NASCAR 2003 SEASON RULES

Version 1.0

November 23, 2003

BUD SHOOTOUT AT DAYTONA

The Bud Shootout at Daytona for 2003 has been dropped. We all decided that we were not interested in running this year.

If we change our minds and decide to really run this race, then the drivers in the Winston Cup Series who qualified on the pole for a regular season race during our 2002 Winston Cup Season are eligible to run in the Bud Shootout at Daytona. Those drivers were:

Bill Elliott (6 poles)

Rusty Wallace (5)

Dale Earnhardt Jr (4)

Jeff Gordon (4)

Bobby Labonte (3)

Tom Ressin (2)

Terry Labonte (2)

Steve Park (2)

Mike Skinner (2)

Dale Jarrett (2)

Kevin Harvick (1)

Jimmie Johnson (1)

Harvey Johnson (1)

Brian Glock (1)

Interesting 2002 fact. Our Champion, Rick Driestadt did not have a poll in 2002. In fact he averaged a starting position of 26.36 in 36 events.

This would be a non-points event. Race length will be set at 15% and computer AI will be set at the current league setting. All cars will qualify and the race will be run under normal NASCAR rules. Pit stops are allowed and yellow flag laps count.

COMMUNICATION DURING RACES

Communication during races will be limited to auto chat messaging during yellow flag racing only.

COMPUTER ERROR

Yeah! We finally are using NASCAR 2003 Season! Hopefully our days of never ending computer errors are over. However in the event of unlikely computer error, we will follow the following rules. In the event that this happens, you should immediately pull to the bottom of the track in view (if still connected) and contact the race host by phone. It is assumed if you are hosting and your computer crashes, that all others will be dropped as well. Everyone should make note of the positions they were running at the time of the error. The host of the race will have the responsibility of re-starting a shootout race, once everyone is connected. The shootout race will be at least equal to the amount of laps that were left in the original race, but can be slightly higher at the digression of all racers. Everyone will re-qualify and the shootout race is run. At the end of the successfully completed shootout race, each racer has will get the better of the two positions as his final race standing. If two human racers both have the same position, the position is deferred to the racer with the highest current points position. Positions are determined from first place back to last during adjustments. Since the current stats program requires a final race standing file, the modified file will have to be the one from the shootout race. Aside from changes to the final race position, all other scoring data will remain as is in this file. It is possible that there may be more then one restart. In that instance, the same logic above will apply.

A word of warning to all drivers. Learn the black flag rules. There are many ways to get black-flagged in the new game. These are not errors. The new game strictly enforces the rules (passing under yellow, passing on inside before start finish line, unsafe pit road exit and entry, pit road speed limits, and many others. We won’t restart for black flag calls.

DAMAGE

Damage will be set to Moderate for all races. This setting will reflect that your car can be damaged during the races, but is somewhat more forgiving as we learn the game. If we decide to at a future date we will switch to realistic damage.

HOSTING RACES

All league members will take turns hosting series events. This will be done, as it is believed that the hosting racer does have somewhat of an advantage over racers who join the race. Races will be alternated by event and within each series starting with last year=s highest point standing driver. This will include any non-point scoring and qualifying events.

INTERNATIONAL RACE OF CHAMPIONS (IROC)

After last year’s fiasco, we are returning to the real IROC schedule. Also, we will add back in the AI drivers.

The International Race of Champions (IROC) is a series of four races run during the course of the course of the Winston Cup Season. The races will be run at the following tracks prior to the Winston Cup Race, usually on Friday:

Race 1: Daytona International Speedway

Race 2: Talladega Super Speedway

Race 3: Chicagoland International Speedway

Race 4: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The series is run to determine who has the most pure driving talent. To that end, the races are run with fixed setups so that no driver has an advantage due to car adjustments. Race Length shall be set at 15% for each race, and the AI setting will match that of the league setting for that particular track.

STARTING POSITIONS: All drivers will qualify for there starting positions in these races with one exception. The winner of the previous race does not qualify and will start last at the next race. That is, the winner of Race 1 starts last in Race 2.

