This is the official SCARTS rulebook for the 2017 Turbocharged Cup Series. SCARTS stands for Stock Car Auto Racing on Turbo Sliders - a league that simulates NASCAR. This provides a guide on how we run our series and will hopefully clear up any questions you may have on how we run things.
The SCARTS Turbocharged Cup Series is our premier racing series which spans 24 races beginning in March and lasting through about October. This is our 11th season.
TURBOCHARGED CUP SERIES FORMAT
===============================
The first 16 of the 24 races of the Turbocharged Cup Series comprises our 'regular season' in which drivers battle for wins to gain entry into the SCARTS playoffs, called 'The Turbochargers Cup'. Those that make the playoffs will have their points reset to 2000 and have bonus points added for each win scored during the regular season and new this year, +3 bonus points for the regular season points leader, up from +1 last year.
Winning a race is the primary way of qualifying for the playoffs. Being a winner, you become a 'Turbocharger' being allowed to compete in 'The Turbochargers Cup' playoffs. However, there is a prerequisite of racing in 8 of the 16 regular season events to allow the victory to carry you officially into the playoffs.
Another way of making the playoffs is to finish the regular season in the Top 3 in points. If a driver that won finished the regular season out of the Top 3, the first win gets 'spent' to enter The Turbochargers Cup so that driver would lose the bonus point from the first victory to use as his playoff ticket. Otherwise, if race winners finish the regular season in the Top 3, all race wins will count toward bonus points.
The Turbochargers Cup will feature a minimum of five drivers - so in the event less than five players win a race or winless drivers don't finish the regular season in the Top 3, the open position(s) will go the driver(s) highest in the points standings to fill the five driver minimum. There is no limit to how many drivers can compete in the playoffs so simply winning a race grants you entry, coupled with eight or more starts made in the regular season. The Turbochargers Cup will always be 5+ drivers. The points leader at the conclusion of the playoffs will be our champion.
POINTS SYSTEM
==========
The SCARTS points system is fairly straightforward. Points are awarded for every running position, from 1st-20th. Points intervals from 6th to 20th are 1 point intervals from 15 points down to 1 point. Top 5 finishes are weighted a bit heavier - 4th and 5th place have 2 point gaps (19 and 17 points respectively), 2nd and 3rd place have 3 point gaps (25 and 22 points respectively), and the race winner scores 30 points.
Bonus points are also available in each race. New this year, a +1 point bonus can be scored for every 10% of the total race distance is led by a driver. For example in a 200 lap race, a +2 would be scored if you led lets say, 49 laps of 200 (40-59 laps led is the 20% percentile). There is a maximum potential of five bonus points per race as we will cap each race's bonus points at the 50% led bonus. In some races, the laps are not evenly divisible, so we require leading greater than or equal to the % you are shooting for. For a 10% in the Daytona 500, you must lead 13+ laps of the total 125 lap length. 30% would calculate to leading 38+ laps.
DROPS
---------------
The regular season will score 13 of its 16 races. This allows drivers that may miss a race a chance to keep up in the points towards the end. Those that compete in more than 13 have opportunities to drop their worst race point totals. So if someone has a worst finish of 12 points during the 13 race span, and races their 14th race and scores 20 points, they will drop the 12 pointer and gain back 8 points.
A new set of drops will start for all drivers in the playoff races - 6 of the 8 races will count. That means there are two drop races for drivers that compete in all eight to erase their two worst runs. Drivers that miss the playoffs will also follow the drop format when battling for 'best of the rest.'
RACEDAY STRUCTURE
==============
Each SCARTS event will feature a practice session, qualifying session, and the actual race itself. Below is a brief description of each session.
PRACTICE
------------------
Practices for each race last around 6-10 minutes in length. They usually run for less than a full fuel load - enough time to get familiar with the track for the race and for qualifying. There is no rules structure to practice, cars may simply take off from the grid and begin practicing. I do recommend that if some drivers are AFK and are still sitting on the grid when practice begins, to politely wait or perhaps help the admins clear that driver off of the track. It simplifies things immensely. But as for the format of practice itself, you are free to do what you want (within fairplay boundaries). You can run a straight fuel run or make multiple stops to take on tires to do mock qualifying runs and to practice pit entry. The session is yours to run how you see fit. The race administrator will announce the closure of practice by stating '2 mins left' or something of the equivalent to give drivers a last second chance to take on tires if they want to do a mock qualifying run.
Once the session ends, we move onto qualifying.
