Account Setup
Check Your Welcome Email
After subscribing, you'll receive a welcome email from noreply@outlapse.com containing your license key. It looks like XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. Keep this somewhere safe — it's how you activate your account on a new device.
Open the App
Navigate to OUTLAPSE on your team laptop. You'll be greeted by the OutLapse access gate. For quick access at the track, bookmark this URL or install the app to your desktop once you log in.
First Login — License Key
Enter your email address and paste your license key. OutLapse automatically detects it as a license key. Tap Enter. The license key binds the software to this device — one license, one machine.
Set Your Password
You'll be prompted to set a password (8+ characters). After this, all future logins use email + password — you won't need the license key again unless you switch devices.
You're In
You're ready to create your first event.
Your First Event
Events are the container for a race weekend. Each event holds all your sessions, display settings, and weather configuration — and is what gets pushed to your crew. You can save multiple events and load them at the track.
Name Your Event
In the Event tab, type your event name in the name field at the top — for example, Daytona 2026. This is for your reference only and doesn't appear on the display panel.
Set the Event Timezone
Find the Event Timezone dropdown and select the timezone of the race venue. This controls how all session times are entered and displayed. Getting this right is important — a session entered in the wrong timezone will be off by hours.
Add Sessions
Click Add Session to open the session modal. Enter the session name, date, and start time. Repeat for all sessions across the weekend. See Section 03 for details.
Save Your Event
Click Save as New Event. Your browser will prompt you to save a .rwevent file. Save it somewhere easy to find — your desktop or a race weekend folder. You can reload this file on any device running OutLapse.
Adding Sessions
Sessions are the individual timed entries in the weekend schedule — practice, qualifying, warm-up, race, and anything else on the docket. OutLapse automatically tracks which session is next and counts down to it.
Add a Session
Click the Add Session button at the bottom of the sessions list. Enter the session name, date, and start time. Times are interpreted in the event timezone you set. Double-click the date or time field to open the native picker for fast browsing.
Edit or Reorder Sessions
Double-click any session row to reopen the modal and edit its details. To reorder sessions, drag and drop rows into the correct sequence — OutLapse always counts down to the next chronological session.
Session Duration & Auto-Advance
When a session's start time passes, OutLapse immediately advances to the next upcoming session. To instead show a live session clock counting down the remaining session time, add a Session Duration in the session modal and enable In Session mode in the Display tab. When the duration expires, OutLapse auto-advances to the next session.
Display Options
The Display tab controls everything visible on the countdown panel — banner, colors, overlays, and weather.
Banner
Customize the parallelogram session badge — text, background color, and text color. Tap the banner on the display panel to toggle the weekend schedule overlay.
Countdown
Set Warning and Alert thresholds — how many minutes before start the digits switch from white to orange to red. Color swatches let you customize each state color. These thresholds also drive vibration alerts on crew phones. Enable In Session mode here to activate the session duration countdown.
Split Screen
Divide the display panel into a photo half and an info half. Adjust the ratio slider and optionally upload a separate crew-facing background for the info side.
Background
Upload a team photo, car image, or track shot as the display panel background. Adjust opacity, position, and size. Syncs to all viewer surfaces when pushed.
Track Map
Select from the built-in track library or upload a custom PNG. Drag to reposition, drag corners to resize, and use the rotate slider to orient it on screen. Don't see your track? Let us know!
Weather
Enter a zip code to enable live weather overlays — current conditions, hourly forecast, and a multi-day outlook. All three widgets are independently toggleable and draggable.
Crew Viewer
The Crew Viewer is a read-only, portrait-optimized countdown surface for crew phones — no controls, just the information they need at a glance. Up to 15 devices per team.
Push Your Event to Cloud
Click Push to Cloud in the Sync tab, or Save & Push from the Event tab. This uploads your event so viewer devices can read it. You're connected when the Sync tab shows Connected · [Team Name].
Share the Viewer Link
In the Sync tab, click Share Viewer Link. This copies a URL to your clipboard. Paste it into your team group chat — WhatsApp, Signal, whatever the crew uses. Everyone gets the same link.
Crew Opens and Joins
On first open, crew members see a join screen and enter their first name, last name, and email. After joining, the countdown loads and their device is registered with a sticky seat. Returning visits skip the join screen automatically.
Add to Home Screen
Crew can install the viewer as a PWA — tap Add to Home Screen in their browser. It launches full-screen in portrait mode, exactly like a native app, with the OutLapse icon on their home screen.
Viewer Updates Automatically
Devices poll for updates every 10 minutes. When you push a schedule change, all phones update within the next poll cycle. For urgent changes, crew can tap the refresh button (↻) in the bottom-right corner of the viewer.
Display Viewer
The Display Viewer is a fullscreen surface for timing stands, garage TVs, and any large monitor. Like the Crew Viewer, it's read-only with no controls — but it shows everything defined in the engineer app: background, split mode, track map, weather widgets, and schedule overlay.
Use the Same Viewer Link
The Display Viewer uses the same Share Viewer Link as the Crew Viewer. Open it on the TV or timing stand browser, then use the Switch to Display View option in the settings drawer to switch to the display layout.
Mirrors the Engineer App
The display surface is read-only and locked — but it renders exactly what the engineer has configured: the background image, split screen layout, track map position and rotation, weather widgets, and schedule overlay. When the engineer pushes an update, every display updates automatically.
Set It and Forget It
Once a TV or timing stand is configured, it updates with every push — no further setup needed at the track. Display devices count toward the same 15-seat limit as crew phones.
Fullscreen
Tap the fullscreen toggle in the lower-right corner of the display to go fullscreen. This is the recommended mode for any dedicated screen — it removes browser chrome and fills the display completely. Tap again to exit.
Cloud Sync
Cloud Sync keeps your event backed up and powers all viewer surfaces.
Push to Cloud
Uploads your current event state to OutLapse cloud. Do this after any schedule change — all viewer devices update within the next poll cycle.
Pull from Cloud
Downloads the latest cloud version of your event. Useful if you're working from a second device or resuming after a restart.
Share Viewer Link
Copies the crew viewer URL to clipboard. The link is permanent — the same URL works all season and across all teams in your organization.
Auto-Poll
OutLapse checks for cloud updates every 30 seconds. If a newer version is found, it pulls and re-renders in-place — no page reload, fullscreen mode preserved.
Status States
The countdown changes color as a session approaches. Warning and Alert thresholds are configurable in the Display tab — the same states appear across the engineer app, crew viewer, and display viewer.
| State | Trigger | Visual | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upcoming | Session > Warning threshold | White digits | Session is scheduled — enough time remaining |
| Warning | Within Warning threshold (default 30 min) | Customizable color (default orange) | Crews should be moving toward the car |
| Alert | Within Alert threshold (default 15 min) | Customizable color (default red), pulsing | Imminent — all crew in position |
| Active | Session start time passes, In Session mode on + duration set | Green digits | Session is running — countdown shows remaining session time |
FAQ
viewer.html) is portrait-optimized for phones — a stripped-down countdown surface with no overlays or track map. The Display Viewer (display.html) is landscape-first for timing stands and garage TVs — it mirrors the full engineer display panel including track map, weather, split mode, and schedule. Both use the same shared viewer link and count toward the 15-seat limit.app.html) runs on your pit wall laptop or tablet and gives you full control — event management, display settings, cloud sync, team documents. The viewer surfaces are read-only and receive whatever the engineer has pushed to cloud. One engineer account drives everything; crews just open the shared link.