So what’s brewing?
Have we reached a point where the Daytona 500 qualifying system is just ridiculous overdone?
You have a race that will start 40 or 41 cars and 37 of the cars that will be in the event are locked into the event before the team haulers even leave their shop. Yup, the 36 chartered Cup Series teams are locked into starting spots for every Cup Series race.
And then you have NASCAR’s newly introduced Open Exemption Provisional, that gives an automatic starting spot to a special or invited entrant on a case-by-case basis.
LISTEN: What’s Brewing: Has The Daytona 500 Qualifying System Become Ridiculously Overdone?
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Whatever happened to the past champion’s provisional? I bet Truex and/or Johnson would have loved to have that to fall back on.
Sharpie Fan,
Apparently was left behind before the 2016 season.
Part of the brand “speed-weeks” I guess.
Ive been to a couple of the twins, and while the place wasn’t packed, there were ticket sales, concession and souvenir sales. Spoke to a few people who said , yep! I love coming to speed-weeks! New Symrna, dirt races at Volusia! The twins. Then fly out Friday to avoid all the rush and catch Busch and cup at home on tv.
So, I guess that format still has some profit to Nascar, as well as building drama with die hard cup fans. Maybe.
Pretty sure the Indy 500 went with ignoring charters when qualifying for that race. I’d say NASCAR should do the same, but there’s no way the teams would go for potentially missing their biggest payday of the year when they’ve been guaranteed a spot for like a decade now. If anything at least make all the open teams race their way in. I’m fine with the 41st entrant if it actually attracts other superstars, but if they’re going to be locked-in I’m not OK with them taking away an open spot, especially if they’re racing for a top-tier team. Charters have really hurt the sport by guaranteeing so many starting spots. I think there’s a hesitation for smaller teams to even try when it’s so expensive and there’s only 4 extra spots up for grabs.
I think Nascar should give a good look at the NHRA system; it works really well. After the US Nationals, the points are added to and reset for the top 10 in the pro categories and any teams that ran the full season at that point. That usually gives them 10-14 contenders in each pro class. Then NHRA just counts the points from there until the end, which has left 2-5 teams in contention for the championship at the last event for all the pro classes almost every time. NASCAR could take the top 16 in points and add a point amount (maybe 500 points?) with bonus points added per race win. Then, let them race, the team with the most points wins the championship. Maybe have an event or two worth double points before the end. I think it makes the championship much less of a “right placed right time and the good luck bank”. Forget the elimination rounds altogether.
Make that “right place right time at the good luck bank”. Fat fingers on a little keyboard. 🙂