The Pit Stall

This is the second part of the Nascar Pool Help series.   Part 1

Once you’ve decided to start your own fantasy Nascar pool, you’ll need to decide what type of pool to run.    The are plenty of options, and your choice may depend on the number and type of participants in your pool.  Are you aiming for only the most hardcore fans, or even the most casual?  Your choice may also limit the number of participants in the future.
 
The basic types of pools you can run are pick’em, box and salary cap.  You can run all sorts of variations on these types, but generally most set ups come down to one of the three.  

Pick’em - Pick your drivers (or cars) from race to race.  Can be any number of groups to pick from, and rules about how many times you can take a driver.  Can be pre-picked at the start of the season (usually one driver per race), or before a deadline each race.  This type of pool requires participants to put a little more effort in if they want to be successful. 

Box - Pick your drivers (or cars) from boxes or groups, one from each box.  The number of boxes, and drivers per box will change from pool to pool.  Generally these types of pools are the easiest to pick, and tend to grow the largest, since they don’t require alot of effort and can be selected quite easily by even the most casual fan.  They are usually season long pools, and can feature a limited number of trades. 

Salary Cap - Each driver (or car) is given a value, based on previous performance and popularity.  Pick a selected number of drivers, while keeping the total salary of your team under the selected total value.  These pools generally run season long, and can feature a limited number of trades.
 
Some people also run their pools more like a lottery, so anyone can participate whether or not they follow Nascar.  Usually run just for one race (although several ‘pools’ do them all season long), basically everyone draws a number from 1-43, and they get the car that starts in that position.  The highest finishing car wins the pot.

Once you’ve decided on what type of pool to run, you’ll also need to choose some sort of scoring system.  You can use the tiered points system that Nascar uses for each race, or you can make up your own based on pretty much anything you want.  You can even have some sort of ‘Chase’ reset if you desire.  It’s probably best to keep it as straightforward as possible, so it’s not that difficult for participants to figure out what their scores should be each race.

So there’s your next step in setting up your Nascar pool.  Again I want to stress to keep in mind the type of participant you want to draw, and the size you want your pool to be when choosing the details of your fantasy Nascar league.  The more people you want to draw, the more straighforward you’ll want to make it.  If you want it to be a smaller tight-knit group of the same 20-30 people year after year, by all means make it as complicated as you like.  Maybe even set up a scoring system that you’d like to see adapted in the Cup series, and see how things would shake out.

Filed under: Nascar Pool Help, Site by Site Admin - Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
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This is the first part of the Nascar Pool Help series.

The first step in getting a fantasy Nascar league up and running, is deciding you want to manage one.  Office pools for any sport can be a lot of fun, if promoted and managed properly, and we want to help you make your Nascar pool be successful as possible.  
 
Before jumping head-long into being the commissioner of your very own Nascar pool, you’ll need to make sure you meet some basic criteria.  First off, and this should go without saying, you need to be a Nascar fan.  A decent group of friends and associates that share your love of the sport will also be key in getting your league off of the ground.  You’ll also need to possess decent organization skills, and be trust-worthy.  You’ll most likely be dealing with holding on to a decent amount of other people’s hard earned money, so being transparent and making sure everything is above board and accounted for is of utmost importance. 
 
As I mentioned earlier, a group of Nascar fans is important in getting your pool started.  Whether it’s a group of friends that like to get together to watch the big races of the season, or a bunch of co-workers looking to add a little competition to the ‘water-cooler’ discussion, a good base of interested participants will be vital in starting and growing your league.  Here at Nascar Pools Online, we also have pools organized by bars, websites and garages.  They can be a great way to draw some attention to your business, whether online or the traditional brick and mortar type. 
 
Keep in mind, that no matter the size of your league, whether you keep track of everything on paper or use a website like Nascar Pools Online, there will be some amount of work required.  Depending on the style of pool you manage, how you decide to keep track of results, and how you’re tracking payments, will be the determining factors in how much time you’ll spend.  Time will be required in the pre-season rounding up participants, gathering payments and making sure everyone knows the rules of your pool, regardless of what kind of pool you choose to run. 
 
