Championship Clinch and
Tiebreaker Scenarios into a
Full Moon Friday the 13th

Well, it is hard to believe that the CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series season is coming to an end with Finale Friday.

We’ve been chatting championships for over a month now because a lot of teams strive to win a season long championship. While some try their whole career and come up short, for seven drivers, Friday will be a realization of a dream or even the continuation of a dream built on a foundation of previous championships.

Some of these battles are close. Some of these battles will be all but sewn up when they roll through technical inspection on Friday afternoon. Here’s a little preview of the seven battles we have ahead of us on the evening - listed by closest battle to longest shot of a lead changing hands.

Notes: Clinch positions are based on where a driver needs to finish regardless of heat race position. If a point lead is under 11, there is no mathematical clinch scenario going into a night because a heat win is worth 10 points. If a tie occurs, the tiebreaker is feature wins, followed by feature second places, feature third places and so on. Feature positions are worth two more points than the other, heat positions are worth one point difference per position. These scenarios are also given that no infractions are incurred by any of the drivers in the event (post race technical or on track black flag).

HYDRAULICS PLUS BEGINNER BANDOLEROS

So, let’s break this down. Let’s start with tiebreakers. Emily Chisholm holds four wins, if Miles MacKenzie wins on Friday night and after heat and features are tabulated he is tied with Chisholm, he would win the title based on his three second place finishes to Chisholm’s zero. Chisholm would hold the tiebreaker on Tufts based on her four wins. Tufts has two wins, which means if he was to win on Friday night and tie with MacKenzie for the title, he would get the tiebreaker on the No. 64. Even if they were tied with wins and second place finishes, Tufts has two third place finishes to MacKenzie’s zero.

Heat races will be key. Here’s a stat that is kind of staggering though to me. Besides Chisholm winning the last three heat races in the class, she hasn’t finished worse than second in a heat since June. JUNE. In the last six races, she has scored ten more points than MacKenzie in heats alone. It is kind of cliché to say a championship can be won or lost in heats but with this title coming down to single point totals, it could very well be attributed to that.

Chisholm has the hot hand, winning the last three heats and last two features in this Beginner Bandolero division. MacKenzie lit it up at the start, winning two of the first three features. Caden Tufts picked up the torch in the middle of the season. Seemingly, it has been a tale of three seasons culminating in a championship clash.

TIM HORTONS AT THE AIRPORT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Brett Pashkoski and Chase Livingston have been going back and forth all season but after last week it is Pashkoski with a 26 point lead. A seventh place finish, regardless of heat finish, would officially lock it for Pashkoski.

STRICTLY HYDRAULICS LEGENDS

Well - the tiebreaker scenarios are easy on this one if it comes to it. Braden Langille would win over all drivers on tiebreakers after winning six of the 11 feature races contested this year. If Andrew Lively were to somehow lose enough points in the heat and ended up with a tie after the feature with Tylor Hawes, which would highly be unlikely based on how many cars are typically in a heat but not out of the realm of possibility, Hawes would get the win based off second place finishes. Josh Langille is 43 points from the lead and would need bad luck from all three ahead of him in both the heat and feature to win the championship.

This championship lead has been like a hot potato or a game of musical chairs. Besides Langille’s wins, we haven’t seen a ton of consistency on the podium. CTV Night saw these three drivers on the podium together, but we also had four of the 11 races that neither of the front three were on the podium at the end of the night. Not saying this is like the NASCAR Top Three playoff finale, but it almost feels like it where the one that wants the championship the most will have to sweep the night. Yes, Braden or Tylor could do that and Andrew could be right behind them and still win the title but here’s the other glaring stat above - Andrew’s best feature finish all year was third. If he were to finish third and one of the other two wins, there are four of the six points they need to take the title away. It’s championship night - you cannot rest on consistency now!

TIM HORTONS AT THE AIRPORT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Like the Hydraulics Plus Beginner Bandolero division, the freshman battle is all but locked up unless something big happens to Matthew Rushton. Rushton has a 39 point lead on Devin Wadden and can lock up the award with a 15th place finish in the feature.

HYDRAULICS PLUS OUTLAWS

To make it simple, Colton Noble can clinch his second straight Hydraulics Plus Outlaw championship with a podium feature finish. In nine races, Noble has only finished off the podium twice. If Danny ended up getting in a spot where he tied with Colton for the championship, with the No. 87 finishing in front of the No. 03 in that circumstance, Danny would have the tiebreaker on wins. Danny would also have the tiebreaker on Nathan Langille if it were to go that far.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDITS

With only six Bandit competitors, if Gilby starts the heat and the feature, he will clinch the 2019 Bandit championship. In a six car field, the most MacKay could gain in a heat is five with Gilby finishing last and MacKay winning. That span is ten points in a feature of six cars - meaning that the division would finish in a tie if that were the case. With five wins, Gilby would have the tiebreaker.

SPORTSMAN

This one is quite simple too. Deven Smith, with five regular point paying wins (plus the Sportsman 100), has all tiebreakers over the Sportsman field after nine starts. We stated earlier this week that the number was sixth in the feature but its actually seventh to clinch the championship regardless of heat finish. The No. 94 had mechanical issues last week, so while Deven is not bulletproof, it is the first time he finished outside the top five in feature competition in Halifax all season long. That finish was a 12th place finish or a gain of 14 points for Veinotte.

TOURSEC THUNDER

So, unless an influx of cars shows up Friday night for the Toursec Thunder feature, Jesse Deveau will win his first pavement track championship on Finale Friday.

The gap is 34 points, meaning that even if Jesse doesn’t start his heat on Friday, a 13th place finish in the main feature would end the championship in a tie if Dave Matthews swept the night. It is Friday the 13th, but the biggest Thunder car field that has been seen all season is 11. Essentially, if Jesse scores points in the heat, unless he faces any sort of penalty on the night, he will win the title by starting the feature.

TIM HORTONS AT THE AIRPORT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Stephan Somerset went uncontested this year for the top freshman honors in the Thunder division and the Team Sonic driver has already clinched not only the Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year Award but also sixth in the overall championship standings.

TOURSEC LIGHTNING

Stick a fork in it, this one is done when we go green on Friday night.

It a 73 point gap between Richard Drake and Chevy MacDonald. If Richard starts the feature, the championship is mathematically out of reach for anyone else in the division.

TIM HORTONS AT THE AIRPORT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: This one is much closer, but still not close enough. It’s 56 points between Ashley Stevens and Roy Christian. Like Richard, Ashley will have to start the feature to clinch the bonus money and trophy.

Not to mention, this is the final chance for drivers to capture a checkered flag on the CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series for 2019. A total of 34 drivers have won at least one feature this year and several still with a goose egg in the win column only have one more chance to change that.

While rain sucks, we get one more weekend of racing out of it, if it is only one race. The Atlantic Oliver Tire 200 will now run on Saturday, September 28th at 4pm. The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour rolls into Riverside Speedway Saturday after Dorian pushed the event back a week. So, remember, don’t show up to Scotia Saturday expecting to see a race, head up the Trans Canada and join us on the high banks.

It will be a great Friday night as we celebrate champions and top rookies! Hopefully you can join us!

Until then, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track.