spec Racer Ford / Rookie 3.0
1,137 - Star Mazda / C License
612 - Jetta TDi / D License
458 - Radical "C" / C License
436 - Indy Car / A License
411 - Prototype / A License
366 - GT Championship / B License
205 - Classic Lotus / B License
9,863

[O_Danny_Boy]

Those are some interesting statistics, 7045 participants for oval to only 4321 for road racing. I would think at least the trucks are skewed as the Daytona race probably brought more one time racers in. Particularly as a warmup for the Daytona 500. It would be interesting to see how many ran at least a 50% schedule in the series to get rid of the one time racers. Any ideas why the silver crown car is so unpopular? Maybe because its so difficult to drive with being so over powered?

[Troy Dalton]

Those are some interesting statistics, 7045 participants for oval to only 4321 for road racing. I would think at least the trucks are skewed as the Daytona race probably brought more one time racers in. Particularly as a warmup for the Daytona 500. It would be interesting to see how many ran at least a 50% schedule in the series to get rid of the one time racers. Any ideas why the silver crown car is so unpopular? Maybe because its so difficult to drive with being so over powered?

Actually, the Trucks have always drawn well and their popularity seems to increase each season. Here's a look at the previous five Truck seasons. I included the total number of participants and total number of participants that completed at least five weeks of competition.

Seas / Total / 5Wks
08S4 / 1479 / 564
09S1 / 1628 / 554
09S2 / 1749 / 523
09S3 / 2047 / 700
09S4 / 2550 / 854

As far as the Silver Crown car, it's a bit of a niche car imo. I can't remember the last time I saw a Silver Crown race and the car is quite difficult to drive for most people. Also, you've heard the phrase, "Cautions breed Cautions." Well, the same can be said for an iRacing series that doesn't draw a crowd. Some people just don't bother with the car, because there are so few participants that you can't ever get a competitive split.

The Daytona Prototypes suffered the same fate last season when all the Pro drivers bad mouth it to the point that no one wanted to race it any more. People stopped showing up, there was a lack of official races and without official races, you can't score any points or earn iRacing credits.

Plus, for oval racers, the Late Model and Truck series really offer some of the most competitive racing simply do to their overwhelming popularity. The more racers, the better each split is and subsequently it's more enjoyable. Still, like the SK Modified, there will always been a small number of diehards who race it each week. However, it begs the question, how many series is too many?

[davidan]

Very interesting to look at Troy -- cool of you to post this. Definitely helps you to determine where the places are to find the most amount of competition.

[Troy Dalton]

Update for week three. Not much to report, but in the oval series the Advanced Legends passed the NASCAR "A" (COT) in popularity and in the road series, both the Jetta TDI and Indy Car series have passed the Daytona Prototype by a slim margin.

SEE UPDATE

[JTninja]

Seems about right. Most drivers are newer, and like driving easier cars.

I do legends and the solstice. The solstice is my favorite because its road racing, easy car, and tracks I know by heart. Done 10 races between Lime Rock and Laguna Seca, only only once have I not finished on the podium. I even got my first win at Lime Rock on Tuesday

[JMH714]

You're probably first person I have met that liked Slowstice!

[JTninja]

Gearing sucks, no setup work, but other than that, its pretty simple to drive, very predictable, and can be fun.

[Troy Dalton]

You're probably first person I have met that liked Slowstice!

I love that car, but there isn't enough variety in tracks to really make it fun. Take the Soltice out to Summit Point or Texas RC and you'll see what I mean.

[JMH714]

I used Slowstice on Lime Rock (TT), boy it wasn't easy to drive. I kept spun out several corners - but if I used other vehicle, such as SCCA, VW, Late Model, or other vehicle, I barely get spin out. That's why I don't like it. I was happy that I moved up to D class RC so that I can never drive it again.