A couple things you should also look into before you get started is the legality of office pools in your area.  Different states and provinces have different gaming laws.  We here at NPO don’t pretend to be lawyers, so we suggest you find out what is and isn’t allowed in your home province or state, before you set up your pool.  Most of this information can be found online with a little effort.  Also, if you’re running an inter-office league, you may want to check your company’s policies on fantasy sports and office pools.  Better safe than sorry. 

The hardest part of building a large, successful office pool in any sport, is getting it started.  Make your pool enjoyable for those involved from the start, and you’ll have no problem growing it.  As always, if you have questions, feel free to drop us a line.  We wish you the best in getting your Nascar pool started this season!

Filed under: Nascar Pool Help, Site by Site Admin - Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
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Since we started Nascar Pools Online, we’ve received a number of questions about starting, and managing NASCAR pools.  I’ve personally run a number of pools myself, not just in NASCAR but several other sports as well, plus I’ve participated in numerous others.  Not to mention, I’ve communicated with several of the people that run their pools on NPO the past couple seasons.  My goal is to take some of that knowledge and experience, to help you get your pool up and running or improve on it.

To get started, we will be posting a series on getting a pool started. Some of what will be covered:  Who should start a NASCAR pool, why you might want to run a pool, who you want in your league and how big should it be, what type of format/scoring your league should be, and what are some of the issues you may come across along the way.  We’ll follow that up with some ongoing tips from people that actually run NASCAR pools and then try to answer any questions you might have on a regular basis.  We’ll then take a look at the different types of pool formats and how to be successful in each.  Along the way we’ll try to post other online resources to help you.  Towards the beginning of the season, we will highlight a number of pools on NPO that are looking for more participants.

So if you’ve ever thought about starting a fantasy Nascar pool and didn’t know where to start, this series is for you.  If you’ve been running a pool for a while now, and want to grow or improve your pool, this series is also for you.  If you’re an avid fantasy Nascar participant, you should find this series informative, and possibly helpful in finding Nascar pools to suit your time/budget/commitment levels.

We will start working our way through the main part of the series in the next few days and try to wrap it up by early January at the latest, so you can be prepared to get things up and running with a month to go before the season.  After that we’ll try to do regular updates to cover the questions and tips.

If you have a question, leave it in the comments, or feel free to send it directly to us instead.

Filed under: Nascar Pool Help, Site by Site Admin - Monday, December 7th, 2009
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We’re just over a handful of races into the season for the 4ever3/NPO Nascar Pool, and since we have a week off and I have no picks to make for my Yahoo league, I figured now would be a good time to introduce some of the “Expert” or “Celebrity” teams that are participating.  I don’t know if all of the participants listed should be considered experts or not (especially when you look to see where I am in the standings), but they all run, or at least contribute to, NASCAR themed blogs/websites.

You can keep up with the full standings online (if not a member of the site) or join the league to view all teams, including picks.  Full details are on the NPO/4ever3 Pool page.

Teams are in order of current standing (as of the Southern 500 at Darlington).  With the scoring system we use, less is more!

