The new qualifying format and the Daytona 500

dpkimmel2001 said:
I really think that fans are the big losers in the new qualifying format for the D500. Most drivers that I've heard speak on this subject durin g Media Day were against the new format. A majority of the callers into NASCAR Radio seemed to be against the new format for the D500. Most seemed to be for the traditional method of qualifying. The hosts did their best to promote the new method but it fell mostly on deaf ears. Personally, I think it's only a matter of time and they'll steer the qualifying here back in the right direction. Hopefully sooner than later.
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sdj said:
I have a question on this subject now that it has happened:

What demographic were they after? Certainly was not the die hard Nascar fan, as is obvious by the comments here .
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I don't see Nascar even thinking about the qualifying procedure as they always like to tinker with things even if the old way worked fine. 20 years ago Nascar began an unparalleled surge in interest and no one in Nascar knows why. Their answer was to become more arrogant and take races away from established venues and build boring tracks like Cali, Joiliet, Kansas and Kentucky. Fast forward to the present and Nascar has been losing fans steadily for 10 years, the tracks are covering up and removing seats as fast as they can, television ratings are abysmal to what they used to be and Nascar does not know why.
 
SpeedPagan said:
So, I will be honest. I do not like the qualifying format. I know it's the same format that they had last year, just extended to the Daytona 500. However, I think it's nothing more than a gimmick to boost TV ratings, because only the die hard fans would watch a single car make three circuits around the track to see who's the fastest.

Yea, this new format isn't any better TBH. The only substitution I will accept is heat races, because at least then it's an actual race, it's a competition. This new format is just crap.
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I liked it best when they qualified the top 25 and qualified the remainder the next day. You could either stand on your time or have another go at it.
 
ted@economy said:
I understand that they are trying to make qualifying more exciting . My problem is that the only way to make it more exciting is to make it something else . I mean , they might as well have a fishing derby on the lake to decide starting positions . What does any of this stuff have to do with the tradition of fastest car gets the pole ? If all they want is a good tv show then have a fishing derby or a touch football game .
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I have suggested things like having a demo derby, drag races or some other method of qualifying for some of the races. It is a real shame when you have to try and make something exciting as the product itself should be exciting enough. For many fans and former fans of Nascar the product not only is not exciting it is un-watchable even with 10 hours sleep the night before.
 
I liked it best when they qualified the top 25 and qualified the remainder the next day. You could either stand on your time or have another go at it.
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That reminds me of the old Indy qualifying procedure where a team could try qualifying some number of times before the end of the day (sacrificing their qualifying time for another chance). It created excitement to see who would gamble a time trying for a better one. I think they qualified a number of positions each day over several days. And there was a bump day (a last chance to make the field).
 
not a big Pockrass fan, but love the headline and first paragragh.

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cu...aytona-500-qualifying-circus-pole-day-daytona

"Daytona qualifying turns into circus"

"DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- They used to say a monkey could drive the car in Daytona 500 qualifying because, in a single-car run, the driver just hammers the gas, turns the wheel and virtually becomes a passenger.

NASCAR got rid of the monkey for 2015. It employed an entire circus instead."
 
klemmabyna said:
not a big Pockrass fan, but love the headline and first paragragh.

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cu...aytona-500-qualifying-circus-pole-day-daytona

"Daytona qualifying turns into circus"

"DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- They used to say a monkey could drive the car in Daytona 500 qualifying because, in a single-car run, the driver just hammers the gas, turns the wheel and virtually becomes a passenger.

NASCAR got rid of the monkey for 2015. It employed an entire circus instead."
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Got that right
 
Zerkfitting said:
That reminds me of the old Indy qualifying procedure where a team could try qualifying some number of times before the end of the day (sacrificing their qualifying time for another chance). It created excitement to see who would gamble a time trying for a better one. I think they qualified a number of positions each day over several days. And there was a bump day (a last chance to make the field).
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You know ...I could live with that . Nobody can say that Indy qualifying isn't exciting . Good Lord if I hear Darrell and Darrell say one more time .."It's ...a.....new ...track...record ! I'll go crazy . But it could just be the answer .
 
