The first round of the playoff has ended and we have 23 contestants competing to make the next round!
Due to the huge lead that 
All 23 contestants have been awarded 100 bonus points for the season contest. Here are the season points leaders with the bonus points applied.
| Place | Contestant | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | | 1320 |
| 2nd |  | 1167 |
| 3rd |  | 1047 |
| 4th |  | 991 |
| 5th |  | 953 |
| 6th |  | 946 |
| 7th |  | 943 |
| 8th |  | 940 |
| 9th |  | 929 |
| 10th |  | 919 |
| 11th |  | 918 |
| 12th |  | 863 |
| 13th |  | 835 |
| 14th |  | 820 |
| 15th |  | 817 |
| 16th |  | 735 |
| 17th |  | 706 |
| 18th |  | 697 |
| 19th |  | 690 |
| 20th |  | 689 |
| 21st |  | 658 |
| 22nd |  | 652 |
| 23rd |  | 640 |
There will be three more races until the playoff field is reduced to 12 contestants, so get your selections in and make your picks count!
STEEM Cup Series Results – Apache Warrior 400
| Place | Contestant | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | | 108 |
| 2nd | | 107 |
| 3rd |  | 105 |
| 3rd |  | 105 |
Winnings for the weekly contest will be paid out after the preview post for it closes.
Please keep in mind that all points will accumulate for the monthly and season-long contests. Here are the top-10 contestants for the STEEM Cup Series through the current month’s standings. The top-5 contestants each month will receive prizes and the top-10 for the season will also receive prizes. The current monthly contest will run through the end of October.
| Place | Contestant | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st |  | 465 |
| 2nd | | 460 |
| 3rd |  | 438 |
| 4th | | 421 |
| 5th | | 416 |
| 6th |  | 402 |
| 7th |  | 394 |
| 8th |  | 387 |
| 9th | | 384 |
| 10th | | 370 |
STEEM Cup Series Contest
Race Information
Bank of America 500
Sunday, October 8, 2017 – 2:00pm ET
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, North Carolina
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff returns to Concord this weekend for the Bank of America 500. The Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile quad oval track. The race is scheduled for 334 laps (500 miles), with two 90-lap stages and one final 154-lap stage to determine the race winner.
Martin Truex Jr. is still holding on to an 18-point lead with 3059 points in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff. He is now followed by Kyle Busch (3041) who passed Kyle Larson (3034) this week for second place. Brad Keselowski (3020) and Jimmie Johnson (3017) are now fourth and fifth place, respectively.
The current weather forecast for Sunday’s race in Concord has high temperatures near 80, with a 50% chance of rain.
You can find the drivers’ updated qualifying times/positions prior to race time at the following link: NASCAR Race Center.
Driver Selections and Points
Please note the changes that have been made for the remainder of the season and the addition of the playoff format below.
Each contestant will choose three drivers for the weekly STEEM Cup Series from the field of qualifying drivers. Based on the number of drivers and the final results of the race, drivers will be assigned points as follows:
| Results | Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| 1st place | 40 |
| 2nd place | 39 |
| 3rd place | 38 |
| ... | ... |
| 38th place | 3 |
| 39th place | 2 |
| 40th place | 1 |
Once these points are tallied, they will be divided by 2. After the points are divided, the following bonus points will be awarded:
+15 points for unique driver combinations. If two or more contestants select the same drivers, then only the first contestant to post those selections will earn the bonus points. ENTRIES THAT ARE NOT UNIQUE DRIVER COMBINATIONS WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR ANY OF THE ADDITIONAL BONUS POINTS.
+20 points for the race winner.
+5 points for each driver finishing the race ahead of MY DRIVER.
My selected driver for the Bank of America 500 is: TREVOR BAYNE
Contestants cannot choose TREVOR BAYNE as one of their drivers for this race.
STEEM Cup Series Playoff Format
The first round ended with the Apache Warrior 400 on October 1st.
After completion of the Hollywood Casino 400 on October 22nd, the top-12 contestants in the season contest will have 100 bonus points applied to their season total.
After completion of the Can-Am 500 on November 12th, the top-5 contestants in the season contest will have 100 bonus points applied to their season total.
The Ford Ecoboost 400 will be the season championship race.
All weekly and monthly contests will continue as scheduled with regular scoring and separate prize pools.
How to Play and Win
In a comment on this post, submit the full names of your three drivers. ONLY ONE COMMENT SUBMISSION PER USER, PER WEEKLY CONTEST.
Submissions will be confirmed and locked in at the start of the weekly race. ALL CONTEST SUBMISSIONS MUST BE ENTERED PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED START TIME OF THE RACE. Late submissions and any edits after that time will be automatically disqualified from the weekly contest.
There will be three winners each week. The winners will be the contestants with the most points gained, based on the points distribution outlined in Driver Selections. All point totals earned from all contestants will carry over for the monthly and season-long contests.
The contest is funded with a minimum pot of 10 SBD. The total weekly pot distribution will be divided as follows:
| Place | Rewards Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1st | 50% |
| 2nd | 30% |
| 3rd | 20% |
In the event of a tie, the true point total (non-rounded value of total points) will be used in an attempt to break the tie. If a tie remains, then the pot will be split between the tying contestants.
Please help with outreach by sharing this post outside of Steemit!
One of the goals for this contest and the fantasy sports development project is to bring sports fans/enthusiasts to Steemit, keep them engaged on the platform, and onboard them into the Steem ecosystem. So, please invite your friends and family to Steemit and share this with any NASCAR/racing fans or sports enthusiasts. Growing the active user base can benefit all users and investors, no matter their interests.
As always, please ReSteem this post and let’s grow the sports community through posting, discussing, competing, and earning!
Thank you for participating and good luck!
Special thanks to 
for supporting and sponsoring this Steemit community event!
Please show him support in return with a witness vote and by using the BlockTrades services.
