The Race Teams - a closer look

Let's take a look at the current teams:

Gulf Team: 4 NSR cars

A fearsome group of race cars, the Gulf Team has an advantage of fielding 4 entries. That's 4 chances to finish high in points, even if only the top two cars on the team will have their points moved over. The combination of 917 and 908 is hard to beat, and every one of these cars is a hard racer.

L&M Team: 2 NSR cars

A clean, orderly 2-car team that has just as good of a chance at victory as anyone else. One of two all-917/10 teams, this should prove very interesting. Hard to say whether the fact they only have two cars will affect their team points over the long run.

Team Shell: 1 Slot.it car, 1 Revoslot car

If there was a sleeper team, Team Shell would be it. I know what the GT40 can do, and it's certainly a threat. But the Ferrari has shown a certain brilliance the past few races and is blossoming into something special. While they might be long shots, don't count them out. A lot of it will come down to the Ferrari's ability to hold it together over a series of races. The consistency of the GT40 ought to help smooth out the bumps.

Chaparral Team: 2 Slot.it cars

A couple of true long shots, the Chaparral Team is going to need a huge bump and a lot of luck to win this. The #65 is already a sensitive car, and the #66 has gone through growing pains of its own. Whether either car is up to the challenge is yet to be seen. 

Team Sunoco: 2 Thunderslot cars, 1 NSR car

I think Team Sunoco is my prediction for overall winner. Having one of the fastest NSR cars as well as TWO equally fast Thunderslot cars and I'm really struggling to believe anybody else can beat them. They're still going to have to run the races, though, and anything can happen on the track.

Team Kausen: 3 NSR cars

Unproven rookie group Team Kausen has a lot of potential in those three cars. If the 917/10 proves to be as good as it has been looking in recent sessions, this team could take it all. Unfortunately, there will be a major shakeup that will affect the very makeup of this team. There will be more information coming soon, but expect drama already in this pre-season.

Team Rothmans: 2 NSR cars

Team Rothmans has as good a chance as the Gulf Team, just on a smaller scale. Both are fast cars, they pretty much must score well to be effective. If either of them takes the day off the team will suffer. This goes for any 2-car team above. There will be no room for forgiveness. Score high or go home. 

That's a lot of teams, but it also leaves a lot of single car entries, especially a rather large group of Thunderslot cars, as well as some pretty threatening Slot.it cars. They'll have a vested interest in finishing as high as they can, regardless whether the competitor is on a team or not. I'd expect a lot of spoilers to come from the single-car Journeyman teams.

I were basing the Team Championship off what I've experienced so far, I'd have to say three teams stand out: Gulf, Kausen and Sunoco. They all are pretty evenly matched, with the wildcard being the two Thunderslot cars. It might be the key to Team Sunoco winning it all. The Gulf Team's strength in numbers will be a challenge to beat, although the newcomers on Team Kausen are certainly a threat.

There will be major news coming from the Kausen camp shortly. which may involve the formation of a new team.

HOW THE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP WILL WORK

Each team's cars are eligible to race for Team Championship points. A "Team" consists of a minimum of two cars sharing the same sponsor or owner. The top two fastest cars from each team will have their points for that race transferred over to the Team Championship totals.

If a team can't field two cars for a particular race, they can still race for Team Championship points. The other car will either DNF with 0 points or not race due to mechanical problems, also receiving 0 points. 

Points are awarded to the top 20 cars, whether being team cars or not. Any cars not in the top 20 will have 0 points for the race.

If a team with three or more cars manages to finish the entire team in the top 20, the top two cars will have their points copied to the Team Championship points while the remaining cars act as spoilers against competitors. 

Three races:

First race: Entire field elimination race - 25 lap sprint

Second race: Top 20 cars - elimination race - 50 laps. Each car racing now eligible for points.

Third race: Top 10 cars - final - 100 laps. Cars score 5 points for racing in the final.

1. 21 [first place points] +5 [3rd race bonus] +1 [2nd race bonus] = 27 points

2. 20 +5 +1

3. 19 +5 +1

4. 18 +5 +1

5. 17 +5 +1

6. 16 +5 +1

7. 15 +5 +1

8. 14 +5 +1

9. 13 +5 +1

10. 12 +5 +1

11. 11 +1

12. 10 +1

13. 9 +1

14. 8 +1

15. 7 +1

16. 6 +1

17. 5 +1

18. 4 +1

19. 3 +1

20. 2 +1

21-32. 0 points

I can say this right now, the top 20 is going to be insanely competitive. I can count at least 25 or so cars that could compete for the win. There might be a runaway car or two any given race, but I expect the field to stay pretty tightly packed, with plenty of cars missing out by hundredths of a second. Shizzle happens. Have to race another day. 

Since so many cars will be separated by so little time, I needed to open up the scoring for the 3rd race. Adding 5 points to everyone in the top 10 does enough separation with 11-32 or however many cars there are when this starts.