General Object

To promote interest in NASCAR and hopefully have some fun!

How To Play

Simple: Each race you choose a driver.

But there is a catch. You may only use a driver once for the entire challenge (NASCAR season).

You must have your driver submitted or turned in to Sparky shortly before the Green Flag is waved for the race.
To guarantee that they are received, get them in early!
If you know you’re going to be out of town or on vacation, just pick one ahead of time.
You can always change it shortly before the Green Flag if you so desire.

Each race you earn the total points that your chosen driver earns for that race.

The winner of the challenge will be determined by the total number of points accumulated during the challenge (NASCAR season).

Costs

The cost will be $37.00 due before the start of the 3rd race.
 
 • $1.00 to Sparky in helping with the expenses of WEB hosting, checks, envelopes, and stamps.
  Should expenses be covered any remaining will go to the challenge payouts.
 
 • All the remaining $ goes to the payouts.

Driver Picks / How to tell Sparky what driver you want for the race

The Preferred method is submitting your driver pick on the web site!

Please don’t miss a pick, be sure to read the "Chase for a Refund" section below!

Deadline for submitting your driver choice:

Due to inconsistencies in the TV coverage between the different networks, Challenge driver picks will lock out by a posted time!

The lock out time will be roughly 20 minutes after the TV coverage begins except for the Datyona 500 since Sparky is always carefully watching the race the lock out time will be extended to as close to the green flag as possibile.

Please pay close attention to either  "Team Entry & Driver Pick must be submitted by:"  or  "Driver Pick must be submitted by:"  which will always be visable in the follwing locations:
 
 • The NASCAR Challenge main page at the bottom of the Current Race Information Section.
 
 • The Top and the Bottom of the Driver Picks.

Do not e-Mail your picks they will not be accepted.

All that said, Sparky is a busy person and understands you are too.
 
 • Have a vacation planned or just a busy month, make multiple race picks and adjust them as needed with the Driver Picks V2.
 
 • Choose to designate someone you know in the challenge to make picks for you on your behalf.
  You can do this when you sign up, or via the team update link.
 
 • On those rare occasions you may phone it or text it to Sparky.
  Sparky’ phone number is always visible near the bottom of the main NASCAR Challenge page when your logged in.
  In these situations I will try my best to get them posted on time. However, if I post these after the green flag I will note this in the headlines.

Point Scoring

Each Owner/Team accumulates points earned by his/her chosen driver for each race.
 
Sparky’s NASCAR Challenge points are based upon the NASCAR Point System.

Each race will award points in 3 stages.

Bonus / Championship points following the first two stages will be awarded to the top 10 leaders of that stage on a descending scale. The stage winner receiving 10 points, second receiving 9 points, and so on.

Please Note: In keeping with the spirit of this challenge your driver pick will always accumulate points.
 
 • The above point system will always be used regardless of a driver competing in the chase or championship.
 
 • No points will be deducted from penalties teams or drivers incur during or after a race.
 
 • If driver is officially competing in another NASCAR series you will still get points.
 
 • The only real rule here is your driver pick must be in the car at the start of the race.

Race Results

After each race, I will usually post the results from the "Unofficial Results".   Please keep this in mind if you are checking things out.

Once NASCAR has posted the "Official Results" (Usually sometime Monday) I will re-verify the challenge results.

"Chase for a Refund"

It is Sparky’s hope to keep those out of the hunt for main prizes still interested in the challenge.

When there are 10 or more participants in the Challenge!

After the 26th race results have been posted, those who elect to participate in the "Chase for a Refund" will go to zero points and use what drivers they have left to compete for a refund.

Important note, for all missed driver picks a penalty will be imposed where the top unused driver(s) in the standings after the 26th race will be removed from your available drivers.   So as an example, if you miss three weeks in the first 26 races, you will lose your top three unused drivers based off the NASCAR driver standings as of the start of the 27th race.

You must make your decision to go for the "Chase for a Refund" before the green flag waves on the 27th race!

Payouts

Payouts are calculated with the intent to payout over 25% of the participants.
 

Provided there are 10 or more particiapants in the Challenge:
 

All position ties will split the position proceeds awarded, with the exception of last place.
 
If there is a tie in the last place of either the "Challenge Payout" or "Chase for a Refund", the winner will be determined by the driver points earned in the last race and if needed work back through prior races to break the tie.
 
So as an example:

"Challenge Payout" Winners:

"Chase for a Refund" Winners:

If there is a tie for 1st, then both 1st and 2nd place money is combined to pay each $231.12.

A three-way tie for 1st would combine 1st and 2nd and 3rd place money and each would receive $204.48.

   WEB Hosting Availablity and Unplanned Issues:

Well it took 24 years but Sparky' biggest fear finally happened in 2024 where my WEB site was down for a significant amount of time.
 
With the WEB Hosting service package that I have choosen when outages occur, I know have a lower priority thus I am simply at their mercy.
 
Therefore:

When an unplanned outage occurs, I will do everything I can to get things resolved.
 
However, If I sense things will not be resolved 1 hour before the green flag, I will send out an email and scratch the current race.

Miscellaneous:

Multiple Entries:    You may enter as many teams as you wish.

Errors:

Sparky is human after all and so are those that run NASCAR's WEB site thus occasionally an error may be made.  If you feel you have located an error, please notify Sparky immediately.  Please bring these to his attention before the next race if possible.