PIT STOPS: Normally there are no scheduled pit stops in IROC events. If a driver must stop at the pits for any reason, a crew of IROC mechanics services his car. Under normal circumstances, a driver who pits under the green flag receives no penalty, except for the time lost on the track. A driver who pits under a yellow caution flag, however, is subject to a one-lap penalty, as assessed by the IROC organizers. However, unless the Project Wildfire MOD addresses this, we will allow normal pitting.

SERIES CHAMPION: The IROC champion is the driver who has earned the most points in the four races.

TIEBREAKER RULE: In the event that two or more drivers are tied for bonus points, the bonus points will be awarded according to the finishing positions of the race. In the event that two or more drivers are tied at the finish line, the points for finishing positions will be added together and divided among the tying drivers. In the event that two or more drivers are tied in points at the end of the series, the tie will be broken by the driver who finished highest, on average, over all four races.

POINTS: Drivers earn points in all four IROC events, as follows:

Finishing Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Points Earned 21 17 14 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

In addition, 5 bonus points are awarded to the driver who leads the most laps in each race, and 5 bonus points are awarded to any driver who leads a lap during the race.

PURSE DISTRIBUTION: A total of $1,025,000.00 to be distributed as follows at the conclusion of series (based on point standings):

Finishing Position Money Earned

1 $250,000

2 $125,000

3 $80,000

4 $72,000

5 $70,000

6 $65,000

7 $62,000

8 $61,000

9 $60,000

10 $60,000

11 $60,000

12 $60,000

NON-POINT SCORING EVENTS

It is questionable at this time if we will be running any non-points scoring events. If we don’t, then Harvey Johnson will be declared the winner of all of them.

In the event we do, the following rules apply. In addition to the regular series events, the Winston Cup Series will also run the following non-point scoring events; The Bud Shootout at Daytona and the Winston All Star Race at Lowes Motor Speedway.

OPPONENT STRENGTH

Since we are starting with a new game, we have agreed to start the AI strength at all tracks to 95. Opponent strength will be adjusted to ensure realistic competition and to make overall competition more challenging. The better we run, the stronger the competition will get. This will in effect reflect the other teams stepping up their programs to try and catch us! The current starting opponent strengths are as follows:

Track	Winston Cup	Busch Grand National	Craftsman Truck	ARCA	TBD
Atlanta	95	96	95	95	95
Berlin	95	95	95	95	95
Bristol	96	96	95	95	95
California	96	96	96	95	95
Charlotte	95	96	95	95	95
Chicagoland	96	96	95	95	95
Chicago	95	95	95	95	95
Darlington	96	95	95	95	95
Daytona	95	95	95	96	95
Daytona (Night)	96	95	95	95	95
Dover	96	96	95	95	95
Duquoin	95	95	95	95	95
Gateway	95	85	85	95	95
Homestead	95	95	96	95	95
Indianapolis	96	95	95	95	95
Illinois Fairgrounds	95	95	95	95	95
IRP	95	95	96	95	95
Kansas	95	95	95	9 95	95
Kentucky	95	96	96	95	95
Las Vegas	95	95	96	95	95
Loudon	96	95	96	95	95
Martinsville	97	95	96	95	95
Memphis	95	96	96	95	95
Michigan	97	97	95	95	95
Milwaukee	95	95	96	95	95
Nashville	95	95	96	95	95
Nashville SS	95	96	96	95	95
Nazareth	95	85	95	95	95
Phoenix	96	96	96	95	95
Pikes Peak	95	96	95	95	95
Pocono	96	95	95	95	95
Richmond	96	96	96	95	95
Rockingham	95	96	95	95	95
Salem	95	95	95	95	95
Sonoma	95	95	95	95	95
South Boston	95	95	96	95	95
Talladega	95	95	95	95	95
Texas	95	95	96	95	95
Toledo	95	95	95	95	95
Winchester	95	95	95	95	95
Watkins Glen	95	95	95	95	95

Races already run in 2003 will be shown in Red. Races with adjusted AI will be bold red.

Adjustments to the opponent strength will be as follows:

· It will be raised one point for the next race if one human player wins and a second human player finishes in the top ten.

· It will be lowered one point if two human drivers are outside the top fifteen.

· All other combinations will result in the AI strength remaining the same for the next race at that track.

