The Morning drive

Charlie Spencer said:
Does anyone show up for Friday Q? Look at the stands; there's nobody there. Extending practice by another 45 minutes would remedy most of your issues. As to network inventory, Q coverage is already padded with 15 minutes of BS before the start and another 20 minutes on the back end.
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I don't watch qualifying anymore so I can't tell you whether or not people still show up, but I would hazard a guess that it's still somewhat of a draw. I think more people would show up for qualifying than an extended 2-hour practice or something.
 
StandOnIt said:
sit there for 20 minutes and watch cars that will never win go by. The new way culls them in the first round and then the get to the nitty gritty cars are left.
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One of those cars might be a hometown driver getting a shot with an underfunded team.

Just because those cars won't win doesn't mean they deserve absolutely no coverage.

You never know what that two minutes of TV time might do for someone's career. Sadly, nowadays, we'll never know because the coverage is focused on just a handful of drivers now.
 
StandOnIt said:
So for example, you don't think qualifying position makes any difference? Harvick qualified tenth last weekend and wrecked himself trying to get to the front. Qualifying position always makes a difference.
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Spotter22 said:
I just want to know where you guys are coming up with "qualifying doesnt really matter anymore". ?
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And Kez started 11th and finished 4th. Hamlin missed Q entirely, started 25th, and finished 6th. Johnson also missed Q, started 33rd, and finished 9th.

The week before that, Harvick started in the same 10th position and won. Bowyer started 19th and finished 6th. Almirola started 22nd and finished 7th.

I didn't say starting position doesn't make a difference. I've said it doesn't matter as much as it used to. It may not make enough of a difference to warrant continuing qualifying. The competitive cars are going to get to the front regardless of where they start, especially now that they have a two scheduled cautions to work on the car and bunch up the cars in front of them so they're easier to pick off. When's the last time you saw a strong, competitive car remain in the back simply because it had a poor starting position?

I'm at the point where I don't care if they do it or not, or what format they use, although I am opposed to basing it on last week's race. If it's on, I'll probably watch. If it goes, I won't miss it.
 
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ToyYoda said:
Maybe they can start bringing a jar of jelly beans to each track, and starting order can be determined by how close each driver came to guessing the number of jelly beans in the jar.
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I was familar with a dirt late model series that did:

1. A pill draw for heat race starting spots.

2. Heat races with passing points in addition to finishing points, because it turns out passing is kinda hard and should be rewarded. This meant that the best drivers wanted to start in the back, and were hampered by a good starting spot.

3. A variable invert after all that, inverting anywhere from 2-12 cars for the start of the main event.

The shenanigans resulting from this mess were wild. Usually the more complicated something becomes, the worse it becomes.
 
Formerjackman said:
I've always wondered if that was an original idea of his, or whether he somehow got nominated to float the trial balloon to the public.
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I don't know his role in it all but I don't remember the idea being well received. At least not by any of the people that I used to attend races with. I've not spoken to one individual in my circle of NASCAR friends that looked at that idea as a positive.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I don't know his role in it all but I don't remember the idea being well received. At least not by any of the people that I used to attend races with. I've not spoken to one individual in my circle of NASCAR friends that looked at that idea as a positive.
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I have never talked to a single person IN person that has been in favor of the Chase, in ANY of it's iterations. Only on the internet have I ever conversed with somebody in favor of it. .
 
Formerjackman said:
I have never talked to a single person IN person that has been in favor of the Chase, in ANY of it's iterations. Only on the internet have I ever conversed with somebody in favor of it. .
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I think if it's the only thing that you've known as a NASCAR fan then it's a very exciting format for crowning a champion. As a fan of the sport for far many more pre-Chase years vs. post, I miss the best driver over the course of the season being named the champion. I hate that we've lost a true comparison of the Chase era champion to that if the pre-Chase era. They simply aren't the same thing.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I think the only Chase I ever really got a kick out of was the year Tony went on a tear and won 5 of the races. It was just fun to watch.
Your opinion may vary. LOL
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That was the year the 10-race format came together perfectly with the Stewart vs. Edwards battle. If NASCAR insists on manufacturing a championship finale every year, that should have been the template. One-on-one, mano-a-mano is much more intense than the watered down final four concept.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I think the only Chase I ever really got a kick out of was the year Tony went on a tear and won 5 of the races. It was just fun to watch.
Your opinion may vary. LOL
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I'll have to give the Chase that much. If it did nothing else, it gave us Tony's quote on what he'd do to win. Definitely in the Top 5 NASCAR Quotes of All Time.
 
If I had to I could live with the original version of the chase but to me it seems like keeping the classic format with some tweaks would have been the smartest play for fairness and mollifying the fan base. The racing may be better than it has ever been today and the method of crowning a champ may be the fairest system going but as good as those things are they are not moving the needle in the right direction.

In fairness I don't think going back to the classic point system or undoing some other changes would help Nascar improve its fortunes with fans. Negativity envelops Nascar and they don't do very much to change people's perceptions. What a person perceives is what they think is true.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I'll have to give the Chase that much. If it did nothing else, it gave us Tony's quote on what he'd do to win. Definitely in the Top 5 NASCAR Quotes of All Time.
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I forgot how many cars Stewart passed the final race to win the title also it was a record number at the time. He had damage to the front grill and slipped back, and then came back to the front and the whole time on the radio he was talking smack about Edwards.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Give them an hour to practice, then line them up according to practice speeds. :D
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This really isnt a bad idea to be honest.
Spotter22 said:
Is anyone else listening to these 2 bozos today? Pistone is talking about getting rid of qualifying and just starting them as they finished the week before. Couple of regular Mensa members right here.
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That Pistone idiot had a segment on Race Hub, it was a fast forward segment for me.
 