QUALIFYING
-------------------
Qualifying in SCARTS is done with fuel and tire settings off - allowing for fast unrestricted laps. Most qualifying sessions in SCARTS are ghost mode runs that can have varying length depending on track type. Oval tracks are set at '11 laps' allowing for 10 full speed timed laps to be run to go for the pole. Road course tracks are set for '6 laps' allowing for 5 full speed timed laps.
The Daytona 500 qualifying session is unique - we will do a normal qualifying run in ghost mode, 11 laps, but there will be a second round following the session. The top half of the field will transfer into Round 2 and do a one lap run - one car at a time. Round 2 drivers will go out from slowest to quickest from the first round.
Talladega qualifying runs are contested as an '8 lap race' due to the angled timing line it has. That line causes inaccurate laptimes so the race format works alot better and can be replay verified. The finishing order from the qualifying session sets the race lineup. The winner becomes the polesitter.
At oval tracks with grass by the finish line, a laptime will be disallowed if the car even touches the grass (rule not applied at road courses). The admin will review the incident if its reported and confirm or not confirm. The DNQ will result in a no-time and the driver will choose his pitstall last and start at the very back for the race.
The results from qualifying will set the grid for the race and also sets the order in which drivers choose pitstalls for a race. More on that in the next section.
THE RACE
======
Following qualifying, its finally time to race! There is one thing we do prior to starting the race though - selecting pitstalls! In SCARTS, we select a single pitstall to use for the entire race. It's advantageous to have a pitstall closer to the end of pitlane to assist with track position but in order to have a stall that good, you have to qualify strong! The results from qualifying will set the order in which drivers can choose their stall. The polesitter traditionally chooses stall #1 but that driver still selects it verbally and we go through each driver in order of qualifying laptime until everyone has their stall set. Once that happens, we start!
START OF RACE
---------------------------
The server settings are set up to position drivers on the grid by fastest laptime from qualifying automatically. When the race starts, stay still on the grid as the admins will signal the start of the race with a restart command:
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RESTART - DOUBLE FILE - DO NOT overtake the car ahead of you in your line or change lanes before finish line!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When that is posted, you must pace in your starting position and not pass the car directly in front of you before hitting the start/finish line. As the field approaches the line, the leader has control over the restart and can accelerate when he sees fit - but it can't be excessively early. There is no simple way to describe this, but I'd say the car should still be accelerating across the finish line, not already blasting at top speed. The 2nd place car must not cross the start/finish line ahead of the race leader while pacing side-by-side. If that happens, that car must yield the position in the next few seconds or receive a drive-thru penalty.
DURING THE RACE
---------------------------
The SCARTS Turbocharged Cup Series is our premier racing series which spans 24 races beginning in March and lasting through about October. This is our 11th season.
TURBOCHARGED CUP SERIES FORMAT
===============================
The first 16 of the 24 races of the Turbocharged Cup Series comprises our 'regular season' in which drivers battle for wins to gain entry into the SCARTS playoffs, called 'The Turbochargers Cup'. Those that make the playoffs will have their points reset to 2000 and have bonus points added for each win scored during the regular season and new this year, +3 bonus points for the regular season points leader, up from +1 last year.
Winning a race is the primary way of qualifying for the playoffs. Being a winner, you become a 'Turbocharger' being allowed to compete in 'The Turbochargers Cup' playoffs. However, there is a prerequisite of racing in 8 of the 16 regular season events to allow the victory to carry you officially into the playoffs.
Another way of making the playoffs is to finish the regular season in the Top 3 in points. If a driver that won finished the regular season out of the Top 3, the first win gets 'spent' to enter The Turbochargers Cup so that driver would lose the bonus point from the first victory to use as his playoff ticket. Otherwise, if race winners finish the regular season in the Top 3, all race wins will count toward bonus points.
The Turbochargers Cup will feature a minimum of five drivers - so in the event less than five players win a race or winless drivers don't finish the regular season in the Top 3, the open position(s) will go the driver(s) highest in the points standings to fill the five driver minimum. There is no limit to how many drivers can compete in the playoffs so simply winning a race grants you entry, coupled with eight or more starts made in the regular season. The Turbochargers Cup will always be 5+ drivers. The points leader at the conclusion of the playoffs will be our champion.
POINTS SYSTEM
==========
The SCARTS points system is fairly straightforward. Points are awarded for every running position, from 1st-20th. Points intervals from 6th to 20th are 1 point intervals from 15 points down to 1 point. Top 5 finishes are weighted a bit heavier - 4th and 5th place have 2 point gaps (19 and 17 points respectively), 2nd and 3rd place have 3 point gaps (25 and 22 points respectively), and the race winner scores 30 points.