1. NASCAR Ranting and Raving (Bob Ellis) – The brains behind the 4ever3 Blog and partner in crime for this pool.  Currently sitting in a tie for 8th place overall with 647 points.
2. Foothills Racing (James Jones) – One of the crew over at On Pit Row, which is part of the Fantasy Players Network.  He’s also leading the Expert Picks over there as well.  Tied for top spot among the experts with 647 points.
3. Shrute’s Beets (Mike Maruska) – Mike has joined the 4ever3 fold recently after a stint at One Bad Wheel.  Definitely has the best name of the bunch, even if it isn’t Nascar related.  He too has 647 points, and is tied for 8th overall.
4. On Pit Row (Charlie Turner) – Also from On Pit Row, Charlie is one of the voice’s of the radio show over there.  Tune in and give them a listen sometime.  Charlie sits a few spots back of the leaders in 20th overall, with 685 points. 
5. NASCAR Geek (Darren Fauth) – Darren ran One Bad Wheel up until recently…unfortunately the site is no longer being updated.  It was a quality resource for those who rely on statistics to make picks week to week.  Darren sits in 38th with 728 points.
6. Fast & Fabulous (Valli Hilaire) – Head on over to The Fast and The Fabulous blog to get Valli’s take on everything Nascar.  One of two women on our panel of “expert’s”, Valli just just behind Darren in 39th with 730 points.
7. RacerDogs (Lori Munro) – A very talented cartoon artist (which you can check out for yourself at Lori’s War Wagon) and radio personality (Race Talk Radio) etc etc etc.  Lori is currently in the middle of the pack in 55th with 762 points.
8. NascarPoolsOnline (Rick Scott) – That would be me.  I’m not doing so hot in this one, mired back in 77th with 813 points.  I take solace knowing that 1) it’s still early and 2) I’m rocking all of my other pools.
9. Gord The Talking Polar Bear (Jerry Wilson) – AKA The Diecast Dude of The Diecast Dude’s (Mostly) NASCAR Blah Blah Blog.  The Dude is in 82nd position with 835 points at this stage of the game.
10. Nascar Comix (David Heddle) – David is the creative force behind Nascar Comix.  David is just behind Jerry in 85th with 846 points.

So there you have it.  These are your so called “experts”.  We’ll check in from time to time throughout the season, to see where these 10 teams stand.  If I missed someone, I apologize.  Enjoy the All Star Race on Saturday night, and I’ll see you next week with my pics for the Coca-Cola 600.

Filed under: Site by Site Admin - Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
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I’m sure some of you have noticed the list of links on the sidebar over yonder.  For those of you that haven’t…look right…scroll down a weeee bit…yup, there they are.  I wanted to post a little bit of background about that section and why I choose to add the links that I do.

Every link on there is a site I visit on at least a semi-regular basis, and is there because I find the site useful and/or informative, and think you may do the same.  Every site on there has been on my ‘favourites’ list for at least a couple months prior to making it on the site.  I do not do direct link exchanges with other sites as I’m not overly concerned with PageRank or any of that technical stuff that so many webmasters are chasing.  I’m more interested in what the people that visit Nascar Pools Online think than what Google thinks.

That said, a little background on the current links…

Go Teams Go Forums – A web forum with a section for pretty much every major sport going.  The Nascar section is broken up by series, and also has a section to buy & sell tickets to Nascar events.  There’s a handful of long time fans on there, as well as several with ‘inside’ knowledge of the sport and certain teams/drivers.  I visit the site almost daily, and post pretty infrequently.  Following with a fantasy Nascar theme, check out the weekly predictions thread, and see how you do.

Jayski’s Nascar Site – A wealth of information about anything and everything related to Nascar.  I usually use Jayski’s silly season wrap up to figure out which drivers or cars to put in the groups for the pick’em and box pools.  If there’s anything you wanted to know about Nascar, this is probably the place to find it.  The site is now under the ESPN umbrella.  I visit Jayski.com not so much on a regular basis through the season, but very heavily in the off season.

NASCAR.com – This one is pretty self explanatory.  Visited almost daily.

NascarFast – A huge directory of all things Nascar related.  A massive listing of sites selling Nascar merchandise, offering betting, about drivers, fan blogs and pretty much anything else you could imagine.  If you’re looking for something specific, this is a great place to find several sites at once.  I don’t visit this site on a regular basis, but will check it out from time to time when I’m looking for something specific.

Pinnacle Sports – A sports book I sometimes use to bet on Nascar events.  I’m not a huge gambler, but I’ll drop a couple bucks here and there on a head to head matchup for the race or for qualifying, and on occasion attempt to pick the race winner.  I tend to check the site every little while in the days leading up to the race, to see what’s available, and who the gambling world thinks has the best shot at the win that week (somewhat handy in itself if you’re in a week to week pool…even if you don’t use the site to bet).