Zerkfitting said:
That reminds me of the old Indy qualifying procedure where a team could try qualifying some number of times before the end of the day (sacrificing their qualifying time for another chance). It created excitement to see who would gamble a time trying for a better one. I think they qualified a number of positions each day over several days. And there was a bump day (a last chance to make the field).
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You are right on and teams would try and get out as late as possible when it was cooler
 
Team Penske said:
Isn't Bowyer protected by his season 2014 finish??
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I could be wrong. I've never fully understood D500 qualifying under any system, old or new, I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'm not a doctor and don't even play one on TV.

But it's not like all six you listed are going to make it anyway.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I liked it best when they qualified the top 25 and qualified the remainder the next day. You could either stand on your time or have another go at it.
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I haven't thought of 'Second Day Qualifying' in years. As I recall, almost no one trying it ever made the field anyway; maybe 1 car every other race. That's why NASCAR stopped it. It costs those teams another night's expenses to make an unsuccessful attempt.

I like the notion someone offered of starting them behind the pace car. I like the idea of averaging three or five laps. I like pulling names out of hats for Duels positions and letting those races determine the D500 starting order for ALL positions, including the top 2. I like sticking them in simulators and playing NASCAR 2015 'til the last one is standing. I like spotting them all $5000 in chips and letting them play Texas Hold 'Em. I like guzzling warm Coke and seeing who can sustain the longest belch (my money is on Tony).

I don't like what I saw Sunday, but then there's almost nothing I like about plate races in the first place.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I haven't thought of 'Second Day Qualifying' in years. As I recall, almost no one trying it ever made the field anyway; maybe 1 car every other race. That's why NASCAR stopped it. It costs those teams another night's expenses to make an unsuccessful attempt.

I like the notion someone offered of starting them behind the pace car. I like the idea of averaging three or five laps. I like pulling names out of hats for Duels positions and letting those races determine the D500 starting order for ALL positions, including the top 2. I like sticking them in simulators and playing NASCAR 2015 'til the last one is standing. I like spotting them all $5000 in chips and letting them play Texas Hold 'Em. I like guzzling warm Coke and seeing who can sustain the longest belch (my money is on Tony).

I don't like what I saw Sunday, but then there's almost nothing I like about plate races in the first place.
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I like your ideas as the way they qualify could very well be more exciting than the race itself. These days qualifying to make most races is moot as the exact number of teams show up for the exact number of spots. All you are really looking for is a decent pit and a top 20 spot on the grid.

I think the idea of getting away from 2 day qualifying was to save dough as you mentioned but I am not sure it worked. Nascar was going to save money by cutting down on testing but all that did was make teams spend millions on shaker rigs. I have never been much on watching qualifying as I am not good enough to see the difference between a tenth here and there even on a large HDTV.
 
didnt read entire thread, but I feel that NASCAR is trying to make a way that small teams can make races. We all know that plate races are pretty car dependent. A team with weaker engine, for example might be able to make the race if they are drafting with the right group. I could be wrong, but thats me guessing
 
1 thing for sure.
old single car q format never got this much media / fan buzz prior ta d500. :D
 
ToyYoda said:
There's a question from Fox Sports on Facebook right now asking "Should Daytona 500 qualifying be overhauled?" 102 comments so far, and exactly 1 comment supporting the new format.
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That's quite the majority.

The overwhelming number of calls to the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio shows have been against what we witnessed on Sunday.... and they screen their calls. I can only guess but I'd imagine that they try to push the pro callers to the front in a situation like this. Every single host has somehow been trying to spin this format as a positive and lay any blame on the drivers themselves for not putting on a good show. The drivers/teams were put in the situation that they were in by NASCAR. They did what needed to be done under the rules. It was a bad deal. It needs to be corrected.
 
I have a few ideas for a new format, some already stated:

1. Just do the Duels, starting lineup for the Duels are set by either (A. Last year's Owners Points; B. Last year's Daytona 500; C. Practice). For which winner gets the pole. margin of victory determines that, and for the 2nd place finishers, the one who finished closer to the leader (in terms of time) gets 3rd, and so on for the rest of the field.

