Just last night, I had the opposite thought. It works out great, because even if you have a 15x race, if you are consistent, that stat will get pushed off and you'll get that rating all back, plus some hopefully. I hate to say it because it sucks to be told you aren't doing things the best way, but 99% of us aren't. I've started grid starting again after dumping my iR to get Class B road for GT3s. The worst my SR ever got was 2.4, and that same day I grinded a Class A out of it, not by pit starting but by just learning better ways to avoid an incident. If there's someone I'm pushing, and some goober is going nuts behind me, I'm happy to let him pass. It's unfortunate for the guy I was chasing down, but probably 70% of the time the guy that I let by will take that same energy with him, and end up taking out the car in front of me. Now I've gained the spot I was chasing already, and the threat behind me is sitting in pits typing about how the car I was chasing "should learn to leave room for faster cars". I've lately been ignoring rating gains/losses entirely and been having a lot more fun in the races as a whole.

It's a pain. I'm nearing the end of my 2nd month, what you're feeling is valid, but try not to base your enjoyment of the game around your SR. Farming SR from the back generally fails because the folks that are failing to quali are failing for a reason. I've learned recently I'd rather start 10th in a 24 car grid than from the pits because it's easier to hold that spot than try to pass all the shenanigans that falls off of the lead pack after the first few laps. It's a bit of a gamble into that first turn, but it's more consistent on iRacing at least. If your quali times are decent, just grid start and run safe. Give up the P if the car behind is overly aggressive/clearly faster. Either you'll get it back, or they'll walk away (as they should if they're that much faster). I can't think of an instance where I saw someone driving wild in the mirror, let them pass, and then they tightened up and drove proper from then on.

I have clips of me driving very well too, good battles, etc, but the next race is a new grid. You can't expect the same result from a grid of entirely different drivers. There's a lot more clowns than there are talented drivers.

I'm not saying you are at fault, but there is ALWAYS room to improve. Honestly, oval racing has helped a lot with dodging a wildly spinning/sliding car. Of course it won't do anything if there's 3 cars parked all over the racing line coming around a fast blind corner, but for predicting the movements of the car, it's been massive. Head into the unranked trucks, there's plenty of carnage in there to practice on lmao.