Madbranch [1935018] —
Original article
Read Madbranch's account of how player-run tournaments became a new trend in racing, and which ones await your participation over the next twelve months.
Torn's Racing mechanics have seen only minor additions in recent years, with more popular areas of Torn understandably receiving greater development attention. But the racers don't respond to this with a laundry list of complaints and accusations against the developers; instead, they put their efforts into making the most of what is available. A quick look at the Racing Forums proves that in an instant.
Pictured: A number of threads, four of which are about tournaments, and the obligatory Baldr Racing FAQ included.
The vast majority of the posts in Racing fall into one of two categories; either someone is posting an interesting question that broadens everyone's knowledge, or they're promoting their new custom racing tournament. Player-run tournaments have grown massively in popularity over the past few years, with new ones springing up almost on a weekly basis. But it wasn't always like this.
Torn's Racing Boom
Most of the player base is by now probably familiar with the URT – Ultimate Racing Tournament, but this was by no means the first major racing tournament run in Torn City. One of the most famous player-run events was and remains the Night Racers, a competition run by the likes of Guy_Smiley and Triguem which was last seen in early 2020.
There were also many one-off events, such as the fantastic Wuggington Tribute Race also run by Guy Smiley in tribute to the legendary racer Wuggington. But until recently, player-run tournaments were rather rare in number. Sure, there was the occasional faction tournament and even a few public ones, but for a long time, they just weren’t that common.
This began to change when the popularity of BackAlleyBob's PRC tournament gained the attention of the Torn City Times. The paper negotiated with Chedburn to arrange big money sponsorship, newspaper promotion, and the provision of the rare Bugatti Veyron. The combination of a well-run tournament and game-wide promotion saw that year's PRC become a huge success, with Stormcast gaining the honor of taking home the first Bugatti.
Sadly, the arrangement between Torn and the PRC came to an end later that year, when Bob pulled out of running the Winter event. The racers were disappointed, so GeorgeCostanza generously stepped in to temporarily replace him as event coordinator. Bob wasn't happy with this (to say the least), so the following summer, the Torn City Times backed a new event run with the help of GeorgeCostanza, the Ultimate Racing Tournament.
Sugarvalves now runs the URT with the help of a stewarding team, and there has been a PRC or URT run every winter and summer for several years now. But these are far from the only racing events in Torn City. To showcase the amount of high-octane activity going on behind the scenes, we've compiled a full Racing Calendar of events for the year. So for the 86,713 of you out there who have a Racing License, these are your plans for the next twelve months.
April
The next edition of the Justice League Tournament will be run in April by Jairyll and LordofFire. This is one of the most popular player-run racing tournaments, with the Autumn edition attracting 570 racers. The JLT is open to drivers of all classes and skill levels, but entrants are divided between several different leagues depending on their ability. This ensures that players of any level can compete and potentially earn a prize, unlike the URT, which is mostly aimed towards elite racers only.
The forthcoming 2021 tournament will take place throughout April and May, culminating in a final champions week where the winners from each league fight each other daily in multiple, low-lap races. The JLT's slick organisation and appearance attracts huge sponsorship from the playerbase, and Sugarvalves says that the TCT will certainly be contributing again this year. Look out for the forthcoming article in a few weeks' time for further details on how to enter.
May
In the second half of February, the Time Attack Racing Series was run by Burger. This tournament sees points awarded to those who run the fastest three laps in each race. Only stock cars are allowed during qualification, and all of the drivers run together during the main tournament but are split into two groups when it comes to point allocation. Burger says he plans to run an expanded version of this tournament sometime in May.
June
Leokes will be running a short event called Faction Fury Fiesta from the 4th to the 6th of June. This is a team racing event whereby six racers from a single faction band together to compete against others. Each team must have one racer with a racing skill below 4.99 and no more than three members above 10.
A single race involving all of the teams takes place every day for three days, and the team's average across all six drivers is used to determine their placement. Each member of the team with the lowest average time will receive an FHC, and whichever team has the lowest average over all three races will take home some Donator Packs.
Another event scheduled to run in June is the 2nd Annual Win-A-Cosworth Rally event hosted by Mathematics. This event is open to Class B to E racers only and sees drivers compete to achieve the lowest cumulative time over four races. The first-place driver wins a $15 million-valued Cosworth, with cash prizes also given to the top three in each stage and overall.
