RPD - California

Thank God it's a long season - FC Newman is sucking it up so far ...

Updated results are here.

We lost a player and another hasn't scored a point yet ... we'll adjust by doing the following:

-For most contests, count those teams' results as zero and advance through heats and brackets accordingly.

-For the World Cup groups, the two fourth-place qualifiers will be determined by average points during the Track Qualifying only (we'll count the new "bye" weeks for the now four-team groups in the average).

Thanks.

RMFN - California

Matt Kenseth fans rejoice!

Updated results are here.

Rocky Mountain - post Daytona

Find the update at this link.

Recession Proof Drivers - post Daytona

The update is available here.

Dale Jr. - Friend or foe?

I was and am indifferent toward Dale Jr., but I have to say the stunt at Daytona was pretty stupid. And it's been a while since he did something this dumb.

So ... has your perception of Junior changed after the mayhem he caused on Sunday? Or is he still a can-do-no-wrong stud? Or just still a wanna be thug?

How's this work again?

If you're having trouble seeing how all of this will play out, please see the final spreadsheet from the 2008 season. I hope it will answer some questions, as well.

Recession Proof Drivers - your pairings

The pairings can be found here. The link includes an overview of the entire season.

Questions? Post 'em.

This season will be awesome.

Rocky Mountain FN - your pairings

Find them here. The link includes the outline for the entire season.

Questions? Post them here.

Looking forward to an outstanding season.

Recession Proof Drivers seeds

A pdf of the seeds is available here.

The 2008 seeds (which will be used for the single elimination heat and bracket competitions) are straightforward; ties were broken by which team signed up first.

The overall seeds were calculated by taking past performances in Yahoo's fantasy NASCAR (overall percent).The ratings are a sum of 2008 (100 percent), 2007 (multiplied by 90 percent), 2006 (multiplied by 80 percent), 2005 (multiplied by 70 percent), 2004 (multiplied by 60 percent), 2003 (multiplied by 50 percent), 2002 (multiplied by 40 percent) and 2001 (multiplied by 30 percent).

The top seeds:
Single elimination: Cooter88. NOTE: 13 teams finished in the 90th percentile in 2008.

Other competitions: Cooter88. NOTE: The top two seeds have played each year since 2001.

Rocky Mountain seeds - UPDATED

A pdf of the seeds can be found here.

The 2008 seeds (which will be used for the single elimination heat and bracket competitions) are straightforward; ties were broken by which team signed up first.

The overall seeds were calculated by taking past performances in Yahoo's fantasy NASCAR (overall percent).

The ratings are a sum of 2008 (100 percent), 2007 (multiplied by 90 percent), 2006 (multiplied by 80 percent), 2005 (multiplied by 70 percent), 2004 (multiplied by 60 percent), 2003 (multiplied by 50 percent), 2002 (multiplied by 40 percent) and 2001 (multiplied by 30 percent).

The top seeds:

Single elimination: Team Lester. NOTE: 14 teams finished in the 90th percentile in 2008.

Other competitions: Cooter88. NOTE: The top five seeds have played each year since 2001.

Overall - overview

The overall champion will be determined by averaging the finishes in each of the competitions:

Yahoo overall

Yahoo first half

Yahoo second half

Yahoo spring

Yahoo summer

Yahoo fall

World Cup

Single elimination bracket

Double elimination bracket

Single elimination heat

Double elimination heat

Chase

Worst possible rating: 46.5

Rating of last year's winner: 5.4

Chase - overview

Format focuses on the final 10 races of the season.

Qualifiers will include the top 12 in Yahoo! points and any others within 400 points of the leader.

Re-calculate points prior to the Chase. Chase qualifiers begin format with 2,000 points plus 5 points for each place on the qualifiers list (i.e. first place entering the Chase would start the format with 2,055 points; sixth place would start with 2,030; 12th place would start with 2,000). Start the non-Chase qualifiers at zero and also add 5 points for each position (i.e. 13th would start at 185 points; 50th at 0 points).

Teams earn 50 additional points for each pre-Chase and Chase win - top Yahoo! points for each race.

Double Elimination Heat - overview

EDIT: Teams will be seeded based on weighted rating.

Rookie teams will be seeded based on when they signed up; ties in 2008 finishes will be broken in the same manner.

Format could cover the entire season.

Round 1: Races 1-4, 36 teams; seeds 15-50

Round 2: Races 5-8, 50 teams; seeds 1-14 receive Round 1 bye; nine eliminated from losers' heat

Round 3: Races 9-12, 41 teams; 12 eliminated from losers heat

Round 4: Races 13-15, 29 teams; 11 eliminated from losers heat

Round 5: Races 16-18, 16 teams; 7 eliminated from losers heat

Round 6: Races 19-21, 11 teams; 3 eliminated from losers heat

Round 7: Races 22-24, 8 teams; 3 eliminated from losers heat

Round 8: Races 25-27, 5 teams; 2 eliminated from losers heat

Round 9: Races 28-30, 3 teams; 1 eliminated from losers heat

Round 10: Final, Races 31-33, 2 teams

Round 11: Final, if necessary, Races 34-36, 2 teams

Single Elimination Heat - overview

Teams will be seeded based on 2008 Yahoo! finish.
Rookie teams will be seeded based on when they signed up; ties in 2008 finishes will be broken in the same manner.
Format covers the entire season.

