Pool Rules 2012

1. ORGANIZATION
   • Purpose: This pool is provided for recreational purposes only. There are no cash or other prizes involved other that the 2012 Season Trophy provided by the Commissioner. There is no affiliation with NASCAR, nor its participants, sponsors, broadcasters, advertisers, and suppliers. There is no affiliation with any other organization, public or private.
   • Commissioner’s Duties: The Commissioner runs this pool with the assistance of the Deputy Commissioner. The Commissioner sets forth these rules and keeps the official records. The Commissioner gathers and scores each week’s entries, publishing the picks and results on a public Web site provided by the Commissioner. The Commissioner may amend these rules at any time, but generally, rules affecting weekly entries will be published 72 hours prior to the weekly entry deadline.
   • Deputy Commissioner’s Duties: The Deputy Commissioner fills in for the Commissioner those weeks when the Commissioner is not available to promptly publish entries and / or results, publishing interim communications until the Commissioner returns, updating the official records. The Deputy Commissioner is responsible for all player issues, approving all player applications and resolving any player questions and protests. The Deputy Commissioner may expel any player except the Commissioner for cause. The Deputy Commissioner establishes an official eMail account to be used for all pool business, from picks to protests. No other communications like voice mail, post-it notes, etc. will be accepted except as allowed by the Deputy Commissioner.
2. PARTICIPATION
   • Eligibility: This year's pool is limited to current associates only, automatically eligible unless the Deputy Commissioner finds cause otherwise.
   • Transferability: Once entered, should a player be unable or unwilling to continue, that entry may be passed to another current associate, up until the start of the Chase. This requires the approval of the Deputy Commissioner. The exiting player can rejoin later this year with the approval of the Deputy Commissioner. An entry transferred after the All-Star Race on May 19, 2012 will not qualify for the Chase.
   • Deadline to join: New players can join any time up to and including race 6 on April 1, 2012 but at increasing disadvantage as noted below.
   • Crew Chiefs: A player may optionally designate a player or even a non-player as his or her Crew Chief, who has the authority to submit picks for the player to avoid defaults. Players may designate, change, or revoke Crew Chiefs until the start of the Chase, effective with the next race. Such designations do not carry over from the previous year.
3. WEEKLY ENTRIES
   • Picking drivers - Race: During races 1 to 26, the Race to the Chase, each player submits three picks, one each from three tiers of drivers based on the Official Sprint Cup Standings as published at NASCAR.com prior to the race:
     1. The top ten drivers (1 to 10 - Tier One)
     2. the next ten drivers (11-20 - Tier Two)
     3. the remaining drivers (21 or worse - Tier Three), including any drivers entering their first Cup race of the 2012 season.
     There is no restriction for the opener, the Daytona 500. After that, if you pick multiple drivers in the same band, only the last to finish is scored.
   • Qualifying for the Chase: Players will again this year compete to qualify for the Chase. This year, however, all players remain eligible to win the Season trophy as explained below. The number of players in the Chase will be 2/3 of the maximum number of players active during the Race to the Chase, the first 26 races. For example, if there are 10 players, 7 (6.66+ rounded up) will move on to the Chase. Again this year, the last two Chase positions are reserved as wild cards. The remaining players not already qualifying for the Chase on season to date points are ranked first by the number weekly wins, then season to date points.
   • Picking drivers - Chase: During races 27 to 36, the Chase, you can pick each of the 12 Chase drivers at most once across all 10 weeks of the Chase. This year, though, you can reuse a Chase driver once for each win during races 1 to 26. You are not required to pick any Chase driver or you can use three Chase drivers in some races, but once used, that’s it for the rest of the Chase unless you opt to use one of your wins.
   • Scoring picks: Points are by driver, not the actual car they might drive. Drivers need only start the race to get the points awarded. If they do not start the race, your pick gets zero points. Invalid picks are scored as zero.
