Driver Names

For a track/channel that will have a lot of unmodified tournaments there will be new cars for every event, but I've been thinking a lot about driver names. Should there be new drivers for every tournament, or would it be more engaging to have returning drivers. I have a few options I'm considering.

1) Clean slate - New drivers every tournament. This offers the most opportunity for community members to participate by providing names.

2) Reward success randomly - Have the top 4 finalists from each tournament return in future races driving different cars chosen at random. All other drivers are new. This adds some familiarity and a consistent element that fans can root for while still allowing for "new blood".

3) Reward success not-so-randomly - Similar to 2, but with one major difference. Depending on how you pre-qualify/qualify a tournament, you should have a pretty good idea of each vehicle's potential (That's how seeding works). Simply don't add drivers until after pre-qualifying and have the top 4 finalists drive the top seeded cars. This gives them a better chance of success, potentially increasing viewer engagement.

4) Same drivers every tournament (similar to Chaos Canyon) - I think this would work best by seeding drivers in each tournament based on their performance in the previous event (i.e. previous tournament champion gets to drive the fastest pre-qualifying car in the next one). This gives it a lot of consistency, allowing previous fan favorite losers to have potential comeback narratives, but doesn't allow as much community input.

I'm eager to hear your thoughts.