2017 CFR Organized Play Champion and Other Awards

The inaugural Championship Formula Racing Organized Play season has concluded.  Before we get to the awards, some data on the season.

Race Opportunities	21
Total Races	47
Tournaments	5
Drivers Ranked	100
Driver Races	477
Avg Field Size	9.5

It is hard to compare these numbers to past recordings since those would be pre-OP numbers but these numbers are all larger than I have seen in the last 5 years that I've been meaningfully ranking drivers.  Last year I tracked 31 races and ranked 89 drivers for a total of 316 Driver Races.  In 2013 and 2014 there were 4 tournaments... the most before this year.  Last year and in 2013 there were 14 race opportunities.

Interestingly, the average field size has been shrinking.  It was 11.8 in 2013 and has slowly dropped year after year.

Obviously 47 races and 5 tournaments means a lot of drivers and a lot of stewards.  Thanks to everyone who raced and especially to every steward and tournament organizer.

But without further ado... awards:

OP Champion

Don Tatum came close and Kevin Keller made a run at WBC from way behind, but in the end I (Doug Schulz) held onto my lead to win the first CFR OP Championship.  On the right is this year's top 20 showing their change in ranking from last year.

I'll write a longer summary of this season in a later post so I can give it more time.

Complete rankings can be seen here. 

Rookie of the Year

By which I mean, rookie to CFR rankings... Renaud Verlaque showed up at WBC this summer, ran in 3 qualifiers, winning his last qualifier to make the finals table.  That was good enough for 27th on the season even after retiring in the WBC finals.

Honorable mention to Phillip Walling who scored points in all 3 races he entered this year and ended up ranked 51st.  In total 29 different drivers raced this year for the first time since at least 2013.

Comeback Driver of the Year

For the best showing from a driver we have not seen in a while... Chris Brandt has been running the event at PrezCon Winter for a while now but last appeared in these rankings in 2013.  This year Chris wrote up his results and even participated in other OP events -- 9 races in total -- on his way to being ranked 16th on the year.

Honorable mentions for Dan Mallison II and Dave Ingraham who ranked 26th and 41st after spending a year away from these rankings.

Most Improved Driver of the Year

For the largest jump in ranking from last season (minimum 2+ races the season prior)... Jim Fleckenstein ran 3 races last year, a 3rd, 5th, and DNF -- not making the finals at his only event that year and ranked 46th.  This year, raced 8 times, picked up a win, and scored points in both tournaments his entered for a rank of 15th this year.

Very Honorable mention to Bruce Lavoie who jumped from 62nd to 31st this year.  His three races this year included a win and a third.  His 3 races last year included 2 DNFs and a 5th.

Steward of the Year

This was the hardest award to give out.  Without every steward, the races would not happen and this post would not exist, but... Michael Polcen did much this season to over come car-gate.  Not only does Michael run the 2nd largest online CFR tournament, he also ran a demo event at his friendly local game store.

Very Honorable mentions for Chris Brandt who stewarded 5 races this season at PrezCon Winter, Chris Hancock who stewarded 4 races in two different online tournaments, Chris Long who ran 4 races at the hugely successful WBC, Jim Orlando whose name is not Chris and yet still ran 4 races this year, and Don Tatum who ran his first tournament this year at PrezCon Summer.

Great season, thanks, and keep eyes out for early news from the 2018 season of CFR Organized Play.