Ranting & Raving – A fan blog from a fellow Canadian Nascar fan.  Ranting and Raving is regularly updated, with thoughts on recent events, races, announcements etc.  Bob (the blogger) also runs some pretty cool contests over there, quite often with a Dale Earnhardt Sr. flare.  I check the site almost daily and you’ll find me commenting from time to time as well.

Filed under: Site by Site Admin - Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
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We’re four weeks away from the 2009 Daytona 500, and the upgrades we’ve been working on over the off-season are ready to go.  Starting today we’ll be replacing the old version of the site with the new and improved version.  We’ve taken alot of the feedback received over the 2008 season, and made quite an overhaul.

The general look of the site will remain the same, with a couple small changes.  The league menus have been moved from the right side bar to inside the content area, with the right side column reserved for site info, blog posts, etc. and the google ads have been removed.

The biggest change made to Nascar Pools Online, is personal user accounts.  Previously, there was only one login for the entire league, and everyone saw the same thing.  This was a bit of a nuisance for a number of people who were in more than one league on the site.  Now all of their teams/leagues will be together in one place, with only one login to remember.  Several of the commissioners from 2008 suggested league message boards, for some friendly smack talk between competitors.  The personal logins enables this as well.  There will still be the ability for people to view pool standings without having to register on the site, or login, but they wont be able to post messages, view stats, etc.

We’ve also added a handful of default pool types/groups for you to use in setting up your pool.  Any pool using one of the default set ups also have the option to allow people to pick their teams directly on the site.  All they will need to know is the league login and password, which you can include in the emails or sheets you send out to prospective participants.

We will be adding the ability to view more statistics, related to both your league and to driver performance.  Pool participants will be able to see how many spots they jumped from one race to the next, how drivers performance in a race translates to your league scoring, and specific driver stats for the current season, as well as some historical stats.  Currently our database includes the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

We will be rolling out the site in parts, starting with the user registration/login set up, followed by the league creation, and team picking both online and by the commissioner.  That will be followed by league standings for both registered and no-registered users.  After that the message boards will be added to leagues, as will the league notes.  The stats pages (other than the one that already existed) are pretty useless without some races in the books, and will be added last.  Of course all of this will be done prior to the Daytona 500.

We at Nascar Pools Online are looking forward to what should definitely be an interesting NASCAR season.

Filed under: Site by Site Admin - Sunday, January 18th, 2009
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I mentioned earlier this season that I eventually wanted to add a blog or some sort of article system to the site, and eventually is finally here.  So without further adieu…Welcome to the Pit Stall!

I plan to use this space to talk about different topics relating to fantasy Nascar.  I’ll discuss the site in general, plans for future upgrades/additions and often ask for your feedback.  Without you guys there would be no Nascar Pools Online, and I’ll need your assistance in improving it.  Of course, not everything suggested will happen, but a couple hundred minds are definitely better than one.

Fantasy Nascar formats will also be discussed from time to time.  The pros and cons of running different style pools, and the strategies involved with being successful in those type of pools will surely be debated.  League entry fees, prizing, size and anything we can think of related to setting up your own pool will be visited as well. Since I’m not just the site administrator but also a participant in several fantasy pools, my teams and weekly picks will be a regular topic as well.  I’ll share who I plan on picking, and why, for each race on the schedule, as well as post updates after races are completed, recapping where I stand in all pools.  This is most likely where I’ll face mocking and ridicule, but I’m ok with that.  I’ll just have to keep this blog on the down low from the guys in my Yahoo pool so they don’t know who I’m taking.

Of course I’ll also be sharing my thoughts on what’s occuring in the world of Nascar, and relate it to the fantasy scene. I’ll look at drivers switching teams, teams switching or losing sponsorship, key hirings on the pit box and at the executive level, as well as discussing penalties, rules, wrecks, and the top 35. 

I’m definitely looking forward to getting this going, and bouncing ideas off of all of you.  I hope you enjoy it, visit from time to time, and participate in the comments.  Hopefully it improves both mine and your performance in your fantasy leagues, unless you’re in one of my leagues, then I hope your top driver finishes 2 laps down.

Filed under: Site by Site Admin - Thursday, September 25th, 2008
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