Championship Clinch Scenario Edition

As soon as the updated championship standings hit ScotiaSpeedworld.ca, the questionsin drivers' minds began flying in.

"What do I have to do?"

"What does Driver X have to do to catch Driver Y?"

That’s why I’m here for my annual Finale Friday Championship article!

We’re crowning seven champions on Friday night and four of those titles are within 10 points or less heading into their final night of the season. I can’t remember a Finale Friday in my 11 years of being at Scotia Speedworld that had the potential to flip four championships heading into the last night of the season. On the other side, we could leave Friday with the same seven point leaders.

Let’s dive right into it, shall we? I am ranking these championships by the unlikeliest for them to flip to those that could see a new point leader after Finale Friday.

**Notes: For those that are unfamiliar with the point structure at Scotia Speedworld; a feature winner receives 100 points with each position decreasing by two points. Heats pay points too; ten points to win decreasing by one point per position.

Tiebreakers are determined by feature finishes - the amount of feature wins being the first tiebreaker, followed by feature second place finishes, third place finishes as a third tiebreaker if needed, etc. This is rule 8F in the Scotia Speedworld Procedures.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BEGINNER BANDLERO

2016 Champion: Tyler Hutchinson of Lower Onslow, NS
2017 Point Leader: Brooke Dowe of Bedford, NS
Point Lead: 26 points over Dylan MacMillan
Clinch Scenario: 8th or better in the feature - or start both heat and feature in a ten car field.
Story: Brooke Dowe has the safest point lead of any leader heading into Friday. The popular youngster has a 26 point lead. If she was to sit her heat race out, she would have a 16 point advantage on Dylan MacMillan, given MacMillan were to win his heat. Should MacMillan win the feature and Dowe finish eighth in that scenario, the division would be tied, giving Dowe the nod on the feature win tiebreaker.

The highest car count in the division has been 12 back on July 7th. Last time the Bandolero drivers ran two weeks ago, they had eight drivers which is the magic number for Dowe. Dowe has three wins, MacMillan and leading rookie Dawson Noble have goose eggs in the feature win column, so no tiebreaker is needed for Dowe.

Scotia Speedworld has had a number of female drivers come through the Bandolero ranks; Kari Johnston, Emily Meehan, Megan Parrott, Gabby Dillman, etc., but never a female champion. Should Dowe be able to complete the championship run, she would join Sara Thorne as the second Atlantic Canadian female to win a Bandolero championship and third in Canada by our research.

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO BANDIT

2016 Champion: Nathan Langille of Coldbrook, Nova Scotia
2017 Point Leader: Nathan Langille of Coldbrook, Nova Scotia
Point Lead: 19 points over Owen Mahar and Colton Noble
Clinch Scenario: 4th or better in the feature - or start both heat and feature.
Story: The Hydraulics Plus Bandolero Bandit title places just ahead of the Toursec Thunder division because of car count. The Bandit division has six cars, it has not changed since Tyler Hutchinson dropped out of the class early in the year.

Colton Noble and Owen Mahar each had a shot heading into August of winning the championship, and mathematically still do, but each had a sixth place finish in the last month and find themselves 19 points out of a championship. Barring any issues in tech in the feature, if defending champion Nathan Langille goes into the feature with an 11 point margin or more, he has sealed up the championship. In fact, with the spread of points in a six car field being five in a heat and 10 in a feature and Langille having a 19 point lead, Langille only has to start both the heat and feature to win the title.

It comes down to consistency and while Noble and Mahar have stumbled once throughout the season, Langille has yet to finish off the podium in a feature. The division has been competitive, with Langille winning four features, Noble taking three and Mahar one.

TOURSEC THUNDER

2016 Champion: Stevie Lively of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia
2017 Point Leader: Dave Matthews of Kennetcook, Nova Scotia
Point Lead: 20 points over Chris Hatcher
Clinch Scenario: 4th of better in the feature.
Story: Dave Matthews can clinch his third Toursec Thunder championship with a podium run Friday night at Scotia Speedworld.

But, it might not be easy.

Chris Hatcher has won two of the last three features at Scotia Speedworld and Matthews has not been on the podium since the Atlantic Cat 250 weekend. The points work out for Matthews though. If he was to sit out the heat, he would have a ten point lead going into the feature, which would mean a fourth place finish to not get into any tiebreakers. Hatcher would have the nod on tiebreakers. While both have a pair of wins, Hatcher has two feature second place finishes to the zero of Matthews in runner-up feature finishes.

Again, comfortable point lead for Matthews, especially with a ten car field two of the last three weeks. If there are 11 cars, which is the split point meaning there would be two heats and even if Matthews finished last in his heat, it makes that fourth place feature finish to clinch become seventh. Anything could happen though.

TOURSEC LIGHTNING

2016 Champion: Deven Smith of Lakeside, Nova Scotia
2017 Point Leader: Scott Thibodeau of Williamswood, Nova Scotia
Point Lead: Seven over “Rational” Richard Drake
Story: We get into the divisions that have no clinch scenarios, beginning with the Toursec Lightning.

Scott Thibodeau has had control of this division all season in the sense that he’d been the point leader. “Rational” Richard Drake has been the hottest driver across the CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series, along with Austin MacDonald in the Bandolero Outlaws, as Drake has won four features in the last six races with the other two races resulting in second place runs.

After Thibodeau won last week, he said a seven point lead was manageable for a driver that doesn’t like to think points while Drake said seven points was absolutely attainable.

