and the next thing I know I got forced into spectator mode for security reasons. What does that mean?
BTW, I hope I'm not causing problems by the way I race. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether my driving is causing some pile ups in the first turn or other people's driving.
That is a custom script some server admins install.
Sometimes in online games there is people who just want to mess around and crash as much as possible. So some servers try to automatically detect such behaviour and kick/spectate the user.
It is not always 100% reliable.
On licensed servers such strict checks are not need because people behave themselfs, but on demo is lots of new users etc.
In that particular instance, it's a script that checks maximum speeds for odd (hacker) behaviour. But in this case, what has happened is that lag will sometimes cause the physics to go a bit crazy - when one car hits another, the physics won't notice until the netcode updates. By that time, the cars might be trying to pass through one another, so the physics interprets the collision as much harder than it actually was. The worse the lag, the more spectacular (can also be read as annoying) the collisions get.
The other thing these scripts will check for is out-of-control spinning, and some even force you into spectator mode for driving into restricted spaces (such as the grass areas on the inside approach to corners, to foil crashers).
Remember also, a lot of the better team-run servers encourage the drivers to report unsportsman-like and generally bad behaviour on their team forums. This can result in troublemakers disappearing for a few days or more... Just remember to save the replay of the race for proof (or to check that it wasn't actually your fault ).
).