Formula $pecial - F1 Inspired Diecast Racing League (FULL)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ri6c8dhgyw

This is F1 Inspired Diecast Racing. I'm planning on a 12 car grid to be run on multiple tracks. This Event Season will not be cheap. The castings we are looking for are very collectible. We are going to give generous tips to the tracks that we run on for their effort and so they can enhance their tracks. Teams will also be chipping in to cover the mailing cost between race events, track usage, and for prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for the season.  Fortunately we have a bunch of Sponsors who have helped to bring the costs down.

I'm volunteering my time and effort to organize this event, and will be chipping in money as well. I welcome others who would like to help out in any way or by simply providing advice. We need tracks that can handle 6 cars at a time and open wheel cars at that.  The tracks also need to have a timing system for qualifying.  These ideally would be two lane starting gates with open downhill track. We are also open to considering applications to participate in this Event Season. You must agree to mail-in an appropriate and approved casting for your Team, and contribute the money required to run this event as outlined.

Not for the weak of heart, this is for serious 1:64 scale Diecast F1 Racers who are looking to have some serious fun.

Thanks for the support.  We ended up with 18 Teams/Cars and were able to reduce the entry fees considerably with sponsorship from Custom Diecast Metal Signs by Meekin, Glenn Harding, and Florence Turgeon.  I will be running the first event on my own track so that I can demonstrate the new Grid Formation Tournament rules and we have partnered with Shredder Speedway and MnM Diecast Racing for the other two venues.  I can't wait, this is going to be blast.  Start your engines!!!

Rules & restrictions

• Casting:  Pre-approved Castings only (See below)
• Casting must remain intact:  Include Driver, no visible weights, original casting design
• Like F1, Rules may evolve over time
• 1 Team Owner, plus a minimum of 1 Driver & Car
• No restrictions on Wheels, Axles or Weights (Black/Gray Wheels, i.e.: NOT clear or orange)
• Car numbers required BUT they do NOT have to be unique
• Dry lube only

Castings

Here are the four approved castings:  Hot Wheels Thuderstreak (not the one with the low rear wing), Hot Wheels 500, Hot Wheels Indy 500 Oval, and Hot Wheels Turbo Streak.  See pictures for specific castings.  Searching for these castings may include different names.  If you have a car you believe would fit into this look & feel, contact Marcus Firegone for approval before getting your car ready but please lets try to stick to these castings.

Hot Wheels Thunderstreak Casting (base weight = 35g)

Hot Wheels 500 (base weight = 35.5g)

Hot Wheels Indy 500 Oval (base weight = 30g)

Hot Wheels Turbo Streak (base weight = 36g)

I ask that people stick to these four castings.  If you have a particular casting that you really really want to run, contact me for approval.  I have approved a Corgi Juniors "Formula 1 Racer" for one of the Teams who prefer to run something other than Hot Wheels.

Dates & Deadlines

All entries must be received at the Grand Prix of Ontario before Wednesday, 6/30/2021 (June).  You must Register for a spot on the grid no later than May 31st (while openings last).

• July - Grand Prix of Ontario (Qualifying: Sat. July 31, Race Day: Sun Aug 1)
  
• August - Grand Prix of Illinois 
• September - Grand Prix of South Dakota

Race events will be posted by the Host Track on YouTube.  A link will also be provided in the comments section for all Race Events for the Season.

How to enter

You must apply to be considered.  Contact the tournament host with your request to join this event no later than May 31st.  Once approved you will be given the shipping address for your entry.

Thanks to our Sponsors, this event is now $10US per Driver.  Each Sponsors contribution has lowered the entry cost of this event.

• Carroll Shelby Day at the Grand Prix of Ontario - by Marcus Firegone
  
• Winner gets Orginal Artwork of their winning car - by Glenn Harding
• All Prizes (1st, 2nd & 3rd) - by Custom Diecast Metal Signs by Meekin
  
• Ontario Real Estate Services - by Florence Turgeon

The original per-driver cost of this event was $25.00US

Register your Team Name, Team Owner, and Driver's Name

(See Prizes & Accounting at the bottom for more details regarding dispersment of money)

Limited to 1 Driver per Team

Include a Race Entry ID slip with your entry

Tracks

We have three Tracks lined up for this event that can handle Timed Qualifying Sessions, Open Wheeled Cars, and 6 Cars at a time (2 lanes, 3 cars deep).

Track 1:  Grand Prix of Ontario - Snow Valley East (Hosted by: Snow Valley Diecast Racing)

Track 2:  Grand Prix of Illinois - Shredder Speedway (Hosted by: Cheap Thrills Racing) 

Track 3:  Grand Prix of South Dakota - BlackHills Speedway (Hosted by: MnM Diecast Racing)

Sponsored Events

It's Carroll Shelby Day at the Grand Prix of Ontario - Snow Valley East, including a Canadian Snowbirds performance.  Honouring the Legend, American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur.  Feel free to include something Carroll Shelby related for this event.  This donation has been made in the name of Carroll Shelby by Marcus Firegone.

