World Cup competition - overview

Format features three phases (track qualifying, champion qualifying and chase bracket) and will cover the entire season.

Track Qualifying (Races 1-10)

Teams will be seeded based on Yahoo! fantasy NASCAR rating (weighted finishes of prior years).

Ten groups of five teams; double round-robin format.

Groups (seed numbers):
Daytona: 1, 20, 21, 40, 41
Bristol: 2, 19, 22, 39, 42
Talladega: 3, 18, 23, 38, 43
Lowe's: 4, 17, 24, 37, 44
Indianapolis: 5, 16, 25, 36, 45
Homestead: 6, 15, 26, 35, 46
Darlington: 7, 14, 27, 34, 47
Watkins Glen: 8, 13, 28, 33, 48
Martinsville: 9, 12, 29, 32, 49
Pocono: 10, 11, 30, 31, 50

The top three teams from each group and the two best fourth-place finishers advance to Champion Qualifying.

Champion Qualifying (Races 11-20)

Groups from prior round will be seeded based on finishes within groups (i.e. all second-place teams will be seeded according to 1) World Cup points; 2) Yahoo! points).

Eight groups of four; quadruple round-robin format.

Groups:

Dale Earnhardt: No. 1 first; No. 6 second; No. 7 second; No. 2 fourth
Richard Petty: No. 2 first; No. 5 second; No. 8 second; No. 1 fourth
Jeff Gordon: No. 3 first; No. 4 second; No. 9 second; No. 10 third
David Pearson: No. 4 first; No. 3 second; No. 10 second; No. 9 third
Darrell Waltrip: No. 5 first; No. 2 second; No. 1 third; No. 8 third
Cale Yarborough: No. 6 first; No. 1 second; No. 2 third; No. 7 third
Bobby Allison: No. 7 first; No. 10 first; No. 3 third; No. 6 third
Junior Johnson: No. 8 first; No. 9 first; No. 4 third; No. 5 third

Top two from each group advance to Chase Bracket.

Chase Bracket (Races 21-36)

Groups from prior round will be seeded based on top two finishers and total Yahoo points.

Single-elimination bracket format

Phase will cover races 21-36, and each round is comprised of four races.

Total Yahoo! points over the four races advances.

Round of 16: races 21-24 (pairings: No. 1 first-place team v. No. 8 second-place team; N0. 8 first vs. No. 1 second; No. 6 first vs. No. 3 second; No. 4 first vs. No. 5 second; No. 3 first vs. No. 6 second; No. 5 first vs. No. 4 seconds; No. 7 first vs. No. 2 second; No. 2 first vs. No. 7 second)
Quarterfinals: races 25-28
Semifinals: races 29-32
First/Third: races 33-36