Enough has been written on these blog pages about various qualifying systems to create a fairly decent sized book.
We are almost universally agreed that the NASCAR system sucks to high heaven. Whether it be the system in general or the top-35 rule that comes as the ugly cousin tagging along behind it. Only narrowly behind the France family's offering is the third hand re-hashed system employed by Formula One. The Powers That Be behind the sport have been trying to crack the qualifying enigma code for nearly a decade. Moving for the 12 laps over and hour session of old, through the single lap qualifying format to the (pretty disaterous) two single lap aggregate system, before settling on the three stage system that has been tweaked and twisted over the last two seasons.
It is this three stage system that has been picked up in other forms of motorsport, from the DTM (German Touring Car Championship) and a modified system being used by the Indycar series at road courses.
All over the world there may well be as many qualifying formats as there are race series, yet they all aim to do the same thing - make qualifying interesting. That's it. Whether it be for the drivers, for the fans who come to the track or the people watching on TV. All these different systems aim, and miss. There may be occasional times when it gets interesting, when the whether changes, when there are suprises, but the seldom are. Take the three stage f1 example. When it was introduced it was good, drivers where frantically lapping, but now a few seasons down the line the teams have it down to an art, the top guys sit in the garages until the lasp possible moment, knowing full well they have no problem, all drama gone. The problem is that the idea of qualifying is boring. It is cars going round on single laps, racing other drivers who happen to be on the track is practically prohibited.
At least that's what I thought before I found I could watch practice and qualifying for the Indy 500 via the internet. OK, not every race in the word has a whole month at it's disposal to set-up the cars. But it does have three days of real, interesting, qualifying. A system where each place is fought over dramatically as the pole. The Danica Patrick's of the sport were afforded as much attention and importance as the "back-markers" - Buddy Lazier, Max Papis, Marty Roth - (when was the last time you could say that about most motorsport) Where teams take a risk trying to go faster. Yes, you could improve, but you could go backwards - ripping the safety blanket of a 'banker' lap away. The final 'bump day' was the most spectacular, teams trying everything to get into the race in a way that NASCAR's top-35 rule never quite seems to deliver. Teams that had struggled all month suddenly found speed, teams that had been on the pace all month suddenly found themselves facing an uphill struggle. Everything came down to the minute, when in a last attempt the final runner, Mario Dominguez smacked the wall.
It was what qualifying should be - fast, exciting, dramatic, all or nothing and, probably most important for the people behind the sport, incredibly watchable. Good qualifying should be an advert for the race, not a giveaway for who may win. That was what the Indy system is.
jbroomy This is the one time of the that the now re-emerged CART/IRL fans and partcipants can raise the their level within the public's persona.
Say nothing of which the race itself ought to be exciting.
rampant' aka tophatal .........
Last edited by rampantfanatic on May 19th at 10:22 AM.
I'll have to say first, the emotion that Marty Roth and Buddy Lazier showed (on camera) after that last qualifier wrecking was very classy. They both understand and portrayed the heartbreaking emotions. Great stuff.
BUT! You have to remember that this was qualifying for the Indy 500. NASCAR has its own version. The Daytona 500. The qualifying for the Daytona 500 is COMPLETELY different than the rest of the year. They have the shootout, the Twin 150's or Gatorade Duels or whatever they're calling them now.
Good stuff here!
Last edited by HotfootLori on May 19th at 10:24 AM.
jbroomy - I agree that this is an exciting form of qualifying. Bump day used to be the most pressure-packed day in motor racing (including the Daytona 500). It has waned since the IRL-CART split and the car count wasn't sufficient to create any drama. Hopefully, within the next 2-3 years the 500 entry list will be closer to 40. They should probably lock in the Top-15 to 18 on the first weekend and let the others finish out on bump weekend. That way race organizers can ensure three compelling weekend sessions to grow the newest version of American open-wheel racing.
Broomy- great blog but I am going to have to disagree with the premise that qualifying is meant to be entertaining. I want qualifying to be effective in setting the field of fastest cars, that should be entertainment enough.
I think NASCAR should consider short qualifying races to get in, like they do before Daytona for all the races, that way you get to see al the drivers race 25 laps at least during the weekend...and you wouldn't be able to play with qual setups as much, you would have to be in race trim, hopefully resulting in the fastest racers getting into the show.
Lori & Kristen - I entirely agree that the twin-150's at Daytona and similar short races are a better way of qualifying than normal races, but they are still far from perfect. For some reason I've never been a fan of them, especially when you have guys deliberately blocking so their team-mates can make the show - as happened with Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemochek when they were at the old Ginn team.
Kristen - All sport, when it boils down to do it is entertainment, why else would sports be done in massive stadiums? There is definately something to be said for qualifying to be entertaining itself, but media-savvy sponsorship dollar hungry sanctioners will want to attract as many "fair-weather" fans through the gates and in front of the TV.
The quagmire of qualifying for a racing event is as varied as there are racing sanctions and tracks. One qualifying procedure for all racing sactions and tracks is not theoretically plausable. There is too much tradition and mind set ways for it to ever change. Case in point: NASCAR's top 35 rule.
As a bit of an Indy traditionalist, it pains me to say this. But the qualifying format used for the 500 has proven to be pretty good at creating drama with only a few cars at risk. As the field grows, it should become more and more interesting. But the idea that this should be stretched over 4 days is crazy. As much as I value the traditions of the 500, most particularly the "Month of May " concept where the cars are pretty much at the Speedway practicing, qualifying, or racing for most of the month, reform has it's place.
Four laps under the pressure that goes with qualifying for the 500 has to be incredibly taxing - and dangerous. Allowing teams to do this three times per day for four days seems to be too much.
Fast in, slow go home. Yes it would be nice if nascar locked in the top 12, and raced the rest. You know that wont happen though. But great idea. Going to the indy race in Milwaukee on the 1st of June. If you watch the race watch for Noah to be flagging.
A quick re-#### of the profile for the new year.
I'm an interloper from England - land of the cream tea. You'll find me mostly writing about NASCAR and F1, and although I like to think I can blag my way through conversations on many sports there are more than enough people on this site who can put me to shame. I've been a fan of anything that goes fast for as long as I can remember, and NASCAR since the early 90's. I pull for Toyota (as the blog name suggests) and Dario, but I'll settle for anyone not driving a Hendrick car.
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