PITTING FREQUENCY

New setting for this year. The wear factor for all races will be set to 2X.

POINTS STANDINGS

Points standings for each series will be maintained in accordance with the points system currently being used by NASCAR. To facilitate league administration, a software program called, Points Calculator, Version 1.06.09, copyright 2001 by Robert Rathbone will be used. The standings for all series are posted on the league web site at http://www.oocities.org/rockquary21227/.

RACE LENGTH

Race Length will be set at 35% for Winston Cup Races and 25% for the Busch Grand National, Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Series. IROC Races will be set at 15%. For Busch Grand National, Craftsman Truck, ARCA and ASA races at non Winston Cup Tracks, the race length will be raised to 35%. The Bud Shootout and the Winston will have special rules dealing with race length detailed in their respective sections of this document.

RE-STARTS

No need for this section anymore. No more gentleman’s agreements. Just remember, pass low before the start finish line and the black flag is coming out.

SCHEDULE

The league will run a full Winston Cup, Busch, ARCA and Craftsman Truck Series schedule. Other series may be added (Trans Am, ASA). It is up to each driver to decide if they wish to compete in any series. The commissioner of the series will coordinate with the other drivers on scheduling each race. In the event that no member of league wishes to run a Busch or Craftsman Event, then the race will be automatically simulated and results compiled. Any number of league members can decide to run a secondary series event. If one member elects to run, then the standings file needs to be exported and forwarded to the commissioner of the league for processing. The schedules for all series are posted on the league web site at http://www.oocities.org/rockquary21227/. In addition to the regular series events, the Winston Cup Series MAY also run the following non-point scoring events; The Bud Shootout at Daytona and the Winston All Star Race at Lowe=s Motor Speedway.

SETUPS

For all series except IROC, any setup combination can be used during a race. Drivers are encouraged to experiment with settings that provide them a better performing car. All IROC races will be run with fixed setups. This is to reflect the use of similar prepared cars provided by the IROC league.

WINSTON ALL STAR RACE

At this time there is no plans to run a Winston All Star Race. So Harvey Johnson has been declared the winner. If we change our minds, the following rules apply:

The Winston is the season All Star Race runs at Lowe=s Motor Speedway during speed weeks in May. It has a very complicated sequence, which we really cannot simulate with out league. Any driver that is a previous Winston Cup Champion, has won a race during the current or previous season, or is a previous Winston winner automatically qualifies for the race. A Winston Open race of 15% race length will be run for all cars not currently in the Winston. This race may or may not be simulated depending on the status of our human league drivers. The winner of this race will transfer to the Winston. A final session of 15% race length will be run with all entries including the transfer. Since there is no way for us to simulate inversion of the field, I suggest we just qualify as normal and run the race.

WINSTON NO BULL 5 FORMAT

Drivers become eligible to win the $1 million Winston No Bull 5 bonus by finishing in the top five at the previous Winston No Bull 5 event. The five races comprising the Winston No Bull 5 in 2001 are, in chronological order: the Daytona 500; the Coca-Cola 600; the Brickyard 400; the Mountain Dew Southern 500; and the Alabama 500 at Talladega. The top-five finishers at the final Winston No Bull 5 event of 2002, the Winston 500 at Talladega, determine eligible drivers at the 2003 Daytona 500. They are:

Tom Ressin

Terry Labonte

Bobby Labonte

Mark Martin

Kurt Busch

Eligible drivers at a particular Winston No Bull 5 event can win the Winston No Bull 5 million-dollar bonus by finishing first in said event. If all five qualified drivers fail to capture the $1 million Winston No Bull 5bonus at a particular Winston No Bull 5 event, the bonus will not roll over to the next event. Each Winston No Bull 5 event is worth $1 million to the qualified drivers. If a qualified driver wins a Winston No Bull 5 event, one fan will also win a $1million bonus check as part of Winston's "They Win, You Win" sweepstakes. Five fans will be eligible at each Winston No Bull 5 event. They will be selected at random through a nationwide sweepstakes program. Each fan is paired, at random, with one of the eligible Winston No Bull 5 drivers. If an eligible driver wins the Winston No Bull 5 bonus, then the fan paired with that driver will also win a $1 million check from Winston.