Round 1: Races 1-6, 36 teams; seeds 15-50, top 18 advance to Round 2

Round 2: Races 7-12, 32 teams; seeds 1-14 and top 18 from Round 1

Round 3: Races 13-18, 16 teams; top 8 teams advance to quarterfinals

Quarterfinals: Races 19-24, 8 teams; top 4 teams advance to semifinals

Semifinals: Races 25-30, 4 teams; top 2 teams advance to final, other two to third-place race

First/Third Place: Races 31-36, 4 teams

Double Elimination Bracket - overview

Teams will be seeded based on Yahoo! fantasy NASCAR weighted rating.
Rookie teams will be seeded based on when they signed up; ties in weighted rating will be broken in the same manner.
Format could cover the entire season.

Round 1: Races 1-4, 18 matchups
Round 2: Races 5-8, 25 matchups
Round 3: Races 9-12, 20 matchups
Round 4: Races 13-15, 14 matchups
Round 5: Races 16-18, 7 matchups
Round 6: Races 19-21, 6 matchups
Round 7: Races 22-24, 4 matchups
Round 8: Races 25-27, 2 matchups
Round 9: Races 28-30, 1 matchup
Round 10: Final, Races 31-11, 1 matchup
Round 11: Final, if necessary, Races 34-36, 1 matchup

Round 1 matchups (seeds)
32 v. 33

31 v. 34
30 v. 35
29 v. 36
28 v. 37
27 v. 38

26 v. 39

25 v. 40

24 v. 41
23 v. 42
22 v. 43

21 v. 44

20 v. 45

19 v. 46

18 v. 47
17 v. 48
16 v. 49
15 v. 50
Round 2 matchups (seeds):
32-33 winner v. 16-49 winner
31-34 winner v. 15-50 winner
14 v. 17-48 winner
13 v. 18-47 winner
12 v. 19-46 winner
11 v. 20-45 winner
10 v. 21-44 winner
9 v. 22-43 winner
8 v. 23-42 winner
7 v. 24-41 winner
6 v. 25-40 winner

5 v. 26-39 winner
4 v. 27-38 winner
3 v. 28-37 winner
2 v. 29-36 winner
1 v. 30-35 winner

Single Elimination Bracket - overview

Teams will be seeded based on 2008 Yahoo! finish.

Rookie teams will be seeded based on when they signed up; ties in 2008 finishes will be broken in the same manner.

Format covers the entire season.

Round 1: Races 1-6, 18 matchups

Round 2: Races 7-12, 16 matchups

Round 3: Races 13-18, 8 matchups

Quarterfinals: Races 19-24, 4 matchups

Semifinals: Races 25-30, 2 matchups

First/Third Place: Races 31-36, 2 matchups

Round 1 matchups (seeds)

32 v. 33

31 v. 34

30 v. 35

29 v. 36

28 v. 37

27 v. 38

26 v. 39
25 v. 40
24 v. 41

23 v. 42

22 v. 43

21 v. 44
20 v. 45
19 v. 46
18 v. 47

17 v. 48

16 v. 49

15 v. 50

Round 2 matchups (seeds):

32-33 winner v. 16-49 winner

31-34 winner v. 15-50 winner

14 v. 17-48 winner

13 v. 18-47 winner

12 v. 19-46 winner

11 v. 20-45 winner

10 v. 21-44 winner

9 v. 22-43 winner

8 v. 23-42 winner

7 v. 24-41 winner

6 v. 25-40 winner

5 v. 26-39 winner

4 v. 27-38 winner

3 v. 28-37 winner

2 v. 29-36 winner

1 v. 30-35 winner

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

One week to go

The leagues are filling up nicely. There are a handful of spots left in RMFN and about half available in RPD. Forward league info to your friends and enemies to fill 'em.

I've decided to abandon the baseball-style, head-to-head competition for this season. The template was taking longer than I anticipated to build and it's simply not going to be ready without a lot of work (which I don't have right now). I plan on chipping away at it over the course of the current season, and the head-to-head format will return in 2010.

This weekend, I'll start a thread on seeds for the two leagues and update them as we recruit new members. Questions are and will be welcome.

Later this week, I'll post items concerning each of the side games in the competition. Again, questions are and will be welcome.

Thanks - can't wait for next Sunday.

P.S. See Newman's car? It sure looks good; the question will be if he can 1) keep it out of the wall; and 2) avoid blowing its engine. I say 50-50 on both.