The new qualifying format and the Daytona 500

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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For the first time the Daytona 500 will be running the new qualifying format. I know that I'm in the minority on this board being a fan of the new qualifying format but I'd really like to see them keep the traditional format of qualifying for this race. I had no problem withe the amount of time that it took to do the qualifying here. I like the time that they had to do interviews with the drivers, crew chiefs, owners, etc..... I guess I understand why they are doing it but there is something to say for tradition. At least there used to be. :(
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I'd really like to see them keep the traditional format of qualifying for this race.
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I agree 100%. Even though qualifying here took well over two hours and didn't really mean much for the race it was something special to watch. Not really sure I can explain why but it was.
 
Stewart Fan said:
Someone somewhere got the idea that qualifying was supposed to be exciting. It's not, that's what the race is for.
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We have a winner.

SpeedPagan said:
Great, now expand that to all the races. ;)
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We already got the sprint unlimited, the duels & the all-star race. Thats enough heat races. This is an endurance sport. You wanna see heats go to a local dirt track or a motocross.
 
Just couldn't agree more with these posts. I don't mind sitting around with the single car runs, etc. I hate the new format, but once I accepted that it is no longer about pure speed, but a sub-competition preceding the main event, I get it. Just think that there should be something for the guys who show up fastest.
 
Nascar makes too much out of the Daytona 500 pole, like it is some special accomplishment. Get rid of qualifying and move the duels to the Sunday before the 500. Line up the duels with practice times.
 
The only benefit to D500 quals is if you are pole or outside pole. Other than that your fate rests in the duels.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
For the first time the Daytona 500 will be running the new qualifying format. I know that I'm in the minority on this board being a fan of the new qualifying format but I'd really like to see them keep the traditional format of qualifying for this race. I had no problem withe the amount of time that it took to do the qualifying here. I like the time that they had to do interviews with the drivers, crew chiefs, owners, etc..... I guess I understand why they are doing it but there is something to say for tradition. At least there used to be. :(
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Not a fan of it for the Daytona 500, especially since we already have the Budweiser Duels. There's an element of drama and suspense that's going to be missing this year.
 
I don't mind the new qualifying format, but for restrictor plates it's absolutely terrible.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I agree 100%. Even though qualifying here took well over two hours and didn't really mean much for the race it was something special to watch. Not really sure I can explain why but it was.
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Seems most people now days have a short attention span if two hours is to long to watch a sports event.

I used to love to watch it because it was your first chance to see all the drivers in there new cars, see new paint schemes and actually get to see cars on track.
 
I'm assuming the only reason for this change was because the network qualifying is airing on didn't want to free up 2.5 hours for a NASCAR event. They would rather take 1 hour for NASCAR and dedicate the remaining time towards the NFL which ended last week.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
Nascar makes too much out of the Daytona 500 pole, like it is some special accomplishment. Get rid of qualifying and move the duels to the Sunday before the 500. Line up the duels with practice times.
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I wouldn't mind this. Setting duel line-ups by practice times would be the same as setting them by the new group qualifying - who can be at the end of the line with the longest run.
 
The closer this is getting to Sunday's Daytona qualifying the more I dislike the idea of the group qualifying effort for the pole of this race. For me I find it very entertaining to watch each of these cars go out individually to go against the clock trying to grab P1. Throw in the 'ghost car' for added effect. The group qualifying effort of the Duel Races for P3 on back has always set this race aside from others. It makes this race special. Adding group qualifying to the pole simply makes that aspect like all other races. Another tradition lost. :(
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
The closer this is getting to Sunday's Daytona qualifying the more I dislike the idea of the group qualifying effort for the pole of this race. For me I find it very entertaining to watch each of these cars go out individually to go against the clock trying to grab P1. Throw in the 'ghost car' for added effect. The group qualifying effort of the Duel Races for P3 on back has always set this race aside from others. It makes this race special. Adding group qualifying to the pole simply makes that aspect like all other races. Another tradition lost. :(
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I agree.
 
I had only seen the new qualifying format a couple times last season because it is usually broadcast while I'm working or on a channel I don't have. It appeared that drivers would space themselves out to get a time, it was basically several single car runs going on at the same time. I thought the format was a good time saver. But at Daytona, pack qualifying is the name of the game where drivers have to try to get a strategic spot to take advantage of the draft - no one wants to be in front (I'm guessing there will be some blocking going on). It seems to me that the Daytona 500 is a special race which already has a special qualifying procedure with the duals and the traditional single car runs should be preserved for the front row.
 
