Heat races in Xfinity series -What did you think?

Charlie Spencer

Charlie Spencer

Road courses and short tracks.
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I've been wanting to see heat races for a while, but I must admit to being a bit disappointed in the ones for the Xfinity series at Bristol. It looked like everyone was more concerned with saving their cars than competing, with little change from the starting lineup to the finishing order.. I guess the difference between these and the Daytona Cup qualifiers was that they took place on the same day as the race, with no opportunity to prep or test a backup.

I'll see how they do this weekend at Richmond, but the idea may not be as exciting as I'd hoped.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I've been wanting to see heat races for a while, but I must admit to being a bit disappointed in the ones for the Xfinity series at Bristol. It looked like everyone was more concerned with saving their cars than competing, with little change from the starting lineup to the finishing order.. I guess the difference between these and the Daytona Cup qualifiers was that they took place on the same day as the race, with no opportunity to prep or test a backup.

I'll see how they do this weekend at Richmond, but the idea may not be as exciting as I'd hoped.
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Same here, Charlie --- I agree that no one really wanted to mix it up for fear of damaging their cars.
 
I think there was better racing when they had progressive banking (there were 2 grooves) but the locals didn't like the old track changed so it was changed back to a single groove track.
 
I am still trying to figure out what the point of them was. Either way, it was about as fun as watching paint dry, but the "main" , now that was a barn burner watching Kyle and Kyle battle it out only to get beat by Jones.
 
It was ok as long as the winner got a trophy. Maybe 120 laps at dover would be better to include pit stops and lap traffic
 
Another reason heats work at Daytona is the teams have something to learn. For practice sessions leading up to the heats, they've spent most of their time running as single cars or small packs of 7 or 8. The heats force them to run in a larger group of 22+. The heats are long enough to require pit stops, so drivers MAY have a chance to practice getting on and off under green conditions. Teams get a better idea how their car is going to handle under main event conditions.

The heats at Bristol were just like the practice sessions - lots of cars strung out around the track. There's nothing to learn in the heats that practice didn't already show them. Nothing to learn, nothing to gain, no reason not to play 'Follow the Leader'.

But if you thought the heats at Bristol weren't entertaining, the ones at Indy will be gen-u-wine snooze fests.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Another reason heats work at Daytona is the teams have something to learn. For practice sessions leading up to the heats, they've spent most of their time running as single cars or small packs of 7 or 8. The heats force them to run in a larger group of 22+. The heats are long enough to require pit stops, so drivers MAY have a chance to practice getting on and off under green conditions. Teams get a better idea how their car is going to handle under main event conditions.

The heats at Bristol were just like the practice sessions - lots of cars strung out around the track. There's nothing to learn in the heats that practice didn't already show them. Nothing to learn, nothing to gain, no reason not to play 'Follow the Leader'.

But if you thought the heats at Bristol weren't entertaining, the ones at Indy will be gen-u-wine snooze fests.
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I even feel asleep reading that last sentence.
 
I read somewhere that Nascar may consider bringing heat races to cup depending on how they are received in X. I don't normally watch X but tuned in last Saturday and didn't know what was going on with the heat races or if it was new or something that had been going on for a while. IMO the races were duller than dishwater as it was mainly guys just riding making sure to keep their car race ready.

I hope they do away with heat races as to me it is a gimmick that doesn't make sense and doesn't work.
 
Skoal_Bandit33 said:
I read somewhere that Nascar may consider bringing heat races to cup depending on how they are received in X. I don't normally watch X but tuned in last Saturday and didn't know what was going on with the heat races or if it was new or something that had been going on for a while. IMO the races were duller than dishwater as it was mainly guys just riding making sure to keep their car race ready.

I hope they do away with heat races as to me it is a gimmick that doesn't make sense and doesn't work.
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Yeah, as long as there are Charters and reduced field sizes they'll remain at that current excitement level.

