The Science of Scoring

This is another sub-installment in the Watercross Season we will be following this summer. Please check the Category: Watercross 2017 Season to read the full series.

This past weekend in Menomonie we were able to catch an interview with a few of the scoring ladies for the IWA; we sat down with Courtney, Jess, Macy, and Marissa. Watching these women work, it became very clear that they run on a multi-check system to insure accuracy, fairness, and non-biased results. Each of the scorers either carries a walkie-talkie or a race headset that they can speak back and forth with; they communicate with each other, the flag man, the starter (the person who verifies that the racers are ready to go and ultimately pushes the green light start button), the racing director, and announcers. They also each carry a clipboard with several different pieces of paper that guide them through the rounds of racing and moves racers through the brackets to the final race on Sunday afternoon.

Meet the Team

Marissa has been a scorer for the past three years, she explains that as a scorer, she and the others must sit on the finish line, deliberate, and come to an agreement about who won the race and who placed in what position. This is important because unlike many other sports that have "instant replay" and "play backs" these scorers do not; which is why there is always more than one deliberating the race. Marissa also explained that in situations where a racer may make an appeal about the placement decision made by the scorers, the racing director takes a look at the evidence and decides whether the scorers decision was accurate or if it will be overturned to the racer's request. A racer can only make an appeal once per race. This is Jess's first year as a full-time scorer and this past weekend was Macy's first time scoring ever.

Courtney has been a part of the IWA community for years but this is her first year as the IWA Secretary; Courtney actively works with the set up of qualifying races, season points, and answering questions. Courtney explained that there are two separate point systems that take place each race weekend. Below, we will explain each.

Qualifying Points

At the start of Saturday qualifying race, a system called "Series Tracker" divides the racers into qualifying heats. This lets the racers know who they will be up against and when they race. After the initial first heat, everything is based on the scoring team's decisions and verdicts for racers to advance. Courtney explains that the majority of the racers only have three qualifying heats to advance to the finals; however, the pro-open class has four heats of qualifying.

For each race that a racer competes in during qualifying, they gain so many qualifying points for their place position. For example, if a racer places first, they are given one point. If a racer places fourth, they are given four points. Qualifying Points work like the golf system - the less points that you have the better you are standing in qualifying. To put this into perspective if a racer takes 2nd place in the first heat, 3rd place in the second heat, 1st place in the third heat their total qualifying points would be 6 points. If we compare that to someone who took first in all three heats, they only have 3 points; placement is key because otherwise your qualifying points add up quickly.

Racers really have to look for position in order to advance because only 12 racers from each class advance to the finals. If racers are in a tie-breaker situation for points to advance to the finals, the following race day begins with "run-offs"; "run-offs" is a race of two or three racers competing for their spot in the final races. Tie-breakers are not always for the 12th position; they can also be any other position in the race. The goal is simple: have the least qualifying points, place well in the race, or better yet, win the qualifying heats, and you are moving on to finals. Failure to do so means you're going home early or may be in a tie-breaker situation.

Season Points

Courtney directed me to the Rules section of the IWA Website to better understand how season points work. To qualify for season points a racer is only allowed to miss one race in the season; they must register, pay, and race a minimum of one heat on the race weekend. While racing, a racer will receive a minimum of 20 points just for participating in the event. Then points are divided up over the qualifying positions. For oval races the points are divided over the 12 qualifying positions, for the drag races the only top 6 will receive points. In addition to the season points, the racer will receive points for each heat race. Below is the official rule guideline for season points.

Stay tuned for future installments and updates on the Apes' racing season.