How to find and replay incidents in an iRacing broadcast
A workflow for catching iRacing incidents across the whole field, logging them and choosing the right moment to show the replay.
To catch incidents on an iRacing broadcast you need a workflow: monitor the whole field, log detected incident candidates with timestamps, jump the replay to the moment, show it when it costs the live picture the least, then return to live. Incident detection software such as EDR Broadcast automates the watching and logging, and jumps the replay for you.
Why broadcasters miss incidents in iRacing
Incidents are the moments viewers talk about. A league broadcast that misses the race-deciding contact loses credibility fast, and stewards lose their best evidence too. The problem is not effort. It is that one person cannot watch 40 cars at once.
On a real-world broadcast, a director has dozens of cameras and a truck full of people watching them. On an iRacing broadcast the producer usually has one screen showing one car, plus a relative or timing page. Everything happening outside that view is invisible.
Limited context. iRacing has native incident navigation, but broadcasters still need to review events and decide which moments belong in the show.
Spread fields. In endurance and multiclass racing, cars are all around the lap, so the camera is always somewhere else.
Timing lies a little. A slow lap might be a spin, contact, a pit stop or fuel saving. The numbers alone do not say which.
The producer is busy. Cameras, graphics, commentary handoffs and race control all compete for the same attention.
The manual workflow, and what it costs
The traditional fix is people. A spotter in Discord calls incidents, someone writes down the session time, and the producer scrubs the replay backwards hunting for the moment. It works, and plenty of leagues run this way, but it needs a crew member every round, the timestamps are approximate, and scrubbing a replay while the live race continues is exactly when the next incident gets missed.
If you are still building the rest of your show, start with the iRacing OBS broadcast setup guide first, then come back to the incident side.
What incident detection changes
Incident detection helps monitor the field while the producer directs the show. Detection can miss events or flag moments that do not need a replay, so review candidates before using them. In EDR Broadcast, incident detection and the replay transport are Pro features, and you can try them on a real race night with the 14-day Pro trial. During the session it builds a running log of what it sees:
- Flags likely contact, spins and off-tracks from the available session data for the producer to review.
- Logs detected incident candidates with cars and session times, reducing manual note-taking.
- One click jumps the replay to the moment. No scrubbing, no guessing which lap it was.
- Feeds a remote crew. On the League plan, remote stewards can follow the incident feed from a browser.
- Sensitivity tuning so your series flags what matters and ignores what does not.
iRacing’s own tools. As checked on 5 September 2026, iRacing has native replay navigation and director modes. EDR Broadcast’s value is the structured incident log and production workflow around those controls, not a claim that iRacing has no incident features at all.
What a useful incident log looks like
Whether software builds it or a spotter does, a log entry needs enough detail to act on: when, what, where, who and the outcome. That last column matters for commentary and for the stewards afterwards.
| Time | Type | Location | Cars | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:42:18 | Contact | Turn 6 | #44 into #23 | Both continue, replay shown at 1:44 |
| 1:47:02 | Spin | Turn 11 | #7 | Rejoined P12, mentioned on commentary |
| 1:53:40 | Off-track | Turn 1 | #88 | Logged for stewards, no replay needed |
When to show the replay
Catching the incident is half the job. Showing it at the right time is the other half. Never cut to a replay while a pass for the lead is building. Use the quiet moments: a settled field, a pit cycle, a caution period. Set the replay up on commentary, show it once or twice from the best angle, then make the return to live obvious so viewers are never confused about what is happening now.
If an auto-director is running the cameras, this gets easier, but you still need to manage the handover between live coverage and replay. On a single iRacing capture, moving the session into replay changes the captured picture; use a standby scene or a separately tested replay workflow while preparing the segment.
Replay rule. Show the incident when it costs the live picture the least. A replay 40 seconds late and well timed beats an instant replay that hides a pass for the lead.
A pass for the lead is developing
Stay live. Mark the incident and return to it once the battle resolves.
The field is settled or under caution
This is normally the safest replay window. Tell viewers what they are about to see, show the useful angle and label the return to live.
The incident may affect a stewarding decision
Show only what the pictures establish. Do not announce blame before race control has reviewed it.
Tune the sensitivity for your series
Every series has a different definition of an incident. A GT field brushing kerbs all lap should not fill the log with noise, while an oval league might want every wall touch flagged. That is why detection sensitivity is adjustable in EDR Broadcast: set it once for the series, and the log stays useful instead of overwhelming. Then review a test session for missed events and false positives. Detected candidates are timestamped for later review, which makes it easier to answer stewards’ clip requests after the race.
Frequently asked questions
Does iRacing tell broadcasters when cars crash?
iRacing includes native incident navigation and automatic director modes, but those controls are not a complete whole-field production log. A broadcaster still benefits from timestamped incident candidates, involved cars and a repeatable replay workflow.
What incidents can be detected automatically?
EDR Broadcast flags likely contact, spins and off-tracks from available session data and logs detected candidates with cars and session times. Review the replay to confirm what happened; detection is not a guarantee that every event will be found.
Can I jump the replay straight to an incident?
Yes. Every entry in the incident log is clickable, and the replay jumps to that moment so you are not scrubbing backwards while the race continues.
Can a remote spotter or steward watch the incident feed?
Yes. On the League plan, remote stewards can follow the incident feed from a browser, without sitting at the broadcast PC.
Will it flag every kerb strike and small wobble?
Adjust detection sensitivity for your series, then review a test session for missed events and false positives. No sensitivity setting guarantees that every minor touch will be classified correctly.