Bonus points are also available in each race. New this year, a +1 point bonus can be scored for every 10% of the total race distance is led by a driver. For example in a 200 lap race, a +2 would be scored if you led lets say, 49 laps of 200 (40-59 laps led is the 20% percentile). There is a maximum potential of five bonus points per race as we will cap each race's bonus points at the 50% led bonus. In some races, the laps are not evenly divisible, so we require leading greater than or equal to the % you are shooting for. For a 10% in the Daytona 500, you must lead 13+ laps of the total 125 lap length. 30% would calculate to leading 38+ laps.
DROPS
---------------
The regular season will score 13 of its 16 races. This allows drivers that may miss a race a chance to keep up in the points towards the end. Those that compete in more than 13 have opportunities to drop their worst race point totals. So if someone has a worst finish of 12 points during the 13 race span, and races their 14th race and scores 20 points, they will drop the 12 pointer and gain back 8 points.
A new set of drops will start for all drivers in the playoff races - 6 of the 8 races will count. That means there are two drop races for drivers that compete in all eight to erase their two worst runs. Drivers that miss the playoffs will also follow the drop format when battling for 'best of the rest.'
RACEDAY STRUCTURE
==============
Each SCARTS event will feature a practice session, qualifying session, and the actual race itself. Below is a brief description of each session.
PRACTICE
------------------
Practices for each race last around 6-10 minutes in length. They usually run for less than a full fuel load - enough time to get familiar with the track for the race and for qualifying. There is no rules structure to practice, cars may simply take off from the grid and begin practicing. I do recommend that if some drivers are AFK and are still sitting on the grid when practice begins, to politely wait or perhaps help the admins clear that driver off of the track. It simplifies things immensely. But as for the format of practice itself, you are free to do what you want (within fairplay boundaries). You can run a straight fuel run or make multiple stops to take on tires to do mock qualifying runs and to practice pit entry. The session is yours to run how you see fit. The race administrator will announce the closure of practice by stating '2 mins left' or something of the equivalent to give drivers a last second chance to take on tires if they want to do a mock qualifying run.
Once the session ends, we move onto qualifying.
QUALIFYING
-------------------
Qualifying in SCARTS is done with fuel and tire settings off - allowing for fast unrestricted laps. Most qualifying sessions in SCARTS are ghost mode runs that can have varying length depending on track type. Oval tracks are set at '11 laps' allowing for 10 full speed timed laps to be run to go for the pole. Road course tracks are set for '6 laps' allowing for 5 full speed timed laps.
The Daytona 500 qualifying session is unique - we will do a normal qualifying run in ghost mode, 11 laps, but there will be a second round following the session. The top half of the field will transfer into Round 2 and do a one lap run - one car at a time. Round 2 drivers will go out from slowest to quickest from the first round.
Talladega qualifying runs are contested as an '8 lap race' due to the angled timing line it has. That line causes inaccurate laptimes so the race format works alot better and can be replay verified. The finishing order from the qualifying session sets the race lineup. The winner becomes the polesitter.
At oval tracks with grass by the finish line, a laptime will be disallowed if the car even touches the grass (rule not applied at road courses). The admin will review the incident if its reported and confirm or not confirm. The DNQ will result in a no-time and the driver will choose his pitstall last and start at the very back for the race.
The results from qualifying will set the grid for the race and also sets the order in which drivers choose pitstalls for a race. More on that in the next section.
THE RACE
======
Following qualifying, its finally time to race! There is one thing we do prior to starting the race though - selecting pitstalls! In SCARTS, we select a single pitstall to use for the entire race. It's advantageous to have a pitstall closer to the end of pitlane to assist with track position but in order to have a stall that good, you have to qualify strong! The results from qualifying will set the order in which drivers can choose their stall. The polesitter traditionally chooses stall #1 but that driver still selects it verbally and we go through each driver in order of qualifying laptime until everyone has their stall set. Once that happens, we start!
START OF RACE
---------------------------
The server settings are set up to position drivers on the grid by fastest laptime from qualifying automatically. When the race starts, stay still on the grid as the admins will signal the start of the race with a restart command:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
RESTART - DOUBLE FILE - DO NOT overtake the car ahead of you in your line or change lanes before finish line!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When that is posted, you must pace in your starting position and not pass the car directly in front of you before hitting the start/finish line. As the field approaches the line, the leader has control over the restart and can accelerate when he sees fit - but it can't be excessively early. There is no simple way to describe this, but I'd say the car should still be accelerating across the finish line, not already blasting at top speed. The 2nd place car must not cross the start/finish line ahead of the race leader while pacing side-by-side. If that happens, that car must yield the position in the next few seconds or receive a drive-thru penalty.
DURING THE RACE
---------------------------
