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

Hodnett would have been locked into the dash easily, probably as top point man had he calmed down and ran 2nd on Thursday. As it is he’s back in 8th, and has to run a heat. 

Yep. So clue me in... who gets locked into Saturday feature?

I watched the replay twice.  It wasn't the first time Greg has wrecked someone on purpose! 

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

Eh, we'll just have to agree to disagree. They were side by side drag racing down the back chute. I think Hodnett just drove in too deep. 

The top 4 in points after the first 2 nights. Schatz, Gravel, Mcfadden and Pittman. 

I think they line up the heats by points as well so the 5th place point guy (lance) starts on the pole of heat 1 and so on. I think then the winners of the heats go to spots 5-8 in the dash and the rest of the field is lined up by combined points. 

To quote Ed Mcmahon, "You are correct, sir!"

I really dislike the way the WoO system rewards a driver even when he doesn't finish his heat race. It just happens that this time a round it benidited Lance. The WoO rules puts too much emphasis on qualifying in order to benefit their own. Starting on the pole of the LCS when you don't finish your heat is bull crap.  That's almost a lock to start the A Main Only because of a good qualifying effort. I'd love to see Lance win the whole deal tonight and burn the WoO with their own damn rule!

Yea, that had me confused too. I was expected Lance to be in the C, was surprised to see him on the pole for B-main. Could you explain how that happens?

I agree, would love to see Dream Team take it. But Hodnett seems faster this weekend, & Schatz/ Gravel are gonna be a threat for sure

I find it hard to believe Greg would wreck anyone on purpose. He put himself out of the race too, he's not that stupid

Just a screwup if you ask me, overly aggressive driving, 2 guys vying for the same lane

It's like this. We know the WoO heats are lined up by qualifying. Fastest qualifiers up front. Let's say the top 4 in each heat transfer to the A Main. Now let's say the fastest qualifier or a fast qualifier doesn't transfer from his heat.... Finishes 5th or even breaks and doesn't finish like Lance did. Well even though there were many drivers with better heat race finishes than Lance, if they didn't transfer by finishing top 4, they are now designated to a D, C or the LCS according to their qualifying time rather than their heat race finishing position. So let's say a slow qualifier starts 10 th in his heat but runs clear up to 5th place. That's all in vain because he didn't make top 4.......so he again gets lined up by his qualifying time rather than his heat race effort. Because Lance was one of the quickest qualifiers, he "passed" all other non transfer heat race finishers and was awarded the pole in the LCS because of time trials. Good for him, but I think it's a suck ass rule. The Knoxville Nationals sure doesn't hand out spots like that!

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't realize that, thought that B, C, etc were lined up by heat finish, I agree, bad rule, makes heats less meaningful.

Has it always been like that? if not, when did it change?

I think the change took place at the same time the heat invert according to qualifying was eliminated. 2015?.........when the heats began to be lined up, fastest drivers up front and slowest at the back according to qualifying results.

Shane had the lane and Hodnett punted him out of it.  All Shane tried to do is go around the corner.  That is very dirty.....Greg should have been parked for the rest of the night!  Reminded me of being Laytonized.......

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

The B main has always been lined up by time, in fact the only place that penalizes the 9th and 10th place finishers to the C is Knoxville. And even there, if you finish 8th lin your heat, and we’re quick time, you’re starting on front row of the B.

For many years, if you timed fastest, didnt qualify in your heat and qualified through the B, you got to start right behind the dash cars. This new format eliminates that. 

I understand how the Knoxville Nationals works. My point about the Outlaws is what you point out about finishing 9th or worse in a heat race. Dewease didn't even finish his heat at the Open. At the Nationals the driver goes to the C Feature...... With the Outlaws the driver still goes to the B/LCS and starts on pole. My point is that with the WoO racing for position beyond the transfer has no real benefit from last to wherever the transfer stops for the A Main. And yes all WoO Features line up by time with the exception of the A Main qualified cars. They start by finishing order of those cars in the Dash followed by the remaining transfers and their heat finish position with flight 1 inside and flight 2 outside. And  because Thur and Fri nights were points nights, of course the Open on Saturday night was lined up by points.

"For many years, if you timed fastest, didnt qualify in your heat and qualified through the B, you got to start right behind the dash cars".... isn't it still like that in USAC?

All these different formats get confusing

IMHO, qualifying should be de-emphasized & you should race for positions

I agree 100% with your opinion about less emphasis in qualifying and more on racing for position. It's a tough nut to crack.......trying to come up with a solution for a fair way to set line ups for heats and features. I think it boils down to de-tuning the cars. Power, handling and driving today is such that tracks take a beating and front row winners is at an all time high. But, the money teams want it that way. That does eliminate a lot of the competition from being a threat. The money teams win, but the fans lose to some degree, and cave counts will continue to suffer.  I say the hell with time trials. Set up a system of multiple heats, where each car competes in two or three heats  for points and line up features on points accumulated. Good luck making any changes at all though as long as one sanctioning body has all the clout in decision making......aka the WoO/WRG.