Source: USA TODAY
NASCAR delivered a TKO to its old qualifying format Wednesday, a move that will generate far more excitement and interest for its time trial days this season. For a sanctioning body that occasionally stumbles with unpopular changes, it seemed to get this one right.
Gone is the traditional qualifying format, in which each car would take to the track – by itself – for two laps. The other drivers would wait their turn, lined up on pit road in a drawn-out, boring process that could take up to two hours.
Starting at Phoenix International Raceway for the Sprint Cup Series – and as soon as Daytona International Speedway for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series – NASCAR will use a Formula One-style knockout session which will see drivers eliminated over the course of an hour.
After each session, the time sheet will be wiped clean. So a driver could be 24th-fastest after the first session and end up winning the pole after the third.
The big catch? Drivers will only have one set of tires for the entire qualifying hour. And their teams can’t adjust the cars during the sessions – only during the five-minute breaks between them.
There will be varying strategies (wait to see what other cars do or just worry about yourself?) and teamwork (drafting at bigger tracks) and accusations of tampering (“He blocked me during my lap!”). It will be entertaining and interesting and fun – all things that the old qualifying format was not.
“I’m all for anything that makes it fun, not only for the fans, but the drivers and the teams, too,” Clint Bowyer said in a statement. “This is really going to shake things up on Fridays — in a good way.”
2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski tweeted: “New qualifying rules for @NASCAR 2014 season should really mix it up. I expect a lot more actions for fans and even more games from Teams.”
Teams will work around the details and find ways to maximize the rules to their benefit.
Is it best to go out right away and post a time or wait until the track clears a bit? Is it worth it to make multiple attempts and risk wearing out the tires? And how hard should drivers push with other cars nearby? If drivers wreck, NASCAR will stop the clock. However, teams won’t be allowed to work on damaged cars and come back into the session.
“I think (the strategy) is part of the fun of it,” Jamie McMurray crew chief Keith Rodden tweeted. “I can see it changing with each session and each weekend, especially at first.”
–The new format will fit neatly into a one-hour TV window. That matters to NASCAR TV partners such as Fox Sports 1 and ESPN, which split the qualifying broadcasts during the season.
–Drivers won’t get a good starting spot based on a cloud which suddenly cooled the track temperature.
–And if there’s rain in the area, NASCAR could set the field in just 30 minutes of dry time instead of needing a two-hour window to get a long time trials session completed.
A similar knockout-style qualifying format has been successful for Formula One and IndyCar, so it makes sense that NASCAR would give it a try.
The fans who come to the track will see a more entertaining show. The fans at home will actually have a reason to tune in. And NASCAR will get some drama two days before the cars race.
This qualifying change probably will be popular with fans, so NASCAR should enjoy any positive feedback while it can. The looming announcement of adjustments to NASCAR’s championship format figures to get much more scrutiny from a fanbase that has never liked change in the first place.
Copyright © 2014 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
