Daytona 500 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Racing
  • Race Setup
  • Bid for Cars
  • Race
  • Finishing

Setup

A game for 2 to 4 players by Wolfgang Kramer.

Give each player $300,000.

Choose a dealer.

Run three races, rotating the dealer counterclockwise for each race.

The player with the most money after three races wins.

Racing

Race Setup

Shuffle the six bidding cards (the ones with no numbers) and put them facedown by the board.

Set aside the six #9 race car cards.

Shuffle the remaining 36 cards and deal them facedown to the players. Players may examine their cards.

Bid for Cars

Turn over one of the bidding cards, revealing a car up for auction.

Bidding for the first car starts with the player right of the dealer and continues counterclockwise.

Each player must bid higher, in multiples of $10,000, or pass. A player may not bid more money than they have.

• In a 2/3/4-player game, a player is limited to 3/2/2 cars and may not bid for more.
• Once a player passes, they are out of the auction for that car.

The winning bidder:

• pays the bank,
• displays the bidding card in front of them,
• adds the #9 card for that car to their hand, and
• puts the car in the next vacant numbered start position on the track.

Continue auctioning all six cars, starting subsequent bidding to the right of the last buyer.

Any player without a car when the last car comes up for sale buys the car for $10,000.

Any unpurchased car is placed in the normal start space and raced with the other cars. Its #9 card is out of play.

Race

Racing begins with the owner of the first car and rotates counterclockwise among players until all cars finish or all players are out of cards.

Play one card from your hand face-up into a discard pile in the center of the board.

In the order shown on the card, move each car on the card the number of spaces indicated or until it is blocked.

• Each move is one space forward either directly or diagonally (one space left or right).
• A car may not move if all spaces immediately ahead of it, directly or diagonally, are filled.
• The player of the card, not the car owner, decides movement, but they must move each car as far as it can possibly go even if another choice would block the car sooner.

White cars on cards are wild: move any car not otherwise shown on the card that can go the full number of spaces.

• If that is not possible, make no move for the white car.

When any car is moved, the car directly behind it is drafted ahead one space, unless it is not yet past the start line.

• Drafting can affect an entire line of contiguous cars.

The red lane is used only for passing.

• Cars must move back to the inner lane whenever possible and may not end in the red lane.

When a car passes the finish line, it is moved into the next vacant winning position.

Once a player's car(s) all finish the race, that player immediately discards the rest of their cards.

Finishing

For a car that finishes 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th, award $300,000/$200,000/$150,000/$100,000/$80,000/$50,000.

There is no award for a car that does not cross the finish line.