General FAQ
- Do both private and public leagues support live drafting?
No, only private leagues provide the ability to use the live drafting room. All public leagues are set up for automated/computer-based drafting based upon the default driver ranking or your pre-draft league rankings.
- How do I set up or join a league if I want to live draft?
During registration you must select to set up a private league if you want to create a league with a live draft. During the private league set-up you will be asked if you want a live draft or to use automated drafting. The selection of the live draft option will allow up to all eight of the league teams to participate in a live draft room during your scheduled draft. It is not a requirement for any participant in a private league to participate in the live draft room. If the team owner doesn't log into the draft room, the system will make selections from their pre-defined driver rankings or the default ranking list.
- How do I know what time and date I am drafting my team in a live draft?
The individual that sets up the private league designates the draft time and date. When each participant completes their team registration and private league request the confirmation page and My Team page on the website will show the scheduled draft time.
- How do I know when my draft will occur for my public league?
Public league draft times will be created based upon the filling of the eight-team league and available draft times. When the scheduled draft time is determined by the system, it will display on the My Team page for each of your Draft & Play teams. All drafts in public leagues will be automated based upon the designated pre-draft rankings or site default driver rankings.
- May I change the draft time in my private league?
The individual that set up the league may change the draft time up to one hour prior to the scheduled draft time. Requests for changes in time will be provided in a first come, first served order.
- How does the automated drafting work?
Each participant may rank the drivers prior to the start of their draft using the "Pre-Draft Rankings" option. Based upon the participant draft order, the computer will select each team based upon the designated rankings and the availability of each driver. You may move the drivers up and down our default pre-ranked list or even take drivers out of the draft list. You must save your changes to put these changes in place for your draft.
- How do I know when my automated public draft has happened and who is on my team?
An email will be sent when the automated draft is completed. You may also log on to your team to see the results and set your starting drivers for the upcoming race. Once you are logged in, you will have the ability to see the drivers for all teams in your league.
- What happens if my private league doesn't look like it will fill up with eight teams?
If you don't fill your league with eight teams within one hour of the designated draft time your league will be dissolved. To increase your chances of having a draft at your scheduled time we strongly suggest you use the "Change League" option to convert your private league to a public league. This will allow all participants currently in your league to remain but will then open the remaining positions to public league players and likely fill up. Don't wait until too close to your draft time to make this change!
- If my private league is dissolved, because we couldn't fill the league prior to the deadline, do I lose my team?
No, for any private or public leagues that aren't filled one hour prior to the scheduled draft, we will place all participants' teams into a public league with a future draft time so that you may still participate in a league for the season. The new league will be a designated public league and the drafting for all teams will be done via an automated draft.
- How do I make changes for my team if I want to move into a private league from a public league or move from one private league to another?
Use the "Change League" button on your My Team page for your team to make any changes to your league options. You must know the password to enter a private league.
- How can I see who is in my league?
Click on the "Standings" tab to see what teams are currently registered and designated to be in your league.
- After the draft what makes this league unique and fun?
We know the fun of picking your team of drivers is one of the season highlights. It doesn't get any better than when you can make your picks via a live draft with your friends. Once the fun of the draft is over we take the competition to the next level by creating weekly match-ups against a different opponent in your league each week. If you score more points, you post a win! If a couple of your drivers blow an engine or crash, you'll probably post a loss. If you do post a loss, don't worry since you'll match-up again in another few weeks! Don't let up on the gas since there will be no coasting to the finish line when you're fighting for a win every weekend.
- How do I see all teams and their drivers in my league?
After the draft you may click on Standings and you will see the teams in your league. Click on the individual team names and you will see their current roster of drivers.
- How do I change my line-up each week for my starters and garage drivers?
Once you log into your team you may click on "Change Lineup" on the right rail or at the bottom of your roster of drivers.
- What if I want to pick up a driver that isn't currently on a team in my league?
You may review all drivers and their status on the "Drivers" button on the right rail. All drivers that aren't on a team in your league will appear with a "Free Agent" designation. To pick up on of these players click on the "Add this Player" and designate who you want to drop to pick up for this driver. Rules for worst-to-first and first-come, first-served bids are detailed in the official rules.
- What is the difference between a worst-to-first bid and a first-come, first-served trade?
Starting on Monday afternoon you may make a bid to pick up a Free Agent driver until 48 hours prior to the next race deadline via a worst-to-first bid. Your request will be submitted and will be awarded to the participant with the worst record in the event that multiple teams attempt to pick up the same driver. Worst record is determined in the following order: 1) win/loss record, 2) head2head matchup record, and 3) cumulative point total. After the site completes these requests, it will allow first-come, first-served picks which allows any team to pick up any Free Agent driver up until the race deadline. Note that any driver dropped may not be picked up until the following week.
- I'm in a public league but can see that the draft is set to a live draft: I thought that public leagues only allow auto-drafting. What is going on? Will I be able to live draft now?
There is one situation where a public league has a live draft option. In the case where a participant originally created a private league and subsequently changes to a public league the system locks the original type of draft (live or auto) and the draft time for the new public league. You may have been placed in this public league to fill it out with eight participants. Yes, you may live draft in this case.
Live Draft Room FAQ
- Live Draft Room Setup
We recommend that you log in at least 30 minutes prior to the draft so the system can test your internet connection, PC hardware and software to make sure you have all the components needed to support the live draft application. If you haven't loaded the required Flash application, you will be prompted to do so. This download may take a few minutes depending upon your connection speed. If for some reason your PC can't support the required Flash application, the site will use your pre-rankings to select your drivers once the draft has started.
- Draft Order
Log in to the draft room up to one hour prior to your draft to see the teams and randomly generated draft order for your league.
- Time
The Live Draft room will provide a countdown to the start of your draft once you log in. Once the draft has started, each player selection is provided 60 seconds. If you don't see the draft selection made at the end of the time, give the network a few seconds since there can be delays via the internet. When it is your team's turn to draft, the countdown time clock background will turn red.
- Available Drivers
The right side of the Live Draft room will show all available drivers and your pre-draft driver rankings when you log in. You may make modifications to the order by the drag/drop feature using your mouse at any time while you are logged into the Live Draft room. During the draft you may select a driver anywhere in the order with a double-click or highlighting the driver and clicking on the "SELECT DRIVER" button below the driver list. Once you have made a selection it is final and can't be changed.
- Auto-Draft
At anytime during the draft you may turn on Auto-Draft via the button below the available drivers. This will automatically set up the website to take the driver at the top of your driver list when it is your turn. You may turn this feature on and off at any time during the draft. When your team is in Auto-Draft mode a red dot will be noted next to your team name on the draft list. NOTE: if for some reason your connection is lost during the draft, your team will automatically go to Auto-Draft. Once you successfully log back in you may turn off the Auto-Draft.
- Live Draft Section
Your eight team league and its randomly generated draft order will be listed in the Live Draft area. Once the draft begins, you will see the team names and the specific "On the Clock" and "On Deck" callouts to help you follow the selection process. You may use the scroll bar to navigate up or down the draft order at any time during the draft. Additionally, you may click on a team name and see which drivers they have selected in the draft. Don't forget that this is a serpentine draft so picks 1 and 8 will make two selections when the draft moves between rounds.
- Message Log
Underneath the Live Draft there is a message log of all activity in the draft room - ex: logged in or logged out participants, start of draft, driver selections made, auto-draft features turning on or off and end of draft.