The winner of this years inaugural event will receive an Original Artwork by Glenn Harding of their winning car.  Glenn's artwork is truely iconic to the Diecast Racing world.  This donation has been made by Glenn's Car Ceations.

Custom Diecast Metal Signs by Meekin has generously donated prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers for this Race Season.  Get your Track Accessories at Merch by Meekin.  This donation has been made by Custom Diecast Metal Signs by Meekin.

Go with Flo for your buying, selling and investing real estate needs.  Florence covers Barrie, Alliston, Orillia and surrounding areas.  Florence's donation has helped to reduce the entry fee for this event.  This donation has been made by Florence Turgeon.

Race format and scoring

Starting positions for each track are determined based on qualifying times for each participating track.  At each track, each car gets two timed runs down the track.  The best time is used to determine the starting grid positions (in the event of a tie, the second qualifying time is used as the tie breaker).  This will be a filmed pre-race event released on YouTube prior to the actual race event on that track.

There are 12 starting positions, P1 to P12.  The quickest qualifying time gets P1, 2nd quickets P2, and on down the line to P12.

There are 2x 6 Car Packs, the Lead Pack (positions P1 to P6) and the Last Pack (positions P7 to P12).  On the race day the Lead Pack is run 1st.  The cars are then placed back on the grid with the 1st car to finished in P1 and the second car in P2 and on down to P6.  This requires keeping track of the finishing positions.  If a car DNFs it is removed from the Lead Pack and set aside.  Cars that DNFed on their wheels in a Spin-out Group and cars that when off track or flipped over in a Crash Group. 

The Last Pack of Cars is run after the Lead Pack is run.  Place those cars in order of how they finished (P7 to P12).  Again, set aside cars that DNFed in groups of Spun-out & Crashed.  Now, if their is an open spot in the Lead Pack (due to a Spin-out or Crash in the Lead Pack) shift the cars over from the Last Pack to the Lead Pack starting with P7 until the Lead Lap is filled up.  In this way, cars can move up their position.  Now place the DNF cars that Spun-out in the order in which they Spun-out at the back of the Last Pack.  Then add any cars that Crashed at the very back of the Last Pack.  Any cars that DNFed (Crashed) in the Last Pack are removed from the Race and given a DNF for the Event.

Eample:

This could be expanded to a 18 car field by including a Middle Pack for 3 groups of 6 cars each and infact that is what we have done.

So now we have a Lead Pack, 2nd Pack, and Last Pack of 6 teams/cars each.  This makes up a full grid of 18 cars.  There will be 5 Laps.  We run the Lead Pack followed by the 2nd Pack and Last Pack. 

Cars from the Lead Pack that finish the lap are placed in order of finish from P1 to P6.  If a car DNFs on track on its wheels it is set aside in a Spin-out queue.  These cars are arranged from closest to the finish line to farthest away from the finish line.  If a car goes off track or flips over it is set asside in the Crash queue.  Again, from closest to the finish line to farthest away from the finish line.  Note that cars that crash are recorded with an "X" to indicate that it has crashed.  Cars that crash twice during a race are eliminated from that race (but will continue on as normal at the next race venue). 

Cars from the 2nd Pack that finish the lap are placed in order of finish from P7 to P12.  If a car DNFs on track on its wheels it is set aside in a Spin-out queue behind any cars that Spun-out from the Lead Pack.  If a car goes off track or flips over it is set asside in the Crash queue behind any cars that Crashed from the Lead Pack.

Cars from the Last Pack that finsih the lap are placed in order of finish from P13 to P18. If a car DNFs on track on its wheels it is set aside in a Spin-out queue behind any cars that Spun-out from the Lead Pack & 2nd Pack. If a car goes off track or flips over it is set asside in the Crash queue behind any cars that Crashed from the Lead Pack & 2nd Pack.

Now for the cars that finished there will be gaps in the Grid from P1 to P18 if any cars DNFed or Crashed and are now sitting in the Spin-out and/or Crash queues.  Move the cars forward in the Grid to fill in these gaps.  If there are spaces available in the Lead Pack "promote" cars forward from the 2nd Pack starting with the P7 possition until the Lead Pack is full from P1 to P6.  This is the way that teams/cars can advance up the Grid.  Any cars left in the 2nd Pack are arranged from P7 to P12.  Now, if there are spaces available in the 2nd Pack "promote" cars forward from the Last  Pack starting with the P13 possition until the 2nd Pack is full from P7 to P12 (or there are no cars left in the Last Pack).  Any cars left in the Last Pack are arranged from P13 to P18.

