Changes are coming… While we have not finished the 2026 season yet, we have been hard at work prepping for 2027 which is happens to be the start of our second decade!
First, new scoresheet. Yep, we are updating our scoresheet once again. Mostly expanding the tonal presentation section and removing a few categories. This was based on feedback from judges and furthering the desire to help separate cars as much as possible, especially the top tier cars.
Second, we are looking seriously into adding Tidal and Apple Music to our list of music resources. Along with this we have new tech tracks that we have been working with an audio engineer on putting together. The goal is to have those tracks on Tidal and Apple, if we can, so they can be added to the season’s playlist directly with no separate download required. You will still be able to directly download from our site if you prefer other means of playing and as usual judges will have source material as well. The 2027 playlist will be made available sometime around finals.
Third, SQ@HQ. Back again at Kicker headquarters in 2027! It will be the same weekend as the previous two shows, that much is 99% a given. This year we sold out the money round in under 30 minutes and that was incredible and it certainly was noticed by the Kicker staff. There is a possibility that this will become a two day show. That is not guaranteed, but a possibility. What that will allow us to do is allow more entries for org competitors and for the money round. The champions round will remain at 10 cars, but we hope to expand the money round to 30 cars from 20 this year.
Fourth, regions. This is something we’ve wanted to do since day one but we didn’t have the competitor base to make it worthwhile. So now for 2027 we will have regions set up and have regional level season results. Some regions will possibly have their own “finals” for those competitors that cannot make it finals but would like a sense of season accomplishment.
Fifth, install! Yes we are finally bringing install judging to MASQ. We have a draft of rules already, sent out that draft to a few people, got feedback from one (thank you!) and will be offering it at select shows for 2027. Maybe, hopefully, for finals as well.
Sixth, and probably the biggest update, is electronic scoring. This one has been in work off and on for quite a while now. We will actually be testing this at a few select shows this summer, work out any kinks and do a full rollout for 2027. It is quite possible that we will use it for finals and/or the 2027 kickoff show at finals.
What this means for competitors is that not only will the site have results posted, but you will be able to see your full scoresheet scores, not just the final tally. For show hosts and judges it is a much bigger feature. Judges will have a list of cars assigned to them and as they score cars they will get to see which cars are left to complete. Show hosts can see “live” results and the progress of the judges to know where they are in the judging process throughout the show. The host will also see results when a show is completed for awards purposes and then after that they will “finalize” the show. Doing this will make all the results public and email competitors a link so they can view their scoring results. It also means hosts won’t have to manually tally scoresheets, do any double checking and that sort of thing. Oh, and judges will be able to leave notes on various sections of the scoresheet so you won’t have to attempt to read their horrible writing (yay!).
Related to this, there will be a mobile app available. It is currently in testing and will have all the necessary features of the website along with the scoring process for judges. For competitors you will be able to see your previous scoresheets, register for shows, see upcoming shows, filter shows by states that you have selected, in app notifications and some other things.
At some point we will also introduce paying for a show via the app as well. No more trying to find the show link burried in your facebook timeline. No more “did I pay already? Am I registered?”, just go to the app (or site actually) and look. This will be optional for some shows and required for others and that will be up to the show host to determine. In particular you can expect the big shows to have this as a requirement, such as SQ@HQ, SVR, finals, kickoff and so on. Payment processing will still be done through Stripe like it is today so we will NOT be storing any payment information on our side, just wanted to point that out for the security conscience. What it will do is provide a hopefully easier and better checkout experience, especially since, sigh, many people can’t read directions and we end up having to do unnecessary refunds which just cost us money.
This also means that we will need everyone to sign up on the site if they have not done so already. In the profile section you can add your vehicle and the class for that vehicle. From there it will be easy to add yourself to a given show and the rest will take care of itself. This will greatly reduce effort on the show host as they will not constantly have to ask what class you are in, what vehicle you have and so on. You can also see everyone that is registered for a given show and of course when the show is done it will show the results.
We look forward to making 2027 better than 2026 and hope you join us along the way!