The tiebreakers are simple, if Drake wins the feature and there is a tie in the standings, they would go to second place finishes. While Thibodeau has a trio of third place finishes, he does not have a second place feature finish in 2017, while Drake has three. If Drake does not win the feature and the points are tied, give the championship to Thibodeau on feature wins.

Both drivers are great young individuals, have been in the class for a while now and would be great representatives of our track as a champion. Good luck to both!

TIEBREAKER TABLE - TOURSEC LIGHTNING

STRICTLY HYDRAULICS LEGENDS

2016 Champion: Jarrett Butcher of Porters Lake
2017 Point Leader: Paul Goulden of Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Point Lead: Seven over Adam Meehan; 15 over Danny Harvey
Story: Outside of the Sportsman division, the Strictly Hydraulics Legends division probably has the most intriguing situation heading into Friday night.

Announced by INEX on Monday evening, this race is now an INEX National Qualifier. What does that mean? You might have some extra cars show up that traditionally might not run on a Friday night. It should still give us a 16-20 car field of cars, which the 16 number is what we had last Friday.

Within all that sits a trio of drivers going for a track championship. Each of them are going for their first track championship in the division, with Adam Meehan looking to add a Legend championship title beside the one earned in his days racing Hydraulics Plus Bandoleros.

Goulden and Harvey, both Masters drivers and both twice and change the age of Meehan, look to chalk one up for the older guys. Meehan looks to continue the streak of teenagers winning this championship that include the Butcher brothers Cole and Jarrett.

Tiebreaker has the chance to go to third place finishes between Adam Meehan and Paul Goulden should Meehan finish second on Friday night. Any tiebreaker scenario with Danny Harvey would see the No. 1 car win the title with his one win on the season. He also has the most points to make up at 15, but with a big car count expected, it could be possible.

TIEBREAKER TABLE - STRICTLY HYDRAULICS LEGENDS

HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO OUTLAW

2016 Champion: Sam Rogers of Lower Onslow, Nova Scotia
2017 Point Leader: Josh Langille of Coldbrook, Nova Scotia
Point Lead: Four over Austin MacDonald, Six over Sam Rogers
Story: The see-saw battle in the CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series comes down to one night and one last battle between three of the rising stars of the sport.

Langille, MacDonald and Rogers have been battling it out all season and it is anyone’s guess as to who could come away with this one. Langille is the most recent winner in the Outlaw class at Scotia Speedworld while MacDonald’s No. 27 team took three of the last five features and MacDonald was the winner at Petty International Raceway last weekend of two features. That same night, Rogers took home his first track championship at Petty International Raceway, which was one weekend removed from a sweep of the TCM Bandolero Blast at Speedway 660. Langille was second in both of those wins Rogers took home in the Geary woods.

As we said, the trio has been battling it out all season long across the region.

Tiebreaker scenarios see Langille have the upper hand. If MacDonald was to win the feature, Langille would have him on second place feature finishes. In fact, in eight races, Langille has yet to finish off the podium, which includes a third place by Ben Israel on Toursec Twin 50s Night. Rogers would need to win the championship outright as he has no feature wins and with the other two in the fight having multiple wins, there is no way he can win a tiebreaker over Langille or MacDonald.

The heat race will tell us a lot in point spread too. If MacDonald can make up points in the heat, it will put the pressure on Langille and even more on Rogers. If Langille finishes ahead of both MacDonald and Rogers, he would need his worst feature placement of the season to lose the championship.

This is going to be a nailbiter for sure.

TIEBREAKER TABLE - HYDRAULICS PLUS BANDOLERO OUTLAWS

AFFORDABLE FUELS SPORTSMAN

2016 Champion: Pete Miller of Kennetcook, Nova Scotia
2017 Point Leader: Matt Vaughan ® of Fletchers Lake, Nova Scotia
Point Lead: Three points over Jordan Veinotte
Story: For the second straight year, Jordan Veinotte enters Finale Friday as the hunter and not the hunted.

This time, he chases Matt Vaughan. Vaughan, who has already locked up the Tim Hortons at the Airport Rookie of the Year Award, is looking to become the Speedworld’s first rookie champion in a Sportsman car in the 30 year history of the venue.

If Veinotte does the same thing he did last year on Finale Friday, he will leave a champion. Veinotte won his heat and feature last year but still came up five points short. If he can do that, regardless where Vaughan finishes, it would be at least a tie, one that Veinotte would win with one more feature win.

If Veinotte does not win the feature, we could potentially have to go back to fourth place finishes. Each driver owns a win and two runner-up feature finishes. If the perfect storm happened and all the clouds aligned in the heat and Veinotte was to finish third in the feature to tie Vaughan, the tiebreaker would go to fourth place finishes. Veinotte has two fourth place finishes in feature competition in 2017, including last week, to Vaughan’s zero in the column.

It has the potential to be one of the best battles we’ve ever seen for an Affordable Fuels Sportsman championship - and we’ve seen plenty in the last few years at Scotia Speedworld.

After last week’s misfortunes, this is realistically a two horse race. Travis Roma is mathematically involved, but realistically a 43 point gap will be astronomical to make up in one night.

TIEBREAKER TABLE - AFFORDABLE FUELS SPORTSMAN

Saturday’s action will see competition in the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour and the Maritime League of Legends Tour. Unlike four of our championship battles that sit within seven points, Shawn Turple and Waylon Farrell have manageable point leads heading into the final race of the year.

Final point races. Final checkered flags. Final chances for tempers to be bent out of shape. Final chances to get your chicken fingers and delicious poutines. You do not want to miss your final chance to see racing at Scotia Speedworld in 2017.

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