2. Single Car Qualifying. Do we REALLY need to make Pole Qualifying exciting when fans are already getting two 60 lap races later? However, this would only be "acceptable" for the Daytona 500, since qualifying at the 3 other plate tracks are the only Cup events on the day it's on.

3. Randomly put into groups of 6, those drivers must work together for 5 minutes to get the fastest average time between all of them. After every group goes, the 1st ranked group will do a 5 lap heat, winner of that gets the Pole, and so on.
 
NASCAR has changed the format for the XFINITY series and Camping World Truck Series Qualifying this weekend:

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-me...series-qualifying-adjustments-at-daytona.html

2015-NASCAR-Qualifying-Format-Daytona-main.jpg
 
Zeck said:
NASCAR has changed the format for the XFINITY series and Camping World Truck Series Qualifying this weekend:

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-me...series-qualifying-adjustments-at-daytona.html
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Well, we'll see how that works out. I'll give them credit for acknowledging there was a problem, even if only implicitly. With only 2:30, they'll have to leave pit road when the clock starts, and they'll only get in two laps.

Suggestion if they stick with this format: if there's a caution or red flag, reset the clock and start over.
 
fs2 had ' daytona pole day ' show on this am.
showed little video of actual q sessions ! :D

rerun of sunday raceday.
 
DanicaFreak said:
didnt read entire thread, but I feel that NASCAR is trying to make a way that small teams can make races. We all know that plate races are pretty car dependent. A team with weaker engine, for example might be able to make the race if they are drafting with the right group. I could be wrong, but thats me guessing
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If that would be the case who would go home besides small teams?
 
The elephant in the room that everybody is ignoring is the track itself. Single car qualifying..put your foot on the floor and never take it off, you can run wide open around the whole track. So now there is this cluster puck that is even worse. Just get it over with and go to a real race track.
 
StandOnIt said:
The elephant in the room that everybody is ignoring is the track itself. Single car qualifying..put your foot on the floor and never take it off, you can run wide open around the whole track. So now there is this cluster puck that is even worse. Just get it over with and go to a real race track.
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Ignoring it? I've been blaming it for years. They had an opportunity to lower the banking when they repaved a few years ago. They didn't take advantage of that, so the only remaining hope is to use the road course.
 
Still don't see where that solves the problem. The problem with this style of track when it comes to qualifying is no one wants to be the first in line to go out due to the draft. Am I missing something here? What's crazy is there's supposed to be a qualifying "order" but it doesn't seem as if anyone goes by it. lol
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Daytona/Talladega are two of my favorites. They rank just behind short track racing and road courses on my list. Don't change a damn thing.
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I knew there was something I liked about you. :cool:

Talladega was my favorite track until I went to Bristol.
 
StandOnIt said:
I guess you and Boo Boo haven't seen qualifying yet.
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I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at with your Boo Boo comment but I did watch qualifying and it was a joke. That had everything to do with the group qualifying format under those rules. My comments on those two tracks have absolutely nothing to do with qualifying. They have everything to do with racing there. I enjoy it restrictor plates and all.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at with your Boo Boo comment but I did watch qualifying and it was a joke. That had everything to do with the group qualifying format under those rules. My comments on those two tracks have absolutely nothing to do with qualifying. They have everything to do with racing there. I enjoy it restrictor plates and all.
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Yep.

1- Short Tracks
2- RP Tracks
3- Road Courses
4- Everything else.
 
Pat said:
I knew there was something I liked about you. :cool:

Talladega was my favorite track until I went to Bristol.
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I no longer go to Bristol. Had to give up either Bristol or Martinsville due to budget constraints. Martinsville is a much better race IMO. Bristol is the better overall experience but Martinsville is always a great race.
 
My problem isn't with the style of track. I like plate racing. I just don't like how they go about qualifying on them. I understand why (it's to do it as quickly as possible), but the concept doesn't work on plate tracks.
 
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