Rules Governing 2011 National Driving Championship

1. The 2011 National Driving Championship host venue is Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at Charlottetown Driving Park.

2. The Championship will be controlled and race under these guidelines and under the racing rules outlined by the Martime Provinces Harness Racing Commission. A minimum of eight races shall be conducted for the Championship within one day.

3. All drivers competing in the Championship shall have competed in their respective regional event.  Where a regional event is not able to be held, SC will determine that region's representatives.

4. Each participating driver must have signed the contract provided by Standardbred Canada.

5. Each driver competing in the Championship must be licensed to drive in every Canadian province.

6. Drivers may not enter or drive a horse that he owns or trains in any legs of the National Driving Championship.

7. When conducting the driver draw for legs of the National Driving Championship, the race secretary must ensure that each driver drives from each post position 1-8 at least once.

8. Points for the Championship will be awarded in each race according to the official order of finish and the World Driving Championship rules as follows:

Number of Starters 8:
15(1), 10(2), 7(3), 5(4), 4(5), 3(6), 2(7), 1(8).

Number of Starters 7:
14(1), 9(2), 6(3), 4(4), 3(5), 2(6), 1(7).

9. In the event of a horse being scratched or where no horse is available, five (5) points shall be awarded to the driver concerned. If a horse is disqualified or a horse and driver fail to complete the race, they will receive one (1) point.

10. In the event of a scratch, the driving rep drawn to a horse shall drive the ‘also eligible’ horse.

11. In the event of a dead heat for any placing in any race the points for the horses involved will be added together and divided equally among the drivers concerned (eg. If there’s a dead heat for third between two horses, the points for third and fourth place will be added and divided among the drivers)

12. The point score will be kept by an Official Point Scorer appointed by the host track as well as at least one Standardbred Canada representative.

13. All drivers must compete in all races in the Championship, unless unable to do so because of illness, injury or exceptional circumstances. One Atlantic regional representative will be on hand the night of the Championship in the event a driver is unable to compete that night. This Atlantic region representative will take that drivers place in the Championship.

14. If a driver declares he is unable to attend the Championship  because of illness, injury or exceptional circumstances the first also eligible driver from his/her regional event will be asked to fill in. If there are no drivers from the regional event available, the competition will take place with seven (7) drivers.

15. The driver with the most points shall be declared the 2011 National Driving Champion.

16. In the event of a tie for any position, the driver with the most number of winning drives in the Championship races shall be declared the winner; if still tied the greater number of second drives and so on until a winner is declared.

17 . All horses in each race are to be graded as evenly as possible. Superior horses or those hard to handle shall not be allowed to participate.

18. No driving fees are to be paid by the owners to the competing drivers.

19. Standardbred Canada has the right to make a ruling on any situation arising not addressed by these guidelines.

In the event of a tie for a position at the end of a regional championship or the National Championship, the driver with the most wins will be declared the winner of that position. 

If there is still a tie, the driver with the most second place finishes will be declared the winner.

If there is still a tie, the driver with the most number of third place finishes will be declared the winner.