Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

well, maybe not cancel it, just a small change.  I watched 3 races Friday night.  One in Pa. that was pretty wet and single file. One in Ohio that got dry and took rubber which in english means single file and finally one in Iowa that was a little tough and rough and at least up front, single file............   What did they all have in common ???   Lapped traffic.. In each case when they got into traffic man did business pick up and things tended to get crazy which in English means happy fans.   So I say, why did we send any cars home?  Why not start 28 or 30 on smaller ones and up to 36 on the bigger ones..... If thats what it takes to make it work,,,  Don't be married to the magic 24.. its not magic anymore......  Besides, in todays world a little help to the under funded could be a good thing....... For all of us...

Well thats simple and u should allready know the answer to your own deal.

The more cars buddy the more the promoter and etc and etc have to pay those cars your wanting extra in the field beyond 24

we cant have that can we????????

The extra cost for more cars made me think of the promoter provisional.

Driver:  "Hey I failed to make the A main, would you pay me $400 to start at the rear"?

Promoter, "Sure"

That just doesnt make sense. Lol

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

Yeah most heat races these days are glorified hot laps to groom the track for the feature.  Been that way ever since they did away with handicapping and starting the top point guys at the rear but they had to do that with the cars being more equal and locked down on the tacky tracks. That's way I don't really care for long drawn out qualifying formats (TT's, double heats, dashes, etc.). IMO they should shorten the qualifying and add those laps to the race that pays - the A main. I'm not adverse to starting more cars or adding a couple provisonals either when the car count warrants it. 

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2 heat races for each car. Draw a pill for your first heat race. Invert the second heat race. Finishing positions and passing points lines you up for the A-main. The fans get to see more racing, the drivers don't have to worry about not screwing up there time trail lap.

Hummm, makes to much sense, never going to happen.

Seen it with ASCS and some local PA shows. Makes for a long drawn out qualifying marathon that pays nothing while using up more equipment, and ends up putting the fastest cars on the front row of the feature. Add those extra laps to the race that pays, which also happens to be the race most fans came to see. Skip the appetizers and get straight to the main course. 

Now I have seen Port Royal do the double heats where they are only 6 laps and then they invert the same cars after the 1st heat while still on the track without stopping, instead of bringing them in and sending them back out for the 2nd round. That works OK and doesn't waste much time.

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    From the looks of the finishes in a lot of shows this year, maybe they just need to start the front 3 rows and a couple of those guys that seem to pass 12 cars to end up in 8th place.

They have been glorified hot lap sessions well before the handicapping or invert was taken away. Saw many shows prior to the new format that were either finish where you start or if someone did pass anyone it was just because the line they were in had the momentum to get around the other cars. I really can't think of too many barn burner heat races in the past couple decades because really, no one cares about the heat races. I do remember quite a few times when the All Stars used to invert their top qualifiers to 6th starting spot in the heat races (have to gain 1 spot to advance) and they did not. Or they would get to 5th or 4th and just ride around because there was no incentive to gain anymore spots. Same with the Outlaws as after the first lap or two if you could not get into the top 2 they would just basically ride around to just maintain their position.

I would like for them to add more laps to the feature and start more cars. Cars are so even now on the Outlaw circuit that lap traffic is what really makes the difference. That point the ability comes out of the drivers but heck we get enough people that cry every year that the Nationals have a "pit stop" now even though its more laps for the best race in sprint car racing.

I like the idea of more cars and more laps in the feature with bigger fuel cells to make the distance without a fuel stop. 

I've liked that idea for along time, until it dawned on me that if you combine the finishing postions for both heats, there could be lots of ties

First off, you have no more qualifying lap to worry about. Most outlaw shows average what 30 cars maybe ? They going to run 4 heats if weather is not a factor. 2, 8 car heats and 2, 7 car heats.  So you run 2, 8 lap heat races.  Those guys that tie for position they pull a pill for inside or outside row, not a position. So you could have 2 guys tied for 5th in the first heat, well your starting fifth row. 2 guys tied for 5th out of the second set of heats, you 2 go to the 6th row, and so on. It's really not that difficult.   

Not sure they get paid for provisionals...

Might be OK for big tracks, not so sure about bullrings

Lapped traffic makes it interesting, but on the 1st lap???

My Indiana friends raved about Little 500, 33 cars on a 1/4 mile track. I thought it was a confusing clusterf&^%

So 30 winged cars took time trials at Knoxville last Saturday. You would like to do away with TT and let all 30 run the A main. Even though the slowest car timed 1.5 secs slower than the quickest time? 

Guess you are one of those who watches races for the crashes. Cause with 36 cars on a half mile that's what you will get. 24 is just fine.

I've just got to say I kind of chuckle about people looking for "fair" lineups when another post on here is titled "Schatz goes from 23rd to 2nd".  I understand that doesn't happen every night and not every track is "racy" enough to allow that much passing.  For me there's two things I hate about WOO shows, time trials and racers "playing the format" for example if the top 5 get their time back a driver gets into fourth or fifth and just rides there because it doesn't do them any good to try to finish higher.  Again this is just my opinion but when I go to a race, I want to see cars race.  Time trials are boring to me, I would love for them to get away from that anyway they could.  I have to say I really don't like having to sit there for 3 hours and pay $30-$50 to wait for a race that might last 10 minutes if there's no cautions.  A format I thought would work is a random draw for heat starting position with passing points.  If you want you could still have a dash where they start inverted (top point guy at the back).  Add up all the points from the heats with passing points and the dash points, then have a random draw (maybe from a fan) to say how far you would invert the field for the A main.  I think 12 would be the maximum you would want to invert the field.  I like this format for these reasons, first you get rid of time trials, second assuming you could invert up to 12 cars, just playing the odds you would still be best to try and get the most points you still have a 50/50 chance of starting in the first 3 rows if you have the most points.  I guess what I'm saying is since it's somewhat random, there's no need to play the format, just try to win everytime you hit the track.  It might not seem fair but it's one of those things where it might hurt you one time but help you the next.

wow, I finally struck a nerve...   I'm re-reading my statement looking for the part where I cancelled time trials and only cared about the wrecks...    Attica last night.... 57 runs off.....all by himself...  he hits traffic and here comes the 15 and we have a race...  happens hundreds of times in one form or another all over the country....    I guess you're right..  trying new things is probably over rated.....

Yes!

A