Now if any cars DNFed or Crashed you will have open spaces at the back of the Grid (in the Last Pack, or the entire Last Pack, or even some in the 2nd Pack as well ... depending on how many cars DNFed or Crashed out of the Lead Pack, 2nd Pack & Last Pack during the lap).  Starting with the first car in the Spin-out queue, add it the first available space on the Grid (from highest to lowest position).  Do so for each car in the Spin-out queue in order from first to Spin-out to last to Spin-out.  Now do the same for he Crashed cars (check for cars that have now crashed for the second time, cars that crash twice during a race are eliminated from that race and are NOT placed back on the Grid).  Start with the first car in the Crash queue by placing it in the first available space on the Grid.  Unless you have cars that have crashed twice and eliminated from the race, you will now have a full grid of 18 cars again and are ready for the next lap.

Repeat the runs for Lead Pack, 2nd Pack, and Last Pack until all 5 laps are complete.  The top 10 cars (P1 to P10) at the end of the 5th Lap earn points.  The car with the fastest lap time earns 1 additional point (only if that car also finishes in the top 10), and the car that Qualified for Pole (P1) at the start of the race earns an extra 2 points.

Fastest Lap:  Record each Lap time for the Lead Pack, 2nd Pack, and Last Pack for each Lap and mark that time down next to the car that crossed the finish line first for each of those Packs/Laps.  Likey it will be the Lead Pack that has the best times.  Times are not recorded for cars that cross the finish line after the lead car as their times would be slower anyway.  Whoever gets the fastest time during the event is the one that gets the extra point.  If times are not available, no bonus is given.

Each Track Event:

• 1st - 25 points
• 2nd - 18 points
• 3rd - 15 points
• 4th - 12 points
• 5th - 10 points
• 6th - 8 points
• 7th - 6 points
• 8th - 4 points
• 9th - 2 points
• 10th - 1 point
• DNF - 0 points

Plus points awarded for Pole Position at the start of each race and for the Fast Lap during the race.  1 Extra point for Fastest Lap (if finish in the top 10) and 2 Points for Pole Position.  Pole Position is not part of the official F1 rules ... but we are adding it for now.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NipTvHWdXg&t=42s

Penalties/DNF

If a car fails to meet any of the restrictions listed above, the car will not qualify for victory. Offending cars will still race. Finish position and any prize will go to the runner-up in the case of the penalty car winning.

Cars that fail to run or fit on the track, or that happen to break during racing, will forfeit their matches. Cars that arrive broken will attempt to be minimally repaired before the racing begins. Cars that break during racing will not be repaired or replaced.

Prizes

Winner gets their car drawn by Glenn Harding!!!

Prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd provided by Custom Diecast Metal Signs by Meekin.

4th to 11th Place finishers get to participate in our Ford GT40 Driver's Challenge - Carroll Shelby Day Event.

www.redlinederby.com/topic/ford-gt40-drivers-challenge-a-formula-pecial-event-full/4689

The Money collect goes toward mailing cost between events, Amazon Gift Cards to Track Owners (for all the time and effort that they put into hosting the event) and Prizes (see Accounting for details).  Entry fees have been reduced from $25 per car based on Sponsorship.  Thanks to the Sponsors:  Custom Diecast Metal Signs by Meekin, Glenn Harding & Marcus Firegone

Accounting

Collecting:  $10 per Driver = $120,  Sponsors = $285

Mailing from track to track for 3 tracks = 3x $35 (estimate) = $105

Amazon Gift Card to Track Host Owners: 2x $50 = $100 (Only the host tracks, not mine)

Prizes worth over $200

Total:  $120 + $285 - $105 - $100 - $200 = 0

If you want your car mailed back to you at the end you will need to pay for the postage.

• Note:  All money is quoted USD
• Note:  All amounts are based on a full 12 Driver grid
• Note:  All amounts are based on 3 Host Tracks

"If you ever dreamed of managing your very own F1 Team or racing in a prestigious Grand Prix, this is your chance. Winning a Grand Prix is like being the King of the World." - Marcus Firegone

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Results:

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Grand Prix of Ontario - Qualifying - July 31st

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYg3WnOco4Y

Grand Prix of Ontario - Race Day - August 1st

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uKciENZXpc&t=751s

Grand Prix of Illinois - Qualifying - August 28th

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJF59rMD4wI&t=298s

Grand Prix of Illinois - Race Day - August 29th

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAxpsBuQA_U&t=172s

Grand Prix of South Dakota - Qualifying - September 18th ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vunLHe417Is&t=1s

Grand Prix of South Dakota - Race Day - September 19th ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4St0e2gaCvU

Race Results