Determining lane choice....
Hey all, have a few questions before I hold my next race.
Last race was single elimination, best of three runs you move to the next round.
The issue with my track at that time was one lane was faster than the other, I'm hoping the new track will solve that issue.
So I had my racers flip a coin to determine lane choice each time...not so great.
So when you guys are racing, how do you determine lane choice? I don't have a timer otherwise I would do it like drag racing, fastest time gets lane choice. Do you only race once?
I'm trying to keep this pretty fun and have people race numerous times, so I'd like to keep the best of three format.
Any help here?
Thanks!
Discussion
Yeah, I've run into this problem plenty of times. I would love to have a timer also, that way the car with the fastest time after switching lanes wins (2 races only).
Without a timer, I've had to resort to best out of 3 and if it has to go to a third race, winner of the coin-flip (top person on the bracket gets to call it and bracket placement was randomly chosen out of a hat, so it's fair) gets to choose lane choice (picking the lane he/she won in of course). The coin-flip is not the favored approach, but seems to be the most fair for now. You might have them flip a coin before the two cars start racing, that way one car may be faster in one of the lanes, but since you haven't seen the two cars race, you can't be sure which one. I've had what seemed like a faster lane, but then a different car seemed to be faster in the other lane. You can never tell for certain which lane your car is going to be faster in until it races.
Yeah, I think the new track is going to be better and pretty even...but since I'll be taking this different places I guess I'll bring a small level and some shims to try and keep it all even!
Think I'll move to a two run race, one run on each side. If it goes to a third run then the ole' coin toss comes into play.
Out of the 40 or so cars I ran last time, I think only 3 or 4 came to 3 runs anyway.
And since everyone is bringing their own cars it's a pretty much a toss up as to who is faster.
It is impossible to get perfectly equitable lanes. Anywhere I have been, there seems to be
faster and slower lanes. That's why I really like randomizing lanes. When the racers come
to the gate, they pick a poker chip that has the lane number on the face-down side.
Eventually, they get dirty and the kids even pay attention to which dirt marks go to which
lane chip so you have to clean them or just thrown them away and mark more chips.
Lane differences are never an issue at Gravitywerx International Speedway because of open lanes and 10-car single file start, apparently the only track that employs this method guaranteeing lots of passing, spills and suspense. George
I think just doing best X out of Y is all you can do. Ideally the track should not be a factor but that's part of the game if you ask me. If you're not gonna have qualifications, then doing a random pull out of a hat or coin is fair, I think. Part of racing is the track...
Maybe let people choose their cars *after* they know which lane they're running in?