Running "Best 2 out of 3" runs in Double Eliminati

Debates and discussions on the various race scheduling methods that can be used and their fairness and accuracy in determining the winners.
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Stan Pope
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Running "Best 2 out of 3" runs in Double Eliminati

Post by Stan Pope »

The latest issue of MaxV's eMag includes this reader's comment:
"Under Improvements for Lane Bias, I would add that my organization runs
2 races for each pair of cars in a double elimination. The cars run the
first race then swap lanes. If each car wins a race, then we draw lane
assignments and run a third race."

Let's examine how this helps improve DE racing.

1. Suppose one of the two cars is so fast that it would win both races. Then the second race is unnecessary, and fairness would be served by running one race on randomly determined lanes.

2. Suppose that the cars are more evenly matched than the lanes. Then the first two races are unnecessary, and fairness would be served by running one race on randomly determined lanes.

So, this improvement more than doubles the number of heats. It slows progress even more since the time needed to move cars back to the start line prevents overlapping staging of cars for the next heat while these cars are being removed and the results recorded.

What the "suggestion" does do is offset the effects of an occasional bad run. However, that is already part of the benefit of multiple elimination methods. It would require approximately the same time to run a quadruple elimination race.
Stan
"If it's not for the boys, it's for the birds!"
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