The third stage of the STEEM Cup Series playoffs ends this week!
The Can-Am 500 will give us our final five drivers competing for the top positions in the season contest. There are only two races left in the season and this week’s race will put our top contestants in position to take home big season prizes! Let’s get straight to the results from last week and check on the monthly and playoff leaderboards.
STEEM Cup Series Results – AAA Texas 500
| Place | Contestant | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st |  | 109 |
| 2nd |  | 103 |
| 3rd |  | 102 |
The total pot for the weekly contest was 19 SBD. The 1st place contestant received 9.5 SBD, the 2nd place contestant received 5.7 SBD, and the 3rd place contestant received 3.8 SBD. You can find the proof of payouts in my Steem wallet.
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 end with next week’s race – the Ford Ecoboost 400.
| Place | Contestant | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | | 199 |
| 2nd |  | 190 |
| 3rd | | 182 |
| 4th |  | 172 |
| 5th | | 167 |
| 6th |  | 166 |
| 7th |  | 162 |
| 8th |  | 160 |
| 9th |  | 159 |
| 10th |  | 150 |
Season Playoffs
At the top of the leaderboard, 
Make sure that you’re maximizing your potential points this week! Here is the current playoff top-12:
| Place | Contestant | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | | 1794 |
| 2nd | | 1731 |
| 3rd | | 1514 |
| 4th | | 1501 |
| 5th | | 1351 |
| 6th | | 1332 |
| 7th | | 1305 |
| 8th |  | 1270 |
| 9th |  | 1268 |
| 10th |  | 1259 |
| 11th |  | 1251 |
| 12th |  | 1122 |
Even if you’re not currently on the playoff list, please be aware that you can still climb back on it and possibly claim one of the top-10 season spots for SBD prizes! I will provide a season standings update after this week’s race.
A note about using multiple accounts for my contests
I've been watching the submissions for my contests for some time now and haven't had too many issues with a user posting from a second account. However, I have recently been watching submissions coming in from what appears to be the same person. I haven't had any rules about using multiple accounts in the past, but the time has come to begin enforcing this as much as possible. So, on that note...
If I suspect that you are entering one of my contests with multiple accounts, then I will disqualify each of the suspected accounts from that contest. If it happens more than once, then I will blacklist all of your accounts permanently from my contests. Enforcement will begin starting with this post.
It's unfortunate that a few people have decided to try to gain an unfair advantage by creating/farming accounts for these purposes. I will always do my best to ensure that my contests remain competitive and fair for everyone and I will coordinate with other contest hosts to share information on the violators. Thank you to those users who spoke up about the issue and are helping to gather information to correct it.
With that being said, let's get back to this week's contest!
STEEM Cup Series Contest
Race Information
Can-Am 500
Sunday, November 12, 2017 – 2:30pm ET
Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, Arizona
The NASCAR Monster Energy Series playoffs are heating up and will be in hot and sunny Arizona this week for the Can-Am 500 in Avondale. The Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile oval track. The race is scheduled for 312 laps (501 miles), with two 75-lap stages and one final 162-lap stage to determine the race winner. Ryan Newman won in Phoenix back in March of this year and Kevin Harvick is an eight-time winner at the track.
Martin Truex Jr. (4168 points) is back in command of the playoff leaderboard with only two races left in the NASCAR season. He extended his 17-point lead over Kyle Busch (4118) to 50 points and earned a spot in the playoff final next week. With last week’s win, Kevin Harvick (4112) moved into third place and guaranteed himself a spot in the final playoff race, as did Kyle Busch with his win in the First Data 500. Brad Keselowski (4111), Denny Hamlin (4092), Ryan Blaney (4089), Chase Elliott (4062), and Jimmie Johnson (4060) are still alive. A win would make any one of them an automatic qualifier for the final race, but Keselowski has the best shot on points, with a 19-point lead over the next playoff driver.
The current weather forecast for Sunday’s race in Avondale has temperatures in the mid-80s and there is no expected precipitation.
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 rules for 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 Can-Am 500: ERIK JONES
Contestants cannot choose ERIK JONES 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.
The second round ended with the Hollywood Casino 400 on October 22nd.
After the completion of this week’s Can-Am 500, 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.