In mid-January, the Just an AverageRacing Tournament (JAART) ran in which the goal was to be the most mediocre of racers. It was thought up by CJBWRC and required drivers to finish in the middle of the pack to earn the most points. Five races were run over five days, with the most average drivers receiving the most prize money.
CJBWRC plans to run two further JAART tournaments this June. A beginners tournament for Stock E cars and sub 10 RS drivers only will take place from the 14th to the 18th. This will be followed by the regular tournament that will run from the 21st to the 25th and will be open to all drivers of any skill level so long as they are Class B or above.
July
Last year, the Summer edition of the Ultimate Racing Tournament took place from the end of July until mid-August. Sugarvalves has confirmed that while the dates of this year's event have not been finalized, the final is tentatively scheduled to take place on the 25th of July to avoid clashing with World Tiger Day. This means that the qualifiers should begin at the beginning of the same month.
The qualifying format of the Summer URT is roughly the same as the Winter Edition, but the main tournament is entirely different. Qualifying drivers are put into eight groups of six, with each group racing alongside each other over six individual races. Points are awarded to the drivers who finish in the top three in each race, and when all six races have been run, the top three from each group qualify for the knockout stage. Every driver in the tournament receives prize money based on their positions in the group stage or their times in the knockout rounds.
Pictured: Sugarvalves likes racing, even if it's not a Torn priority.
August / September
Prezze ran the first edition of his Wreckfest in August 2020. He has informed the Torn City Times that the summer edition of this event will run after the Summer URT, taking place throughout August and September 2021. This tournament is unique in that it pits drivers against each other in 1v1 battles they must set up themselves.
There is also a separate Wreckfest tournament for newbies under 9 Racing Skill, with this version attracting 71 competitors in 2021, compared to the main event's tally of 124 participants. The organizers of Wreckfest also do an amazing job in writing up the results after each round.
October
The fall edition of the Justice League Tournament took place from the 12th of October to the 6th of December 2020. We have been informed that another JLT will take place roughly around the same time this year.
October / November
The Helsing Family and Friends Grand Prix ran several events from the 24th of October to the 2nd of December, with some of them being open to all, and others by invitation only. Unless you were invited, players had to earn Qualifier Points to enter some of the Helsing races, with further QPs earned through your placement in the events themselves. You could then spend these points to buy prizes from the organizers.
These events were limited to drivers under 9.99 racing skill, and we have been told that a similar tournament with similar rules will be run from September through October 2021. Finzou_Helsing, the organizer, has the Challenger's Cup planned for the 25th of September, the Highway Havoc on the 10th of October, and the Spooktober Supreme event set for October 31st.
The winner of each event receives direct entry into the 2021 Helsing Grand Prix finale, which is for Class E cars and stock only. The Grand Prix consists of 1-2 weeks of preliminaries, 2-4 days of qualifiers, and a finale and losers finale which take place over a couple of days. The overall champion will receive no less than $100 million.
December
I (Madbranch) ran a short Ferrari league competition at the end of last year. It took place over six days and was divided into two groups – stock Ferrari and upgraded Ferrari. I intend to run it again this year.
January
The qualifiers for the URT Winter Rally typically open up around the middle of January, ensuring that the finalé lands on the weekend before Valentine's Day. Players must run one of the day's fastest times during any of the four qualifying sessions to make it to the main tournament. This year, there were four days from which twelve drivers qualified from each, giving us 48 drivers in total.
20-30 qualifiers are run every day at all hours, but even so, they always fill up quickly. Once the four days of qualifiers have been run, all 48 drivers race together across all sixteen tracks, with the driver with the lowest cumulative time at the end crowned as the winner. Every driver in the tournament from 1st to 48th receives prize money, with the champion taking $1 billion and a Bugatti Veyron.
February
Prezze's Winter Wreckfest began on the 8th of February 2021, and Prezze has confirmed that he plans to bring it back around the same time in 2022 - although he asks that drivers check in closer to the time.
March
March 2021 saw the Torn Racing Championships run by Scott_T return to the calendar. With an entry fee of $50k per race, players took part in nine races throughout the month using Class E cars only. Drivers were awarded points and cash depending on where they finished, with further prizes handed out based on the final standings. This tournament is interesting in that the driver who loses the most races also wins a prize! We haven't had confirmation that Scott_t will run it again yet, because the current tournament hasn't quite finished!