Brian will never know when some things should be left alone. If he takes away the tradition he may end up with a race with few fans.
I agree it was all the hype that got me to Daytona, after 2 races, I would never go back.
 
I figure some drivers will just go out and get a time then park the car (why risk wrecking the car during qualifying). The starting position is not important in the 500 - some of the drivers like to ride in the back anyway. I kinda liked the ghost car when single car qualifying was the standard - nice comparison tech. I think it takes a lucky lap to get the pole, the pole will probably be won by the guy who manages to catch the draft just right and get a run on a pack of cars.
 
The new format is interesting to watch. However it slightly bugs me that don't get lined up by speed. Very often the fastest car is not on the pole. But then for Daytona and Talladega it doesn't matter anyway. pfffffffft I did like one car at a time going out. It surely did make it easier to pick which drivers would make the top 10.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
For the first time the Daytona 500 will be running the new qualifying format. I know that I'm in the minority on this board being a fan of the new qualifying format but I'd really like to see them keep the traditional format of qualifying for this race. I had no problem withe the amount of time that it took to do the qualifying here. I like the time that they had to do interviews with the drivers, crew chiefs, owners, etc..... I guess I understand why they are doing it but there is something to say for tradition. At least there used to be. :(
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Setting the front row has always been a key element in the 500. The excitement was at the end when the last couple cars go out. Then there is the Bragging rights of having the fastest hotrod first time out, it was like a right of passage to get that pole and outside front row.

I just hope the fastest car sit on the pole, unlike other tracks last year.

As a fan of this sport the qualifying procedure at Daytona has always been a one of the highlights of the week, another is the Twins. Glad we at least still have the twins.
 
Questions about new Daytona 500 qualifying format? Here are answers
Dustin Long
Feb 14, 2015, 11:56 AM EST

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the first time, the Daytona 500 pole will be set by group qualifying Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
With speeds in Saturday’s practice above 200 mph, this could make the first time the Daytona 500 pole speed tops 200 since 1987 when Bill Elliott went 210.364 mph – before restrictor plates were used.
Here’s how Sunday’s qualifying format will work and who is in each group, which is based on a random draw:


details...
http://nascartalk.nbcsports.com/201...ytona-500-qualifying-format-here-are-answers/
 
"I think teams spend all winter long trying to massage a Daytona 500 car to go out there and sit on the pole," Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch said. "The engine builders build strong engines to try to sit on the pole. ... It's all car and engine.

"Now it's all circumstantial. It doesn't even (take) any driver skill to qualify on the pole for the Daytona 500. It's strictly being able to get out there in the right pack, transfer through and then make it in the right spot when it comes down to the end."
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"I don't believe in the qualifying format, especially as what we do at restrictor-plate tracks," said Ryan Newman of Richard Childress Racing. "At the non-restrictor plate tracks I could argue it, even in my own head, because it's still the driver and the race track. But having other cars manipulate you in an effort to qualify, especially at one of the biggest races of the year, to me is not in the best eyes of our sport."
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Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing) says the format is "a big game of chicken, and it bit a lot of guys at Talladega, including (Stenhouse).

"I think here people can't afford that. It is the Daytona 500. You have to get a time. You have to get the fastest time you can," he said.
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"No one figured it out at Talladega," said Denny Hamlin, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. "It just was by chance that some guys made time and other guys didn't.

"Hopefully, everyone is a little bit smarter now because of it, but really your front row guys are just going to be the ones that get in a lucky spot and put themselves in a good spot and hopefully the cars around them work with them."
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"There is not really any skill to it," said Jamie McMurray, a Daytona 500 champion but yet to be a pole winner for the event. "I think (winning the pole) is probably most important here because it is the Daytona 500. This is the one time at a plate race that being first or second has some meaning."
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http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-me...00-new-qualifying-format-drivers-comment.html

Is there anyone who actually likes this deal? It seems like NASCAR goofed big-time on this one.
 
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I know for sure I don't like it. Brian has no idea what history is behind this race. He will keep changing it until it resembles nothing that all the old fans hold dear.
 
Not a fan of this format. Nascar and the France mafia never cease to amaze me with ways to screw up the sport.
 
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