Welcome to the twentieth edition of the ZED RUNdown! 

From incredible achievements on the track to a charity stream that galvanised us all, this week’s RUNdown is all about community.

Let’s get into it! 

Tournament Tracker

NASCAR Breed for Speed Racing Challenge

Congratulations to the NASCAR ZED PASS holders that took home a share of the $20,000 Breed for Speed Racing Challenge prize pool. NASCAR racing events at ZED RUN are going into overdrive with over $150,000 in dedicated prize pools, an NFT airdrop, and IRL VIP ticket prizes still to come. 

Read the NASCAR Roadmap to learn more and purchase a PASS on OpenSea to participate in future NASCAR-sponsored events at ZED RUN.

Class 1 Premier Rolls On

The Quarter Finals of the Class 1 Premier get underway on May 25 UTC and the tournament concludes with the Grand Finals on May 27 UTC. 

For a full schedule of the Class 1 Premier racing event visit the ZED RUN Guide. 

ZED Infinity Collection Pre-Sale Now Open

Beginning at 3 pm PST on May 20 a 72-hour ZED merch pre-sale window opened exclusively to current ZED stable owners. The Infinity ZED Merch Drop features four items – hoodies, hats, beanies, and t-shirts – all donning our official ZED logo.

To learn more about how you can get your hands on our first-ever official gear read the full details in the community blog. 

Twitter Spaces 

Set a reminder, ZED Headz! This is the one you’ve all been waiting for. ZED Gazette hosts a Twitter Spaces on May 22 at 6 pm EDT featuring Facundo Carril and Geoff Wellman. The trio plan a product-heavy discussion. Tune-in!

@Spotonparts hosted a Twitter Spaces on May 17 featuring Chris Ebeling and Jaret White. The chat featured questions from both the hosts and the audience and touched on a variety of important topics. Worth a listen if you missed it.

The Gelato Network hosted a Twitter Spaces on May 18 featuring ZED RUN’s Miguel Diaz. The chat focused on the teams’ recent collaboration moving breeding on-chain.

ZED RUN in the News 

The Gelato Network published a blog on Medium that spotlights how ZED RUN and its team recently came together to automate in-game breeding by bringing the process on chain. If you’re interested in learning more about the process give it a read! 

Vox featured ZED RUN front-and-centre within a larger discussion about the viability of P2E gaming. Evergreen Stables joins the discussion to offer his experiences. 

ZED RUN partner Andreessen Horowitz announced the creation of a new $600 million dollar vertical fund exclusively focused on opportunities in the games industry. 

Product and UX Updates

• This week marked the debut of twice-a-day tournaments. The temporary schedule change was to gather data and assess what formats best serve our community as a whole. 
• Conditional racing events will begin with a Pacer-Only Fibonacci Cup on May 24 at 10 pm UTC.
• Due to market conditions, the launch of the ZED Token is delayed until Q3. Additional time provides an opportunity for the team to fine-tune and prepare the ecosystem. Keep an eye out for updates by following @ZEDtoken

Racehorse Bred for .01 Wins the Fibonacci Cup! 

If you’re looking for the perfect example of what success at ZED RUN on a budget might look like, the recent Fibonacci Cup Champion Panic Sell, a Z14 Buterin Exclusive Filly was bred for just $38. 

“Zerga Farms wanted to breed a competitive racehorse for as cheap as possible,” @LinusCaldwell5, owner of Panic Sell and jockey for @ZergaFarms says. 

“Panic Sell cost 0.018 ETH ($38) to breed and went on to win $500 in his debut. This just goes to show that everyone has a shot at ZED RUN!” 

According to Linus, it cements the fact that the newest incarnation of breeding has added another layer to what was already an intricate game of skill.

“Panic Sell is a great example of what can be achieved in breeding 2.0 if you stack heritage and complementary characteristics,” @LinusCaldwell5 says.”

Seems that hard work and doing the homework can equate to success at ZED RUN after all. 

Bellamy Stables Finds Success With Community Help

For new stable owner, Bellamy Stables, the learning curve at ZED RUN has been lessened by crowd-sourcing advice. 

“The community has made me feel wanted in a way I have not experienced with other communities,” Bellamy Stables says “They’re sincerely excited to welcome new players to the game which I have found quite empowering in working towards success,” @Bellamy_Stables says. 

“Every question I have ever asked has been met with ten members jumping in to help me out.”

Bellamy Stables says not being afraid to ask questions and to put in the trial and error work on the racetrack is inevitably what led to her most recent Fibonacci Cup Finals appearance. 

“It has been exciting getting to figure out my personal strategy in the last few months,” @Bellamy_Stables says. 

Bellamy Stables says the next step in her growth at ZED RUN is to stockpile both races and breeders in order to set herself up for long-term success. 

“There is so much potential for the future of ZED from within the community, and I think a lot of it comes from the mindset that if one of us succeeds, we all succeed.” 

DK Racing: Bullish on the ZED Community 

ICYMI this past week, DK Racing published a tremendous blog detailing some community members and the value in content and tools they provide. DK says watching the community help each other has been his favourite part of participating in ZED RUN. 

“The most striking thing about the ZED community to me is the depth of engagement and willingness to help,” DK Racing says. “The community is incredibly open to helping onboard new people and sharing ideas.  Even though we are all trying to beat each other on the track, we all see the value in growing together.”

Outside of the game, DK says the comradery that comes with workshopping game theory and ideas has turned competitors and community members into people he considers friends. 

“I am talking about digital horses every day with people all over the world and loving every minute of it!”

If you know anyone just getting into ZED RUN, DK’s onboarding blog is a tremendous help in getting them accustomed to the game. Thanks, DK! 

F*CK Cancer

This past week Avon Fields Stables, Pony Zook, and members of the ZED RUN community conducted a 24-hour F*CK Cancer charity stream in support of Little Wishes. As of this week, their efforts have already raised over $10,000.

Avon Fields says the crew spoke to representatives from Little Wishes this past week and they expressed their gratitude for the donations. 

“I couldn't have done it without the amazing people who came on and hung out on stream for interviews, racing, and more,” Avon Fields Stables says. “Pony Zook and I are super excited to grow this partnership in the future. You can definitely expect more fun events from us for this awesome organization.” 

If you’d like to help support Little Wishes, the team is accepting donations via PayPal. In addition, there are still some racehorses up for auction. 

Zombie Racing on 3000 wins  

A massive congratulations goes out to Zombie Racing for reaching 3,000 lifetime wins at ZED RUN. A longtime pillar of the ZED Headz community, Zombie says getting to this point was a long row to hoe, but an extremely worthwhile and rewarding experience. 

“Celebrating our 3,000th win this week was a special moment. It’s a massive milestone that’s made us reflect on our ZED RUN journey that started back in March last year,” Zombie Racing says. 

“While the game has evolved, one thing has remained constant – the fun we’ve been having racing and connecting with this incredible community every day.”