Who gets chosen?From the 2009 application statement:
Iron Butt Rally veterans, IBA Premier Members, rally workers from previous rallies and other new riders. The first part of the drawing will randomly take thirty five envelopes from the veterans’ box and allocate positions for those riders. Should more than 35 veterans apply, the remaining envelopes will be placed in the new rider box and it will be shuffled (that means in effect, that veterans have two chances to be drawn).
The second part of the drawing will randomly take thirty five envelopes from the Premier box and allocate positions for those riders. Should more than 35 Premier members apply, the remaining envelopes will be placed in the new rider box and it will be shuffled (that means in effect, that Premier members have two chances to be drawn).
Ten positions will be drawn for those people who worked on previous
Iron Butt Rallies. Should more than ten workers apply, the remaining volunteer envelopes will be placed in the new rider box and it will be shuffled (that means in effect, past-volunteers also have two chances to be drawn).
Each applicant will have no more than two opportunities to be drawn.
It’s then possible to do an estimated analysis based on guesses of how many are placed in each box:
1st drawing = 35 rally vet slots & 100 (est) rally vets apply
Vets have a 35% chance of getting picked. That’s about one in three.
The remaining 65 vets go into the new rider box.
2nd drawing = 35 Premier Member slots & 250 (est) Premier Members apply
Premier members have an 8% chance of getting picked.
The remaining 230 Premiers go into the new rider box.
3rd drawing = 10 Volunteer slots & 50 volunteers (est) apply
This group has a fair chance at 20% or 1 in 5.
The remaining 40 volunteers go into the new rider bin.
Final Drawing = 20 (est) New Rider Slots & 300 new riders apply + the remaining from the first 3 drawings.
The new rider bin has now swollen to 635 riders, competing for a mere 20 slots. That’s a 3.1% chance, or one in 30 chance. Pretty slim odds, but newbies with little rally experience do get drawn occasionally and often have colorful stories.
Hopeless Class = Few and Discretionary. These folks ride a special bike that is usually hold or ill-suited to this type of endeavor….and have a special spot in everybody’s heart. You wanna ride a 1956 Indian in the IBR…there’s a good chance you’ll get in.