Mopardh9 said:
How about we have them go out and run one lap, like they used to, fastest guy gets the pole...yeh ...hmm
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This, I'd love to see but face it, we aren't going back. I'm afraid that we are in the minority on the Stage Qualifying method. What was once a 'must see' part of the weekend for me has become something of little interest. I don't really pay attention to qualifying outside of fantasy points.

Interesting concept though, the fastest guy getting the pole position. Kinda like 'Old School' NASCAR.

Little by little, piece by piece NASCAR's out of the box idea's chip away @ an existing fan-base while they seemingly fail to attract replacements. I don't know what the answer is but it's obvious that they don't either. I hope they figure it out.
 
Mopardh9 said:
How about we have them go out and run one lap, like they used to, fastest guy gets the pole...yeh ...hmm
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I used to watch qualifying when they did that ............ now I just ask my daughter who got the pole position. Changing things out of what seems to be desperation seldom works out.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
The other thing I liked was TV coverage of single car qualifying. Every single driver got airtime and it gave the commentators an opportunity to talk about some up-and-coming driver or someone we don't otherwise hear about.

I loathe and detest knockout qualifying.
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Well, yeah except when they broke for commercial just when your favorite driver was rolling off pit road...but at least there was a chance each week.
 
"don't fix it". Unfortunately Brian France like others of his kind (third generation from someones hard work) made changes simply because he wanted it to be "His" racing series. Unfortunately like many others of his kind, he used resources built up by others, to put in place ideas that if failed could be excused and replaced. We have seen this time and again by other family members of the rich and famous. Sears is just the latest to pay the price for poor administration.
Nascar will hit an all time low, he will be replaced and eventually Nascar will find it's place in the entertainment world.
In the meantime may I suggest that Nascar go back to something hard to experience yet meaningful enough for fans to want more.
 
The only qualifying I watch is Formula 1, I sometimes find the Saturday shootout more exciting than the Sunday race itself. I used to watch NASCAR qualifying when it was just one car for what as Andy described earlier you’d learn little tidbits about each driver or drivers that didn’t get much air time. Now I’ll watch if it’s on but it’s not so much I’ll seek to find it if I have a spare moment.
 
Snappy D said:
The only qualifying I watch is Formula 1, I sometimes find the Saturday shootout more exciting than the Sunday race itself. I used to watch NASCAR qualifying when it was just one car for what as Andy described earlier you’d learn little tidbits about each driver or drivers that didn’t get much air time. Now I’ll watch if it’s on but it’s not so much I’ll seek to find it if I have a spare moment.
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I prefer F1 qualifying over the race - when I can catch it. NASCAR qualifying takes an hour now which is a convenient time frame but I also miss getting info about the drivers & teams who don't get air time during a race.

Maybe they should factor in the number of times it takes to get through tech in the qualifying process.
 
kyle18fan said:
I used to watch qualifying when they did that ............ now I just ask my daughter who got the pole position. Changing things out of what seems to be desperation seldom works out.
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The thing about the new qualifying that I hate is that the pits are now hot. Pit passes get you pushed way away from stuff unlike the old days when the pits were cold, and you could literally sit on the pit wall to watch the cars go by (at least at Fontana).
 
Revman said:
The thing about the new qualifying that I hate is that the pits are now hot. Pit passes get you pushed way away from stuff unlike the old days when the pits were cold, and you could literally sit on the pit wall to watch the cars go by (at least at Fontana).
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Anytime cars are on the track the pits are hot, been like that for a long time.
 
Formerjackman said:
I have never talked to a single person IN person that has been in favor of the Chase, in ANY of it's iterations. Only on the internet have I ever conversed with somebody in favor of it. .
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I have had the same experience as no one I have spoken with in the real world has been a fan of the chase but there have been some online that have liked it. Some people like it when drivers can get mulligans for going laps down or not being the best all year but it doesn't suit me.
 
The Morning Drive has got to be the worst show on NASCAR XM Radio. I think those two idiots can only appeal to 14 year olds. They can spend 15 minuets talking about what they had for lunch then go to commercials The morning idiots along with big mouth Moody in the PM never found a NASCAR change or rule change that wasn't perfect. When my subscription is up in a couple months there history! As far as qualifying I DVR it and can watch all 3 rounds in 30 minuets or less. I like the new qualifying format much better than the single car runs
 
Revman said:
The thing about the new qualifying that I hate is that the pits are now hot. Pit passes get you pushed way away from stuff unlike the old days when the pits were cold, and you could literally sit on the pit wall to watch the cars go by (at least at Fontana).
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At PIR we can stay in the pits during qualifying ... we just have to stay back about 25 feet from the pit wall.
 
I never miss qualifying if I don't have to and I go to as many as I can when I attend race weekends.

Still want single lap back though. One shot to get it right.
 
kyle18fan said:
At PIR we can stay in the pits during qualifying ... we just have to stay back about 25 feet from the pit wall.
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Yeah, same at Fontana, but prior to the new format, you could get on the wall which was awesome.
Spotter22 said:
Anytime cars are on the track the pits are hot, been like that for a long time.
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I disagree. Single car qualifying was different. The pits were not hot IMO.
 
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