Several years ago, while I was working as a NASCAR columnist for Yahoo! Sports, it became apparent that NASCAR’s single-car qualifying format on oval tracks was simply a bad show and with the exception of a few venues it meant nothing of any value except for the opportunity to be the first to pick a pit stall.
The single car qualifying show on restrictor plate tracks and at Pocono for the Cup cars was dreadful. It was two hours (or thereabouts) of sheer misery, which again, meant little to nothing.
At that time, I offered up a far more entertaining alternative. Why not run multiple car qualifying sessions, similar to those currently being used for NASCAR races that are contested on road courses, using this simple formula – 10 cars at a time, running 10 laps per session with the fastest lap being considered the car’s qualifying speed, regardless of the draft. The final session would be run with 13 cars.
I not only wrote about this proposed new qualifying format back in 2006, but I started a dialog with several key players in the NASCAR competition department, including then series director John Darby, current EVP of Competition Steve O’Donnell and current VP of Competition and Racing Development Robin Pemberton. When I first outlined my alternative qualifying format I was met with raised eyebrows and some smiles, the equivalent of the pat on the head you’d give your young child or dog. Nevertheless, I continued to tout this alternative format both in print and with NASCAR execs for several years, until circumstances and my health forced me to leave the NASCAR media pool for a brief period of time.
The reason I write about this now, is not to say “I told you so,” but to show that the powers-to-be that run NASCAR are a very benevolent bunch – and open to change. I was once told by someone who works in the garage and whose roots run deep in the sport that “NASCAR is a very conservative bunch. It takes them years to figure things out. But, usually when they make a decision to change, it proves to be the right decision.”
NASCAR is expected to announce a change in qualifying rules later this month that are expected to closely mirror those I suggested back in 2006. I admit that I wasn’t the only person who suggested this format change to NASCAR execs. But I’d like to think that I was one of its earliest proponents.
It’s a very smart move and will make for a much better show.
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Sounds like NASCAR is trying to fix something that isn’t broken again. I hear lots of people complaining about boring races and only a few worried about qualifying. So what does NASCAR focus on?
Bill, NASCAR isn’t just focused on the qualifying, they’re also working on making the racing more entertaining. If you talk to some of the old timers, however, they’ll tell you the racing now is the best it has ever been. And despite all the changes made to the racing, NASCAR’s audience has also undergone a rapid and dramatic change. The sport is struggling to catch up. They will. Most of the races are too long for today’s audience. Perhaps that will be addressed. The thing you have to remember with NASCAR, it’s almost always small steps.