Determining racing time

Debates and discussions on the various race scheduling methods that can be used and their fairness and accuracy in determining the winners.
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Bravo11
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Determining racing time

Post by Bravo11 »

I have 17 cubs racing in our PWD. I'm using the PPN chart generator and printing out charts and scoring grids then hand tallying the results using the points system recommended. We have a 3 lane track and I have ordered a Micro Wizard lane judge for indicating finish order.
I would like to have a good 1.5 to 2 hour derby including a short awards ceremony. How can I determine how many heats to run to accomplish this?
Thanks to all for a very informative site.
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Stan Pope
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Re: Determining racing time

Post by Stan Pope »

PPN charts are typically 1 or 2 round affairs, where a "round" has each racer running once in each lane. With a 3-lane track, this would be 6 runs each. My experience has been that it takes from 30 to 90 seconds per heat, depending on a lot of factors, such as how experienced the track staff is and who stages the cars (owner or staff) and how well you can get the next heats racers lined up in advance.

With 17 of these rascals to race, it should take an hour or less of racing time.

For sake of giving them more racing, you might also run an unofficial no-chart multiple elimination race after the main competition is complete. This scheme can run very quickly if the racers stage their own cars. A quad-elim assures every racer at least 4 heats, and the better racers get a few more. Details are on my website at http://members.aol.com/standcmr/nelim.html and includes a "computer" to show heat counts.
Stan
"If it's not for the boys, it's for the birds!"
Bravo11
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Re: Determining racing time

Post by Bravo11 »

Thanks for the info Stan.
I'm looking at the multiple elim now.
If I go with two round charts and I give each run a minute thats 34 mins for just the racing. Then I'll have sign-in, pre race, and awards ceremony.
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Stan Pope
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Re: Determining racing time

Post by Stan Pope »

You can add some accuracy with 17 car PPN by using it to screen for a 7-car final. 17 cars has good lane balance but opponent balance is a bit off. Even so, it will put the top 3 or 4 cars among the top 7 with good accuracy. Then the final will fix the imbalance accuracy.

If you go with a multiple elim, I'd suggest you do it "for fun" only ... It runs quickly with 3 cars per heat (see draw suggestions) the unbeaten group goes to one member after just 3 rounds. It runs more slowly running 2 at a time, but if your track has one lane sigificantly different from the others, it might be a more accurate method. Anyway, if you try it, you can get feedback from your pack as to which they prefer for next year.
Stan
"If it's not for the boys, it's for the birds!"
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