At the beginning of March 2020, there was a revival of the famous Night Racers tournament run by TriGuem. This one was an NSX only edition, and it spanned over one month taking the form of a single-round robin with the top 10 players of each race getting from 1-10 points. It is hoped that a new Night Racers event will take place in the near future, but Triguem says his busy work life means it may not be possible. Perhaps someone else might have to step in and set something up for March instead?
The Future
Given the time and effort these events require of the organizers, the racing community is almost always 100% supportive and keen to engage with new formats - especially if prize money is on offer. These events can also be a good way for organizers to make money if they find the right balance, but the racing community will be quick to identify any tournament that looks more like a financial scheme.
Sugarvalves has made it clear that the Torn City Times is happy to promote and sponsor any of the tournaments listed in this article, and any other legitimate tournaments that may come to fruition in the future. So if you have an idea for a new racing format, get in touch with him! SirEdge has already created a thread that acts as a racing calendar before this article was conceived, so we can easily add new tournaments to that and this article if needs be.
I think we have to thank Sugarvalves and the URT here, and not just for the despair we feel when we fail to qualify as our Lexus laps slowly around the Speedway. The popularity of the URT has made many of us realize that there is a lot of joy in thinking up a new tournament and running it successfully. Some players already knew this, of course, such as Samson, who seems to take great pleasure in running 77 lap Speedway races (nearly) every day at midnight, with 7th place bringing you a $1m prize.
But it is inarguable that new tournaments have increased in number over the past few years, and I for one am glad that we’ve seen this boom of player-run events. I think it should inspire non-racers to do such things in different parts of Torn too, as community-led events have brought many new players to this underused part of Torn in the process. There is also a lot of support given between different tournament organizers, with people like Jairyll and Indolent also having provided assistance to the URT of late. We're a very incestual community like that.
Racing has helped me personally meet many Torn players I had no prior contact with, and it's also let me reconnect with some that I haven't spoken to in a while. Racing is still seen as a useless minigame by some, but those who take part really enjoy it, and it's one of the few areas of Torn where the community is almost entirely positive. Places like The Pit Stop Discord probably wouldn’t exist if it were not for the JLT, but they are willing to welcome anyone who is interested in racing.
It is for this reason that I am really looking forward to the future of Torn Racing, whether that involves new developments or just more new tournaments. I hope that with all the homegrown events taking place, new players will start to race more often. My one piece of advice from this article is that you should join as many events as you can, regardless of your skill level, as both prize money and glory eternal awaits you.
Because down at the race track, you don't have to wait for updates - you can make your own.
Pictured: A number of threads, four of which are about tournaments, and the obligatory Baldr Racing FAQ included.
The vast majority of the posts in Racing fall into one of two categories; either someone is posting an interesting question that broadens everyone's knowledge, or they're promoting their new custom racing tournament. Player-run tournaments have grown massively in popularity over the past few years, with new ones springing up almost on a weekly basis. But it wasn't always like this.
Torn's Racing Boom
Most of the player base is by now probably familiar with the URT – Ultimate Racing Tournament, but this was by no means the first major racing tournament run in Torn City. One of the most famous player-run events was and remains the Night Racers, a competition run by the likes of Guy_Smiley and Triguem which was last seen in early 2020.
There were also many one-off events, such as the fantastic Wuggington Tribute Race also run by Guy Smiley in tribute to the legendary racer Wuggington. But until recently, player-run tournaments were rather rare in number. Sure, there was the occasional faction tournament and even a few public ones, but for a long time, they just weren’t that common.
This began to change when the popularity of BackAlleyBob's PRC tournament gained the attention of the Torn City Times. The paper negotiated with Chedburn to arrange big money sponsorship, newspaper promotion, and the provision of the rare Bugatti Veyron. The combination of a well-run tournament and game-wide promotion saw that year's PRC become a huge success, with Stormcast gaining the honor of taking home the first Bugatti.
Sadly, the arrangement between Torn and the PRC came to an end later that year, when Bob pulled out of running the Winter event. The racers were disappointed, so GeorgeCostanza generously stepped in to temporarily replace him as event coordinator. Bob wasn't happy with this (to say the least), so the following summer, the Torn City Times backed a new event run with the help of GeorgeCostanza, the Ultimate Racing Tournament.
Sugarvalves now runs the URT with the help of a stewarding team, and there has been a PRC or URT run every winter and summer for several years now. But these are far from the only racing events in Torn City. To showcase the amount of high-octane activity going on behind the scenes, we've compiled a full Racing Calendar of events for the year. So for the 86,713 of you out there who have a Racing License, these are your plans for the next twelve months.
