iRacing oval & NASCAR racing: the series ladder explained
iRacing’s oval category runs 30 official series on a single license ladder: Rookie → D → C → B → A → Pro. You climb it the same way in oval as anywhere on the service: keep your incident count down to lift safety rating, then win or finish well to lift iRating. The ladder doubles as a difficulty curve, because cars get faster and aero gets twitchier as you climb.
Start here (Rookie, Fixed, every 30 min)
Section titled “Start here (Rookie, Fixed, every 30 min)”Every new oval racer begins with a fender. The Rookie Street Stock Series and the Rookie Legends Cup by Simshop are Fixed-setup and run every 30 minutes, so a green flag is always within reach. Graduate to a D license and the NASCAR Pickup Cup and NASCAR Carburetor Cup open up, both Fixed and hourly.
The NASCAR Cup ladder (C → Pro, every 2 hours)
Section titled “The NASCAR Cup ladder (C → Pro, every 2 hours)”The three national NASCAR tiers run real cars at a 2-hour cadence. The slot that lands in your evening depends on your timezone, and each series page converts every session to your local time.
- NASCAR Class C Series - Fixed: the Truck field (Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, Toyota Tundra), your Class C entry point.
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series - Fixed: the Xfinity-style Camaro/Mustang/Supra cars at Class B.
- NASCAR Class A Series and NASCAR Class A Series - Fixed: the Cup Next Gen Camaro ZL1, Mustang and Camry at Pro level. Pick Fixed unless you build your own setups.
Short tracks, modifieds & classics
Section titled “Short tracks, modifieds & classics”Several series cover door-to-door short-track racing without the superspeedway draft: the Super Late Model Series, the NASCAR Tour Modified Series (the open-wheel Whelen Tour Modified), the throwback NASCAR Gen 4 Cup Series, and the ARCA Menards Series. All run on an hourly or 2-hour rota.
Because the higher tiers gap out to 2 hours, knowing which slot is next matters. Startlight ($9.99, iOS and Apple Watch) puts the next-race countdown for any series you follow on your Home Screen, so you can plan a 2-hour-cadence run without opening the sim.
New to the service? Read getting started with iRacing first, then browse the full races index for every category.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I start in iRacing oval if I'm a Rookie?
Rookie license holders run spec, 30-minute-cadence series like the Rookie Street Stock Series and Rookie Legends Cup. Both are Fixed-setup, so everyone runs the same car configuration and you race instead of fighting the garage. Clean races there earn the 2.0 safety rating you need to advance to a Class D license.
What's the difference between Fixed and Open NASCAR series?
Fixed series lock the setup, so iRacing hands every driver the same car and the result is purely driving. Open series let you build your own setup, which rewards setup knowledge but punishes guesswork. New oval racers should run Fixed first: the NASCAR Class A Series and NASCAR Class A Series - Fixed are the same Next Gen field split exactly this way.