ESPN: What's the point of qualifying?

D

Digger

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Where's the drama? (in ARCA where there doesn't need to be a playoff system to produce excitement:rolleyes:-Andy) Well, you won't find it in the Chase for the Sprint Cup

Qualifying takes a backseat
Qualifying has become NASCAR's unwanted stepchild. For the second consecutive race and the ninth time this season, qualifying was rained out last weekend at Martinsville.

NASCAR can't control the weather, but it can make a better effort to get in qualifying by rescheduling the session the next day.

Martinsville had no track activity scheduled Saturday until 10 a.m. The gates opened at 8 a.m. Why not have qualifying at 8 a.m. Saturday? At the very least, allow the go-or-go-homers to make qualifying laps.

This isn't brain surgery. Just line up the cars and let them make two laps whenever the track is dry.

Any small advantage the Chase contenders could have earned on Johnson was over when NASCAR canceled qualifying Friday, placing Johnson on the pole and giving him the best pit stall for the race.

It doesn't make much difference at many tracks, but where you start and where you pit is a big deal on the Martinsville short track. So the non-Chasers also got the short end of things, automatically starting behind the 12 playoff drivers.

For Sterling Marlin and Derrike Cope, it meant packing up and going home without a chance to earn a spot in the field.

Jayski.com reports that nine rainouts for qualifying are the most since 1959. If qualifying means so little to NASCAR, why do it at all?
 
They should lock in the top 20 in points and have a consolation race for the others to see who gets in.
 
MRM said:
They should lock in the top 20 in points and have a consolation race for the others to see who gets in.
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I'm not entirely sure if this is how they do it everywhere in ARCA, but at New Jersey, they said they would revert to practice speeds if qualifying got rained out.

Since practice got rained out at Martinsville, it was a moot point. But I think that's what NASCAR should do. If qualifying gets rained out, base the starting lineup on the next day's practice speeds if they get it in, like they do in open wheel.

Maybe NASCAR should plan for these things by building in qualifying make-up into the schedules in the event it gets rained out. Hell, I've seen ARCA and Busch qualify the cars in the morning just to turn around and race them in the afternoon -- and ARCA has more cars show up than Sprintcup more times than not (based on the average numbers).
 
At the least, if qualifying gets cancelled, don't give the championship leader the first pit stall. At Martinsville, where track position is so crucial, it guaranteed Jimmie Johnson the win. There wasn't any point in running it - everyone knew Johnson had the win before they even started because he was pole sitter and first pit stall.
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
At the least, if qualifying gets cancelled, don't give the championship leader the first pit stall. At Martinsville, where track position is so crucial, it guaranteed Jimmie Johnson the win. There wasn't any point in running it - everyone knew Johnson had the win before they even started because he was pole sitter and first pit stall.
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Right. The pit-stall is the sole reason Jimmie won. If quals are all that matter the finish order should be the exact same as the starting order. I can't remember the last time 'that' happened!
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
At the least, if qualifying gets cancelled, don't give the championship leader the first pit stall. At Martinsville, where track position is so crucial, it guaranteed Jimmie Johnson the win. There wasn't any point in running it - everyone knew Johnson had the win before they even started because he was pole sitter and first pit stall.
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Well to any other driver, they should have been first in points by this race if it was that important. If you look at it a different way, what would you do? Put Kyle Petty out in the first stall, Johnson got the first stall because he deserved it with the season thus far. There isn't a whole lot you can do when it rains out qualifying.
 
Ward Burton said:
Well to any other driver, they should have been first in points by this race if it was that important. If you look at it a different way, what would you do? Put Kyle Petty out in the first stall, Johnson got the first stall because he deserved it with the season thus far. There isn't a whole lot you can do when it rains out qualifying.
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Read the article - both of you.

The man has a valid point. This has happened 9 times this season and is likely to happen again in Atlanta. This is a serious problem.

Teams that run on a limited schedule or are just starting spend the money on gas and travel to these races and have to go home without getting the chance to even put that car on the track.

Put yourselves in their positions, every one of them. They're not going home because their car and their driver wasnt good enough. They're not going home because of poor performance that week. They're going home because it's raining when qualifying is scheduled to start.

NA$CAR didn't make an attempt at Charlotte. Another bad one was Richmond. They KNEW the rain was coming. They knew when the rain was coming. They could've cut practice short and run qualifying then.

The problem here that the article points out is that NA$CAR isn't even making an attempt to get qualifying in anymore. And if it doesn't merit an attempt, they should just stop doing it all together and quit wasting everybody's time.
 
There goes Andy again crying about some perceived unfairness that Nascar is showing to Jimmie over others. The bottom line is the drivers knew what the rules were for qualifying before the season started. It was their choice to take the gamble. Even Mikey last year was able to accept that his team would have problems getting in. He made suggestions that the rules be tweaked and Nascar listened. But, that mean ol' Jimmie is being handed the Championship and part timers aren't being allowed to compete...cry me a freaking river...
 
Life is not fair --- get over it.
I'm with bp, the boys know the rules about q'ing --- it is what it is.

I remember when the first pit stall went to last year's champion --- regardless of his q'ing position or his point standing.
 