April
The next edition of the Justice League Tournament will be run in April by Jairyll and LordofFire. This is one of the most popular player-run racing tournaments, with the Autumn edition attracting 570 racers. The JLT is open to drivers of all classes and skill levels, but entrants are divided between several different leagues depending on their ability. This ensures that players of any level can compete and potentially earn a prize, unlike the URT, which is mostly aimed towards elite racers only.
The forthcoming 2021 tournament will take place throughout April and May, culminating in a final champions week where the winners from each league fight each other daily in multiple, low-lap races. The JLT's slick organisation and appearance attracts huge sponsorship from the playerbase, and Sugarvalves says that the TCT will certainly be contributing again this year. Look out for the forthcoming article in a few weeks' time for further details on how to enter.
May
In the second half of February, the Time Attack Racing Series was run by Burger. This tournament sees points awarded to those who run the fastest three laps in each race. Only stock cars are allowed during qualification, and all of the drivers run together during the main tournament but are split into two groups when it comes to point allocation. Burger says he plans to run an expanded version of this tournament sometime in May.
June
Leokes will be running a short event called Faction Fury Fiesta from the 4th to the 6th of June. This is a team racing event whereby six racers from a single faction band together to compete against others. Each team must have one racer with a racing skill below 4.99 and no more than three members above 10.
A single race involving all of the teams takes place every day for three days, and the team's average across all six drivers is used to determine their placement. Each member of the team with the lowest average time will receive an FHC, and whichever team has the lowest average over all three races will take home some Donator Packs.
Another event scheduled to run in June is the 2nd Annual Win-A-Cosworth Rally event hosted by Mathematics. This event is open to Class B to E racers only and sees drivers compete to achieve the lowest cumulative time over four races. The first-place driver wins a $15 million-valued Cosworth, with cash prizes also given to the top three in each stage and overall.
In mid-January, the Just an AverageRacing Tournament (JAART) ran in which the goal was to be the most mediocre of racers. It was thought up by CJBWRC and required drivers to finish in the middle of the pack to earn the most points. Five races were run over five days, with the most average drivers receiving the most prize money.
CJBWRC plans to run two further JAART tournaments this June. A beginners tournament for Stock E cars and sub 10 RS drivers only will take place from the 14th to the 18th. This will be followed by the regular tournament that will run from the 21st to the 25th and will be open to all drivers of any skill level so long as they are Class B or above.
July
Last year, the Summer edition of the Ultimate Racing Tournament took place from the end of July until mid-August. Sugarvalves has confirmed that while the dates of this year's event have not been finalized, the final is tentatively scheduled to take place on the 25th of July to avoid clashing with World Tiger Day. This means that the qualifiers should begin at the beginning of the same month.
The qualifying format of the Summer URT is roughly the same as the Winter Edition, but the main tournament is entirely different. Qualifying drivers are put into eight groups of six, with each group racing alongside each other over six individual races. Points are awarded to the drivers who finish in the top three in each race, and when all six races have been run, the top three from each group qualify for the knockout stage. Every driver in the tournament receives prize money based on their positions in the group stage or their times in the knockout rounds.
Pictured: Sugarvalves likes racing, even if it's not a Torn priority.
August / September
Prezze ran the first edition of his Wreckfest in August 2020. He has informed the Torn City Times that the summer edition of this event will run after the Summer URT, taking place throughout August and September 2021. This tournament is unique in that it pits drivers against each other in 1v1 battles they must set up themselves.
There is also a separate Wreckfest tournament for newbies under 9 Racing Skill, with this version attracting 71 competitors in 2021, compared to the main event's tally of 124 participants. The organizers of Wreckfest also do an amazing job in writing up the results after each round.
October
The fall edition of the Justice League Tournament took place from the 12th of October to the 6th of December 2020. We have been informed that another JLT will take place roughly around the same time this year.
October / November
The Helsing Family and Friends Grand Prix ran several events from the 24th of October to the 2nd of December, with some of them being open to all, and others by invitation only. Unless you were invited, players had to earn Qualifier Points to enter some of the Helsing races, with further QPs earned through your placement in the events themselves. You could then spend these points to buy prizes from the organizers.
These events were limited to drivers under 9.99 racing skill, and we have been told that a similar tournament with similar rules will be run from September through October 2021. Finzou_Helsing, the organizer, has the Challenger's Cup planned for the 25th of September, the Highway Havoc on the 10th of October, and the Spooktober Supreme event set for October 31st.
