Monitoring Data Changes

This integration scenario explains how to efficiently monitor updates across NASCAR data using the Daily Change Log feed. Instead of repeatedly polling multiple endpoints, applications can use the change log to detect which data has changed and selectively refresh only the affected resources.

This approach is especially useful for keeping schedules, standings, drivers, cars, and race data current while conserving API call limits.

This scenario is commonly used to:

• Detect race schedule or status changes
• Refresh standings after race completion
• Monitor driver or car updates
• Keep cached data synchronized
• Reduce unnecessary polling of core feeds

Overview

The Daily Change Log acts as a centralized index of data modifications for a given date. It does not return full datasets. Instead, it provides entity IDs and timestamps indicating what has changed.

Your application can then use those IDs to call the appropriate NASCAR feeds and retrieve updated data only where needed.

A typical workflow looks like this:

Daily Change Log → Identify changed entities → Refresh relevant feeds

Relevant Feeds

The following feeds are commonly used when monitoring NASCAR data changes:

High-Level Workflow

A typical data monitoring integration follows this flow:

1. Call the Daily Change Log for a specific date
2. Review which entity types have changed
3. Capture the affected entity IDs
4. Refresh only the feeds related to those entities
5. Update cached or displayed data accordingly

⏱️

Daily Change Log Time Window

Each day in the Daily Change Log represents a 24-hour UTC window:

• Start: 05:00:00 UTC
• End: 04:59:59 UTC (the following day)

When requesting the log for a given date, the response includes all changes that occurred within this time range, not strictly from midnight to midnight.

Integration Steps

1. Call the Daily Change Log

Start by calling the Daily Change Log for the date you want to monitor.

The response includes:

• A start_time and end_time window

• Lists of changed entities such as:

  • drivers
  • cars
  • races
  • tracks
  • standings (when applicable)

• A last_modified timestamp for each entity

The change log only indicates what changed, not what the new values are.

2. Identify Changed Entity Types

Review which sections are present in the response. Only entity types that have changed during the time window are included. If a selection is not present, no changes occurred for that entity type during the requested window.

{
  "start_time": "2025-01-06T05:00:00Z",
  "end_time": "2025-01-07T04:59:59Z",
  "drivers": [
    {
      "id": "2098daf1-73b6-4cf5-9c02-eae8c5ddf3eb",
      "full_name": "Tim Brown",
      "last_modified": "2025-01-06T21:24:31Z"
    },
    {
      "id": "84c95ac2-a84a-4a43-9607-8d230d9cb8b6",
      "full_name": "Gio Ruggiero",
      "last_modified": "2025-01-06T23:27:59Z"
    },

<changelog xmlns="http://feed.elasticstats.com/schema/nascar/changelog-v2.0.xsd" start_time="2025-01-06T05:00:00Z" end_time="2025-01-07T04:59:59Z">
  <drivers>
    <driver id="2098daf1-73b6-4cf5-9c02-eae8c5ddf3eb" full_name="Tim Brown" last_modified="2025-01-06T21:24:31Z"/>
    <driver id="84c95ac2-a84a-4a43-9607-8d230d9cb8b6" full_name="Gio Ruggiero" last_modified="2025-01-06T23:27:59Z"/>
  </drivers>

 "races": [
    {
      "id": "05195eb2-a29c-4bad-9d98-38fa7f6e4bbd",
      "name": "NASCAR Cup Series Race at Mexico City",
      "last_modified": "2025-01-07T04:45:00Z",
      "series": {
        "id": "3e32047e-4ff3-4e35-a607-1546a2c32214",
        "name": "NASCAR Cup Series",
        "alias": "CUP"
      },
      "season": {
        "id": "7967612b-6ad5-4ac3-8a3d-69dbc63916aa",
        "year": 2025
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "2fb1d480-f5ed-4d99-a51a-b7b86980b897",
      "name": "Coca-Cola 600",
      "last_modified": "2025-01-07T04:44:20Z",
      "series": {
        "id": "3e32047e-4ff3-4e35-a607-1546a2c32214",
        "name": "NASCAR Cup Series",
        "alias": "CUP"
      },
      "season": {
        "id": "7967612b-6ad5-4ac3-8a3d-69dbc63916aa",
        "year": 2025
      }
    },

  <races>
    <race id="05195eb2-a29c-4bad-9d98-38fa7f6e4bbd" name="NASCAR Cup Series Race at Mexico City" last_modified="2025-01-07T04:45:00Z">
      <series id="3e32047e-4ff3-4e35-a607-1546a2c32214" name="NASCAR Cup Series" alias="CUP"/>
      <season id="7967612b-6ad5-4ac3-8a3d-69dbc63916aa" year="2025"/>
    </race>
    <race id="2fb1d480-f5ed-4d99-a51a-b7b86980b897" name="Coca-Cola 600" last_modified="2025-01-07T04:44:20Z">
      <series id="3e32047e-4ff3-4e35-a607-1546a2c32214" name="NASCAR Cup Series" alias="CUP"/>
      <season id="7967612b-6ad5-4ac3-8a3d-69dbc63916aa" year="2025"/>
    </race>
  </races>

For example:

• A race appearing under races may indicate:

  • A status change
  • Updated timing
  • A completed or corrected result

• Entries under drivers or cars often reflect:

  • Roster updates
  • Driver assignments
  • Biographical corrections

• Standings updates typically occur:

  • After a race completes
  • Following statistical validation

Your application should treat each section independently and only react to the data types it cares about.

3. Refresh Affected Feeds

Use the returned IDs to selectively call the appropriate NASCAR feeds.

Examples:

• Race ID → refresh Schedule or Race Leaderboard
• Driver ID → refresh Driver Statistics or Drivers
• Car ID → refresh Owner Standings or Cars
• Standings changes → refresh the relevant Standings feed

This targeted approach avoids unnecessary full-season refreshes.

💡

Refresh Event Feeds on race.id Changes

When the Daily Change Log reports a change for a race.id, refresh all feeds related to that race, including:

• Race Leaderboard
• Starting Grid
• Entry List (when available)
• Practice Leaderboard (when available)
• Qualifying Leaderboard (when available)

A race.id change may impact multiple sessions or validation states. Refreshing all event-related endpoints helps ensure your application reflects the most current and consistent race data.

4. Handle Timing and Frequency

The Daily Change Log is designed to be polled at regular intervals based on your platform’s freshness requirements.

Best practice is to:

• Poll once per day for general data synchronization
• Increase frequency during race weekends if needed
• Use the last_modified timestamps to determine recency
• Combine with update frequency guidance from individual feeds
• For more details, see the Update Frequencies page

Common Use Cases

Monitoring data changes supports many platform features, including:

• Keeping cached data in sync
• Updating standings after race completion
• Detecting late schedule changes
• Refreshing post-race statistics
• Powering backend data pipelines

Best Practices

• Use the Daily Change Log as a trigger, not a data source
• Only refresh feeds related to changed entities
• Do not poll leaderboard or statistics feeds unnecessarily
• Expect standings and statistics updates after races complete
• Combine change detection with documented update frequencies
• Treat downstream feeds as the source of truth for full data