Johnson's going to set a record for poles by default. The forecast is for a 100% chance of rain in Hampton Friday.
 
vanzetti said:
Right. The pit-stall is the sole reason Jimmie won. If quals are all that matter the finish order should be the exact same as the starting order. I can't remember the last time 'that' happened!
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New hampshire, 2000 I belive?
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
Read the article - both of you.

The man has a valid point. This has happened 9 times this season and is likely to happen again in Atlanta. This is a serious problem.

Teams that run on a limited schedule or are just starting spend the money on gas and travel to these races and have to go home without getting the chance to even put that car on the track.

Put yourselves in their positions, every one of them. They're not going home because their car and their driver wasnt good enough. They're not going home because of poor performance that week. They're going home because it's raining when qualifying is scheduled to start.

NA$CAR didn't make an attempt at Charlotte. Another bad one was Richmond. They KNEW the rain was coming. They knew when the rain was coming. They could've cut practice short and run qualifying then.

The problem here that the article points out is that NA$CAR isn't even making an attempt to get qualifying in anymore. And if it doesn't merit an attempt, they should just stop doing it all together and quit wasting everybody's time.
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Yes, maybe they could have cut practice short for more q-time; but realistically when its going to rain, it's going to rain. Say it rains Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, what are you going to do about it. The way they have it, may seem unfair to those underfunded teams; but that's all you can really do about it.
 
Ward Burton said:
Yes, maybe they could have cut practice short for more q-time; but realistically when its going to rain, it's going to rain. Say it rains Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, what are you going to do about it. The way they have it, may seem unfair to those underfunded teams; but that's all you can really do about it.
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The point of the article, and Andy's article (uh-oh, I'm agreeing with Andy) is that they should make every attempt to get qualifying in. I mean, qualifying is washed out on Friday, and the race isn't until Sunday, why not at least try for Saturday? Sure, it might rain on Saturday, but don't call it until you know for sure that you can't get it in.
 
The thing that's being overlooked is ---
Which is more important to a team --- q'ing or racing?

I do realize that no q'ing means some teams go home, but, they put so much effort into q'ing that they can't race without major adjustments. Yes, I know that starting a race means money, but some are going to hurt no matter what happens.
 
VaDirt said:
The point of the article, and Andy's article (uh-oh, I'm agreeing with Andy) is that they should make every attempt to get qualifying in. I mean, qualifying is washed out on Friday, and the race isn't until Sunday, why not at least try for Saturday? Sure, it might rain on Saturday, but don't call it until you know for sure that you can't get it in.
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I actually agree with you guys here....they need to a shot at getting qualifying in....a lot times there is extra time in the schedule to squeeze in it.
 
wilson89 said:
And yet another round of qualifying rained out:mad:.
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... at a track with lights that only hosts a 45 minute practice session and 2 hour Truck Race tomorrow with little chance of rain. :rolleyes:

Did you see how quickly they cancelled qualifying? :mad:

Smoke might want to think twice about that new team. If qualifying gets rained out every time they race on the East Coast like it has this year, he doesn't have a chance in hell.
 
The part I don't get is if the qualifying gets rained out on a Friday then just move it to Saturday if its a Sunday race. Thats the part that drives me up the damn wall.

Johnson's going to set a record for poles by default.
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That also makes me sick to my stomach and is one of the very reasons they have to do something about it. It's a long shot but it could eventually happen with the way it is set up now. What is the record anyway?
 
sledge said:
The part I don't get is if the qualifying gets rained out on a Friday then just move it to Saturday if its a Sunday race. Thats the part that drives me up the damn wall.


That also makes me sick to my stomach and is one of the very reasons they have to do something about it. It's a long shot but it could eventually happen with the way it is set up now. What is the record anyway?
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Dude, why are you letting Doomsday Andy lead you around. Unbunch your panties and grow a pair. Do you really think God or President Bush, depending on your political affiliation, really causes it to rain so Jimmie can get the pole. I've never seen such a bunch of 48 haters cry about everything that no one has control over. Nascar is not going to change their qualifying rules during the season, especially during the Chase, because some of you don't want Jimmie on the pole. The lot of you are just being childish.

As to the go or go home crowd, if they can't field a full time team then maybe they need to step back to a lower series, get more funding or wait until next year when there is projected to be fewer cars trying to qualify.
 
barelypure said:
Dude, why are you letting Doomsday Andy lead you around. Unbunch your panties and grow a pair. Do you really think God or President Bush, depending on your political affiliation, really causes it to rain so Jimmie can get the pole. I've never seen such a bunch of 48 haters cry about everything that no one has control over. Nascar is not going to change their qualifying rules during the season, especially during the Chase, because some of you don't want Jimmie on the pole. The lot of you are just being childish.

As to the go or go home crowd, if they can't field a full time team then maybe they need to step back to a lower series, get more funding or wait until next year when there is projected to be fewer cars trying to qualify.
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I don't care if it's Jimmie Johnson or Kevin Harvick. This is just inane.

At the same time, it's best left alone because I don't think we're going to have another season like this where 10 qualifying sessions are washed out entirely. It's just been a rare year out here on the East Coast when it comes to the rain.
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
I don't care if it's Jimmie Johnson or Kevin Harvick. This is just inane.

At the same time, it's best left alone because I don't think we're going to have another season like this where 10 qualifying sessions are washed out entirely. It's just been a rare year out here on the East Coast when it comes to the rain.
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Then if it's best left alone why are you constantly complaing about it? I think you are
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