Now, throw in some bonus points or a big a$$ check for finishing up in the front of the field.... Then they may have something to work with.

What they currently have is nothing more than a glorified qualifying session.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Yeah, as long as there are Charters and reduced field sizes they'll remain at that current excitement level.

Now, throw in some bonus points or a big a$$ check for finishing up in the front of the field.... Then they may have something to work with.

What they currently have is nothing more than a glorified qualifying session.
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I like the points idea, say half the points of the main event, or points only for the top 10 finishers, or three heat wins results in a Chase berth (something the X series is doing with two wins). Give them a reason to race.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I like the points idea, say half the points of the main event, or points only for the top 10 finishers, or three heat wins results in a Chase berth (something the X series is doing with two wins). Give them a reason to race.
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Risk vs. reward. Just make the reward justify the risk and they may get some excitement injected into that format.
 
Yep, they were pointless, just like many heat races have become at the local track where you don't have to qualify for the feature...it's just another test session.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Pointless. There's no consequence. The idea of missing the field is what makes heat races fun. If you don't finish here, you go home.

I've seen short tracks try this too, run heat races to set the field for a race that they wouldn't be sending anybody home from.
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Exactly. There is little motivation to run hard if you are guaranteed to be in the main event

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Would of been different it happened a day or two before the race and it actually meant guys racing their way in
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I made my feelings known on the fan council letter this week, too. Both through the sliding scale thingy, and
in writing at the end.
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Yep. Me also. They haven't kicked me off for some of my other responses but they may this time.
 
LouieLouie said:
So cut the main to the top 30 cars and let's see what happens!
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This could work in Xfinity, but I can't see it flying in Cup given that a large part of the Charter deal was about guaranteeing the same 36 cars in the big show every week. I don't think potential owners are going to buy a charter unsure if they'll even be able to make the main event most of the time.
 
I was really excited but....Just like the track itself, the hype doesn't match the reality. Single groove, no passing, no strategy other than not to ding up the car. It was boring. That being said I'd love to see it at another track, with some consequences or rewards as you all have noted. Maybe the heats need enough laps to require a stop for tires or fuel, if just a little strategy was required it could make all the difference, two tires or four tires, save some fuel....could be fun.
 
Thanks to you council members who sounded off. I've really, REALLY wanted to see this tried, and have said so here frequently. I thank NASCAR for trying it, but it isn't going to work as currently configured.
 
Cool idea but unless they're gonna make these guys race to make it into the show there's no point. Richmond and Bristol have turned into parades so the pole sitter will lead every lap of their heats
 
I would much prefer to see 4 50-lap heat races with 10+ cars in each race, with the top 5 in each race advancing to a 100-lap main event. Starting order for the heats would be based off qualifying times.
 
I hadn’t realized that it would be a heat race when I first turned it on. My first reaction was “why in the world are there only 20 cars in the field????” I finally figured out what was going on. I really didn’t care for the heats at all.

On the other hand, the main race was one of the best I’ve ever seen in NASCAR however. The race between the two Kyles and then having Eric Jones winning the race after that was epic. If there is a vault somewhere with a list of the best NASCAR races ever, this race should be near the top of that list!
 
Waste of time. Cut the field up more, only have 25 cars make it to the main (and shorten the main for that matter), and we'll be talking.
 
FLRacingFan said:
This could work in Xfinity, but I can't see it flying in Cup given that a large part of the Charter deal was about guaranteeing the same 36 cars in the big show every week. I don't think potential owners are going to buy a charter unsure if they'll even be able to make the main event most of the time.
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True but what if they go the other way and open the heat races up to a larger field? So 25 in each heat to race for 43 in the main. I think there are currently 36 charters? So 7 open spots to non-charter teams.

Though you potentially run into the same situation in which charter teams cruise along and the non-charter teams fight it out. This could be interesting though if a non-charter team accidentally wrecks a charter team.

Ultimately, they won't do it at the cup level so it's all talk anyway.
 
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