Because the points reset back to square one for this Countdown, I think would be by far the best decision for John to throw the race. If John's in the Countdown and the points get reset, his sponsors are best served by John losing.
the only messy angle is whether the race is thrown honorably and honestly, of if he pretends the tuning was off, or a -.3 redlit was just a mistake or some other kind of obvious spin to a pre-determined outcome.
I would like to see john not even come to the line, personally. It's the most honorable of all possible outcomes and has been done before.
-90% jimmy