Retrieving Standings

This integration scenario explains how to retrieve NASCAR standings using the Sportradar NASCAR API. It covers how to pull season standings for drivers, manufacturers, owners, and rookies, and how to keep standings current as race results are processed.

This scenario is commonly used to:

• Display season leaderboards
• Power playoff and points-race experiences
• Show manufacturer and owner performance
• Drive “points behind” and rank change indicators

Overview

NASCAR standings are provided on a season-by-season basis and represent the current ranking state for each standings type within a series.

Standings typically update as races conclude and results are validated. Applications should treat standings feeds as the authoritative source for ranks, points, and “behind” values.

Relevant Feeds

The following feeds are commonly used when retrieving standings:

High-Level Workflow

A typical standings integration follows this flow:

Seasons → Standings Feed → Store/Display → Monitor Updates

1. Confirm the season is available
2. Request the standings feed you need
3. Display standings fields (rank, points, behind, etc.)
4. Refresh standings based on update signals and frequency

Integration Steps

1. Confirm the Season and Series

Use the Seasons feed to confirm the target season_year is available for the selected series.

GET https://api.sportradar.com/nascar-ot3/series/list.json?

This prevents invalid requests and helps your application support historical and current standings cleanly.

2. Retrieve the Standings Type You Need

Choose the feed that matches your use case and request it using nascar_series and season_year. The series list includes:

• mc → Cup Series
• or → Xfinity Series (formerly O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, series.alias = BSERIES)
• cw → Craftsman Truck Series

Common options include:

• Driver Standings for driver rankings and points
• Manufacturer Standings for make-level rankings
• Owner Standings for car-owner points race rankings
• Rookie Standings for rookie-only rankings

GET https://api.sportradar.com/nascar-ot3/mc/2025/standings/drivers.json

Standings responses typically include:

• series and season context
• A ranked list (drivers, manufacturers, or cars)
• Performance and points fields used for leaderboard displays

{
  "series": { "alias": "CUP", "name": "NASCAR Cup Series" },
  "season": { "year": 2025 },
  "manufacturers": [
    { "name": "Chevrolet", "rank": 1, "points": 1311, "wins": 15 },
    { "name": "Toyota", "rank": 2, "behind": -30, "points": 1281, "wins": 14 },
    { "name": "Ford", "rank": 3, "behind": -103, "points": 1208, "wins": 7 }
  ]
}

3. Display Standings Fields Consistently

Most standings experiences rely on a small set of consistent fields:

• rank
• points
• behind (when present)
• wins (common for multiple standings types)
• Contextual performance fields (starts, top_10, stage_wins, etc.) depending on feed

For example, Driver Standings commonly supports:

• Rank and points-based leaderboards
• “Points behind” displays (behind)
• Additional season performance summaries (wins, poles, laps_led, averages)

{
  "season": { "year": 2025 },
  "drivers": [
    { "full_name": "Kyle Larson", "rank": 1, "points": 5034, "wins": 3, "gained_lost": 3, "in_chase": true },
    { "full_name": "Denny Hamlin", "rank": 2, "behind": -3, "points": 5031, "wins": 6, "in_chase": true }
  ]
}

📌

About behind

The behind value represents the gap to the leader in the standings at the time of the update. When present, it should be displayed as “points behind” or “behind leader” based on your UI conventions.

4. Use Owner Standings for the Car-Based Points Race

If your product tracks the owner championship, use Owner Standings.

GET https://api.sportradar.com/nascar-ot3/mc/2025/standings/owners.json

This feed ranks cars (not drivers) and includes an embedded owner object, plus car identifiers like car.id and number.

{
  "season": { "year": 2025 },
  "cars": [
    {
      "number": "5",
      "rank": 1,
      "points": 5034,
      "wins": 3,
      "owner": { "name": "Linda Hendrick" }
    }
  ]
}

5. Monitor Standings Updates Efficiently

Standings can change after each race and during post-race validation.

To keep standings current while conserving call limits:

• Use the Daily Change Log to detect when updates occur

  GET https://api.sportradar.com/nascar-ot3/2025/01/06/changes.json

• Refresh standings feeds based on their update frequency

• Treat the standings feeds as the source of truth for ranks, points, and “behind” values

💡

Standings Are Finalized After Post-Race Validation

Standings may continue to update after a race concludes due to post-race validation and scoring reviews. While updates often settle by Monday, the exact timing can vary by event.

To reflect this, poll the Daily Change Log and refresh standings feeds only when standings-related changes are reported.

Common Use Cases

Retrieving standings supports many platform features, including:

• Season leaderboard pages (drivers, manufacturers, owners, rookies)
• Playoff bubble experiences using in_chase (when provided)
• Rank change indicators using gained_lost (when provided)
• Weekly recap visuals and season progress summaries

Best Practices

• Confirm season_year availability via Seasons before requesting standings
• Do not hardcode rank or “behind” logic, display the API values
• Refresh standings based on update frequency and change log signals
• Use Daily Change Log to reduce unnecessary polling
• Treat standings feeds as authoritative for ranking, points, and deltas