Thursday, October 24, 2013

NASCAR Mulling Major Qualifying Changes For 2014

NASCAR is looking to shuffle the deck in qualifying next season.

As part of a special meeting with its Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series drivers this week in Concord, NC, NASCAR officials discussed proposed changes in format and procedure for the 2014 season, including the implementation of group qualifying for 32 of the 36 Sprint Cup Series races.
Currently, NASCAR utilizes single-car qualifying everywhere but on road courses. The proposed new qualifying format would put cars on the race track in groups of four or five, expediting the process for fans.
At NASCAR’s two superspeedways – Daytona and Talladega – sources say the sanctioning body is considering a new, 60-minute open qualifying session, with all cars allowed on the speedway at the same time. The new format would allow drafting to be utilized for the first time in qualifying.
While no final decision has yet been made, sources close to the sanctioning body say the qualifying changes are likely to be implemented for the 2014 season.

15 comments:

  1. That could prove to be as fun as a race!

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  2. Anonymous3:26 PM

    " The proposed new qualifying format would put cars on the race track in groups of four or five, expediting the process for fans"

    Not a fan of that idea.

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  3. Anonymous4:18 PM

    They should give a championship point for the pole to add reward to the extra risk of group qualifying. It would definitely add excitement and drama!

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    1. No, it doesn't. Qualifying is not the race and should never be given points.

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  4. Anonymous4:24 PM

    this is a great Move by NASCAR, and a step in the right direction. I like it

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  5. Anonymous4:38 PM

    Any change would be better than what we have now. Qualifying is as bad as watching golf.

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  6. Anonymous5:00 PM

    Check back with all these posts when their favorite driver has a smoking lap interrupted by someone running out of talent. Can't wait for those comments.

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  7. Now were getting somewhere. What I'd really like to see is a modified F1 qualifying process where essentially you have three fifteen-minute heats or a fixed number of laps (depending on the track) with the thirty fastest cars advancing from the first to the second heat and the fifteen fastest cars advancing to the third and final heat. Cars that don’t advance to the second heat would be assigned starting positions 31 to 43, allowing those in the top 35 in points or previous champions to be saved. Between heats, pit stops would be mandatory allowing for adjustments, new tires and fuel (if necessary). The advancing cars would line up in the order they finished the previous heat. There would have to be provisions for wrecks and rough driving, but I think this would provide for an exciting day of qualifying. Your thoughts?

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  8. Lets just hope its on TV and on a channel everyone gets,sounds fun!

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    1. Good point! Does anyone get Fox Sports 2?

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  9. laird raceway canada8:10 PM

    we changed our short track qualifying to this format two years ago and our fans and drivers love it..space out the cars so there is no funny business and let them go..good stuff nascar

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  10. laird raceway canada8:25 PM

    started this format at our short track two years ago..fans and drivers love it..good job nascar

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  11. Anonymous8:10 AM

    This would be great if qualifying actually meant you made the race, as it stands they are just filling the field. Nobody is going home so qualifying menas nothing really.

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  12. Anonymous8:37 AM

    We've been doing that at Thunder Road for a couple of years now. Much faster than the old way.

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  13. I agree that qualifying needs some spicing up, but I would like to see NASCAR leave the rules alone for a while. All these rule changes are getting ridiculous!

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