Big one clears the field ... and the scores

Race 2 is typically much better than Race 1 for fantasy players, but a big wreck cleared the field and the scores at Phoenix.

Competitions are moving along - how's your team faring?



nascar11.Phoenix

For weeks where we have eliminations, I'll break up the pdfs by competition. Since that isn't the case this week, it's a lump-sum post.

Rough week for almost everyone at Daytona. I rolled the dice with Trevor and he saved my lost points from Burton and Newman.

A quick 'Booo!' to Nasty Habits and Winner By A Tire Length. Both dropped out of RMFN before the green flag.

Implications: the matchups in the bracket competitions and World Cup.
For the brackets, those opposing teams will advance to the next round but will be reseeded like the other second-round qualifiers for Round Two.
For the World Cup, the top two fourth-place teams will be determined by average points instead of World Cup points.

Good luck at Phoenix!!



nascar11.Daytona

Turn up the heat 2 notches

Overall seeds determine heat placement; the top 14 overall seeds received first-heat byes.

Top-10 teams from 2010 that will compete in the first heat include:
No. 4 BUSTER HYMEN
No. 5 Little Deuce Coupe
No. 7 Damn Sunday Drivers
No. 8 Betty Boop Madness
No. 9 #3 Intimidator

The first heat covers the first four races of the season. The top 18 teams at that point join the top 14 seeds in the winners' heat of the second round; the rest compete in the losers heat.



nascar11.pre2Heat

Turn up the heat 1 notch

The Single Elimination Heat competition features the same seeds as the Single Elimination Bracket.

As a result, the same overall top-10 teams that are competing in the first round of the SEB are in the first heat of the SEH:
No. 4 Cooter88
No. 5 RMO Lug Nutz
No. 7 billy's boys 10
No. 8 Swindell Motorsports
No. 9 Texas Speed Reavers

The first heat covers the first six races of the season. The top 18 teams at that point advance to the second heat and will be joined there by the top 14 seeds from 2010 who received first-heat byes.




nascar11.pre1Heat

Double trouble for some

Unlike the Single Elimination Bracket, this competition is uses the overall rating to seed teams.

Five teams that finished in the 93rd percentile or better face first round matchups:

No. 4 (seed from 2010 rating) BUSTER HYMEN vs. Buford's Boyz
No. 5 Litle Deuce Coupe vs. Oval Friends
No. 7 Damn Sunday Drivers vs. Team Lester
No. 8 Betty Boop Madness vs. JoRo's Rockets
No. 9 #3 Intimidator vs. Arthur Racing Inc.

The first round covers the first four races of the season.




nascar11.pre2Bracket

One and done

2010 finishes determined the seeds and pairings for the Single Elimination Bracket, and with that, some teams with solid overall ratings face difficult first-round matchups.

No. 7 overall/No. 29 2010 billy's boys 10 faces your's truly - No. 15 overall/No. 36 2010 in the first round. A tenured pair from past RMFN seasons also meet in the first round No. 4 overall Cooter88 meets No. 26 overall Buford's Boyz (formerly Hoosier).

Other top-10 overall teams with first-round pairings (the others earned first-round byes): No. 5 Yduck, No. 6 RMO Lug Nutz, No. 8 Swindell Motorsports, and No. 9 Texas Speed Reavers.

The first round covers the first six races of the season.




nascar11.pre1Bracket

The World is watching ...

My favorite side competition of RMFN - World Cup.

The first group phase runs through the 10th race of the season and features a double round-robin format for the five group members (10 groups).

Teams were seeded based on overall rating, resulting in some interesting groups:

DARLINGTON: No. 7 overall billy's boys 10 is paired with No. 3 from 2010 AMSKahne4.
POCOCONO (group of death): No. 10 overall/No. 10 2010 Sunday Money 1011; No. 11/No.13 Tony is The Man; and No. 30/No. 7 Damn Sunday Drivers.




nascar11.preWC

Head-to-head returns!

I'm going to give this competition and other run after a two-year hiatus. It's a shade labor-intensive, but I hope some Excel improvements limit the work needed there (yet, I still have some work to get it done...).

The pairings for race week throughout the season are set. Unfortunately, I won't be able to sort the standings page week-to-week, but the column next to the team name will indicate where that team stands.

Matchups of top-10 teams at Daytona:
No. 1 BLOWINSMOKE vs. No. 9 Texas Speed Reavers
No. 8 Swindell Motorsports vs. No. 10. Sunday Money 10
No. 5 Yduck vs. No. 2 MONSTER Racing
No. 4 Cooter88 vs. No. 3 CLOWN CAR




nascar11.preH2H

Meet the field

We have another strong field for RMFN.

Combined, we have 103 90th-percentile finishes since 2001 and most of those in recent seasons (2008 was a banner year for this crew with 20 teams in the top 10th).

BLOWINSMOKE is RMFN's version of Jimmie Johnson with eight 90ths in the past 10 seasons, including a 99th finish in 2010. As a result, BLOWIN takes the top seed in the overall and 2010 competitions.

In 2010, 11 teams finished in the 90ths and another 12 were in the 80ths.

We'll entertain two rookies - good luck!


nascar11.seeds

Overall details

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

Head-to-head
Chase

Average of last year's winner: 3.4

Average of 2009 winner: 4.2
Average of 2008 winner: 5.4



nascar11.preOverall

Chase details

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.




nascar11.preChase

Head-to-Head details

Round-robin format features 98 games, or matchups, for all 50 teams.

Each team will play/race against/matchup against the other 49 twice during the season, and the best overall record will win the title.

Ties will be broken by:
1. Head-to-head record
2. Record against the top team
3. Repeat No. 2 against next best team(s) until the tie is broken.

The schedule was established by a computer program and not decided by seeds, sign-ups or ratings; the computer only recognized teams by a number and formulated the schedule well before the start of the season.

Double Elimination Heat details

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 details

Teams will be seeded based on 2010 Yahoo! finish.
Rookie teams will be seeded based on when they signed up; ties in 2010 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 details

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:
Winners from the first round are reseeded based on first-round point total. Lowest seed faces No. 1, etc. Top four first round scores meet in two separate matchups.

Single Elimination Bracket details

Teams will be seeded based on 2010 Yahoo! finish.

Rookie teams will be seeded based on when they signed up; ties in 2010 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):

Winners from the first round are reseeded based on first-round point total. Lowest seed faces No. 1, etc. Top four first round scores meet in two separate matchups.

World Cup details

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/Jimmie 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

50 teams, 50 seeds

We have 50 teams, so we're ready to run.

The first order of business was to seed the RMFN players by past performance. We do that with a rating system, putting the most emphasis on last season and working our way back to 2001 - that is a 90th percentile finish in 2010 is worth more rating points than a 90th percentile finish in any prior year.

The seeds determine matchups for all of the side competitions that will be broken down and displayed on this blog. The higher the seed, the (likely) more favorable matchup.

We have two rookies this year - teams that haven't played Yahoo fantasy NASCAR under their current login. That doesn't mean they haven't played under a different email address or login, so beware of them as much as anyone.

More posts coming soon to discuss the different side games.