Manual › Chapter 08
The stint plan
How stints are computed, which constraints they respect, the iRacing driving share and strategy comparison.
What the plan is#
The stint plan is a crew's list of stints: who drives, from when to when, how many laps, on which tyres, and what time they must be at the PC.
It is not a form to fill in: it is computed. And recomputed when the race changes its mind.
It lives in Race → Plan, and only the crew chief (⭐) and the team's admins can change it.
How a stint's length is computed#
The formula is simple, which is exactly why the numbers going into it matter so much:
stint length = laps per tank × the driver's pace
Everything follows from that. The faster driver does a shorter stint in minutes for the same laps; whoever has no measured pace gets an estimate, and the estimate shows.
The strategy parameters#
Before computing, the Strategy parameters panel asks for six numbers.
| Parameter | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Laps per tank | How long a stint is in laps. With the companion running it arrives already estimated from the fuel measured on your own laps |
| Base pace | The time used for anyone without their own pace on that combination |
| Pit with tyres (sec) | How long a stop with a tyre change takes |
| Pit fuel only (sec) | How long a refuelling-only stop takes |
| Check-in before swap (min) | How far in advance the driver must be at the PC. Reminders and the alarm are measured from here |
| Consecutive stints per driver | How many stints in a row the same person can do |
The constraints the plan respects#
The engine does not hand out stints at random. In order, it accounts for:
- The availability windows declared at sign-up: yes, maybe, no. "Maybe" slots are used only if the drivers who said yes are not enough.
- The driver's real night, computed in their own time zone (23:00–07:00). Anyone who withdrew night availability gets stints outside that band.
- The personal stint cap, if declared.
- The start preference: who wants to start, who would rather not.
- Fairness on minutes: nobody drives twice as much as the others for no reason.
- Whoever is on the pit wall stays out of the rotation.
The Driver load panel shows the result: how many stints and how many driving minutes each.
The driving share#
On iRacing, in a team race, every registered driver must cover at least a quarter of the fair share — that is, a quarter of what they would get by dividing race time by the number of drivers. Anyone below that puts the whole team's result at risk.
The ⚖️ Driving share panel says, driver by driver, who is compliant and who is below the share, with the minimum to reach.
Anyone marked as pit wall is excluded from the count: they do not drive, so they have no share.
Push against saving#
⚖️ Compare push and saving simulates the same race twice:
- Push — full pace, more stops.
- Saving — lift & coast, a slightly slower pace but more laps per tank.
And it says which of the two gets you to the flag with more laps. When they end level it says so: choose based on traffic and tyres.
If saving wins, Apply saving and recompute stints rewrites the plan.
Strategies#
A strategy is a saved plan. They exist so you can try another one without losing the one you had.
- Save this one puts the current plan aside under a name (short first stint, two fewer stops…).
- Open views and edits it without choosing it for the race.
- Use this one makes it the preferred one.
Editing the plan by hand#
You can move drivers, change lengths, decide tyres. Manual edits stay until you press ⚡ Recompute stints, which loses them — the app warns you first.
When you move someone outside their declared availability, a warning appears:
"{name} did NOT give availability for the {when} window. Do you confirm you have agreed this stint with them?"
If the window was declared as "maybe", the wording changes accordingly.
Qualifying#
Qualifying happens before the green flag: it is not a race stint and does not enter the rotation. The plan shows it separately, with the time computed from the event's schedule.
If the schedule is not filled in, the app says so: "time unknown: fill in the schedule on the event page".
Race setups#
Every crew has its own setup folder for that event: the members' companions install them by themselves.
Uploading a file with the same name means publishing an updated version: it overwrites the one already installed on the drivers' PCs.
Once the plan is ready#
From here on race day takes over: reminders, alarm, check-in, the live pit wall and automatic re-anchoring of times. That is Race day.
Summary: the mistakes that cost most#
| Mistake | What happens |
|---|---|
| Pre-race schedule not filled in | Stint times are offset and the race ends later than expected |
| Missing race paces | Stints last as long as an estimate, and the swaps do not line up |
| Empty availability windows | The engine considers you always available, and gives you four in the morning |
| No iRacing team on the crew | The debrief cannot reconcile the results |
| Driving share unchecked | A driver short at the end, and the team's result at risk |