   • Submitting picks: Picks for a given race must be submitted via eMail no later than 10 AM on the Friday before the race. You may not submit picks for future races. That is, you cannot submit picks for the next race until after the conclusion of the current race. Instead, arrange with your Crew Chief to submit picks for you if necessary. They automatically have proxy rights to submit picks in your behalf, but only if you do not submit a valid entry.
   • Defaults: Players who fail to submit picks on time default to the prior week’s picks and will get no credit for the best valid pick as ranked by finish order. If the standings shift such that two or all three picks are invalid, the player scores only the remaining valid pick or zero, respectively. When a player defaults a second week, he or she again uses the last submitted picks, but this time only scores the worst (last to finish) valid pick if any, zero if not. If a player should default a third consecutive week, no points are awarded and the player is black flagged (removed) unless the Deputy Commissioner decides otherwise. If you have specific circumstances that preclude submitting your entry on time via eMail, you may appeal to the Deputy Commissioner for special dispensation, which if granted may include a points penalty if the Commissioner agrees. Be advised, however, that only tangible evidence of eMail malfunction will likely be considered. However unlikely, a defaulting player will not receive the traveling Weekly Trophy, nor credit for a win.
   • Revising picks: Picks for the current race can be revised any time up to the deadline. Once you submit picks, your Crew Chief cannot revise them.
4. RACE SCORING
   • Driver Points: For each pick, you receive the Official driver points awarded as posted on the NASCAR web site, including the lead lap bonuses. Driver penalties do not apply, race related or not, unless the posted race finish order is changed as a result, causing a change in points awarded.
   • Qualifying Points: You can receive additional points for Qualifying results, even if those results are known prior to the Friday entry deadline. Picking the driver who wins the pole earns 3 points. The second qualifier is good for 2 points. Third, fourth, and fifth get you 1 point. Thus, you can earn up to 6 points for each race. But: these points are only awarded if Qualifying is actually held and completed, not rained out for example. As with the Tie Breakers below, this is per the NASCAR.com site.
   • Top Five Points: Bonus points can be earned for picking certain drivers finishing in the top five. For race 1, the Daytona 500, all picks are eligible for this bonus. During the rest of the Race to the Chase, races 2-26, this applies to your Tier 2 (11-20) and Tier 3 (21+) picks only. During the Chase itself, this applies only to your non-Chase driver picks. For each such result, you receive:
     • 10 points for races 1-13
     • 20 points for races 14-26
     • 25 points during the Chase
     Think of this as Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy, and Final Jeopardy.
   • Ties: Ties are resolved by assigning each player a driver based on the starting positions at race time. Each player is assigned a driver as they enter, starting with starting position 11 and that result used to rank players with equal scores. These starting positions are as listed by NASCAR on its www.nascar.com web site. No points added or subtracted but this tie-breaker can be the difference winning trophies or qualifying for the Chase.
   • Late entries: For new players entering after week 1, the lowest actual score among players with three valid picks each race missed is used, less 10 points per race missed.
5. SEASON SCORING
   • The Race: Until the chase begins, season scoring is the sum of the weekly scores, including tie breakers and late entry amounts. Ties are resolved the same way as above for the Weekly results.
   • The Chase: At the start of the Chase, all player scores are re-aligned, including for those not qualifying. The second place player is given 5,000 points. The first place player is given 5,000 plus the gap between first and second. The rest line up behind the second place player at 5 point intervals: 4,995 for third, 4,990 for fourth, and so on. This year, no points are added for wins to date, since they can now be spent to reuse Chase drivers. Also new this year is that everyone remains eligible for the Season trophy. Those who miss the chase line up as above - and then are moved back 100 points more, a significant but certainly not insurmountable disadvantage.
6. TROPHIES
   • Weekly Trophy: The traveling Weekly Trophy is awarded to the current associate player with the most total points for the week, using the tie breaker if necessary.
   • Season Trophy: The season trophy will go to the player at the top of the standings after the last race, again using the tie breaker from the last race if necessary.

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