The winner of each event receives direct entry into the 2021 Helsing Grand Prix finale, which is for Class E cars and stock only. The Grand Prix consists of 1-2 weeks of preliminaries, 2-4 days of qualifiers, and a finale and losers finale which take place over a couple of days. The overall champion will receive no less than $100 million.
December
I (Madbranch) ran a short Ferrari league competition at the end of last year. It took place over six days and was divided into two groups – stock Ferrari and upgraded Ferrari. I intend to run it again this year.
January
The qualifiers for the URT Winter Rally typically open up around the middle of January, ensuring that the finalé lands on the weekend before Valentine's Day. Players must run one of the day's fastest times during any of the four qualifying sessions to make it to the main tournament. This year, there were four days from which twelve drivers qualified from each, giving us 48 drivers in total.
20-30 qualifiers are run every day at all hours, but even so, they always fill up quickly. Once the four days of qualifiers have been run, all 48 drivers race together across all sixteen tracks, with the driver with the lowest cumulative time at the end crowned as the winner. Every driver in the tournament from 1st to 48th receives prize money, with the champion taking $1 billion and a Bugatti Veyron.
February
Prezze's Winter Wreckfest began on the 8th of February 2021, and Prezze has confirmed that he plans to bring it back around the same time in 2022 - although he asks that drivers check in closer to the time.
March
March 2021 saw the Torn Racing Championships run by Scott_T return to the calendar. With an entry fee of $50k per race, players took part in nine races throughout the month using Class E cars only. Drivers were awarded points and cash depending on where they finished, with further prizes handed out based on the final standings. This tournament is interesting in that the driver who loses the most races also wins a prize! We haven't had confirmation that Scott_t will run it again yet, because the current tournament hasn't quite finished!
At the beginning of March 2020, there was a revival of the famous Night Racers tournament run by TriGuem. This one was an NSX only edition, and it spanned over one month taking the form of a single-round robin with the top 10 players of each race getting from 1-10 points. It is hoped that a new Night Racers event will take place in the near future, but Triguem says his busy work life means it may not be possible. Perhaps someone else might have to step in and set something up for March instead?
The Future
Given the time and effort these events require of the organizers, the racing community is almost always 100% supportive and keen to engage with new formats - especially if prize money is on offer. These events can also be a good way for organizers to make money if they find the right balance, but the racing community will be quick to identify any tournament that looks more like a financial scheme.
Sugarvalves has made it clear that the Torn City Times is happy to promote and sponsor any of the tournaments listed in this article, and any other legitimate tournaments that may come to fruition in the future. So if you have an idea for a new racing format, get in touch with him! SirEdge has already created a thread that acts as a racing calendar before this article was conceived, so we can easily add new tournaments to that and this article if needs be.
I think we have to thank Sugarvalves and the URT here, and not just for the despair we feel when we fail to qualify as our Lexus laps slowly around the Speedway. The popularity of the URT has made many of us realize that there is a lot of joy in thinking up a new tournament and running it successfully. Some players already knew this, of course, such as Samson, who seems to take great pleasure in running 77 lap Speedway races (nearly) every day at midnight, with 7th place bringing you a $1m prize.
But it is inarguable that new tournaments have increased in number over the past few years, and I for one am glad that we’ve seen this boom of player-run events. I think it should inspire non-racers to do such things in different parts of Torn too, as community-led events have brought many new players to this underused part of Torn in the process. There is also a lot of support given between different tournament organizers, with people like Jairyll and Indolent also having provided assistance to the URT of late. We're a very incestual community like that.
Racing has helped me personally meet many Torn players I had no prior contact with, and it's also let me reconnect with some that I haven't spoken to in a while. Racing is still seen as a useless minigame by some, but those who take part really enjoy it, and it's one of the few areas of Torn where the community is almost entirely positive. Places like The Pit Stop Discord probably wouldn’t exist if it were not for the JLT, but they are willing to welcome anyone who is interested in racing.
It is for this reason that I am really looking forward to the future of Torn Racing, whether that involves new developments or just more new tournaments. I hope that with all the homegrown events taking place, new players will start to race more often. My one piece of advice from this article is that you should join as many events as you can, regardless of your skill level, as both prize money and glory eternal awaits you.
Because down at the race track, you don't have to wait for updates - you can make your own.
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