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

Bingo! You can't even talk of ideas to make a broken outdated formula better though because...It's the Nationals! It's the best race of the year!

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Speaking of records.... when was the last time the Knoxville Nationals was run and nobody aregued about changing the format? Was that pre-internet? :)

1 out of 10 heat races was not won from the front row so far. JJ Hickle won from 6th. It's not a surprise that almost all heats are won from the front row. That's been the norm for years now but it is a surprise that the driver to win one from 6th is a 410 and Nationals rookie. That's the coolest thing of the week so far. 

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Wonder what these posts would look like if Knoxville had kept the full 10-car invert used until 2008 before Carl Wilson decided to take out 70% of a heat race on the start. 

Run a format like this on a small bullring and we'll see an exciting event. half miles suck until the feature

Nothing needs to be changed. The format is good and it's the Nationals, and it's not supposed to be easy.

Johnny is all about the Outlaws (that's his job). I will say the WoO is not the greatest show on dirt.

The Knoxville Nationals is the greatest show on Dirt and I love that the 16 locked in are an eclectic

group of racers from all over.

5 WoO  regulars - Schatz, Gravel, C Macedo, Sweet, and Allen

4 Knoxville regulars - McCarl, Phillips, Reutzel, and Hickle

2 ASCoC regulars - Sunshine and PPM

2 True Outlaws - Larson and Marks

2  What team are they with today - Kofoid and Sanders

1 Retired, but still races on occasion - Pittman

inverts on half miles suck. either invert 4 or less, or dont take any transfers out of the heat. do points instead.

Is anyone listening to  Johnny Gibson tonight ?  There trying to give a bunch of explanations as to why the track is so greasy. I'm starting to wonder because of the availability of tires if this has something to do with the way the track is being prep'd. I've heard how the availability of tires has been a big issue for the super late models, could this be happening at the nationals ?  Would not surprise me at all.

Saturday almost always has the best A main. Those B-E features really widen the track out. 

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To be clear the people disagreeing with you aren't disagreeing because of tradition or "it's the nationals" or "it's the way it's always been done".  They are disagreeing with you because it's a format that STILL works.  Why do you say it's an outdated broken formula?  Do you feel cheated that a car missed the A main on Saturday who could've been a factor?

Also to another point of yours.  Who is the "we" that doesn't want to see the best cars in the B?  First off I love to see big names missing the main event, it's fun to see how they handle having to just race their way into the show.  Also what determines the "best" drivers?  Is it the WOO cars?  Is it the All stars?  Is it the Knoxville regulars?  Would you feel better if they just gave these "best drivers" an exemption and said no matter what you'll be in the show, because that's what fans (and judging by the responses you've gotten, the minority of fans) want to see?

I'm not sure how well you understand the format, so just so you're aware, time trials and the feature pay the exact same amount of points.  They don't take that those points away if you miss the A.  

Last night Kyle Larson blew a tire which meant he had to restart at the tail at some point and came back to finish 6th.  Schatz was back to 7th with around 20 to go and won.  So I've always wondered why people complain about the format when from what I've seen ANYONE who makes the A can win the race if they hit the right setup and everything goes their way.

It's a format that has worked and continues to work.  Sorry you're upset about 4 (what most fans would call) great days of racing.

The track slowed down and the racing got much better. Logan's comment that he never lifted thru 1 and 2 proved that.  It proved if your not fast on the bottom your not going to win the nationals. 

And before you know it, Everybody will want a participation Trophy! Don't try and fix what isn't broke, It's hard, It's the Knoxville Nationals.

The cream always seems to rise to the top.

those points should get you into the a-main on the qualifying night. hardly any car in the field is slow enough to fall from the front row to 5th in a heat race. taking top 4 to the feature on a 8 car invert is stupid

Like myself and a few others have explained, the formats for the prelim nights are outdated because of the heat race invert of 8 cars. That was great a couple decades ago, but the cars nowadays are too even and locked down and the track is still too fast for there to be much passing in the heats. The heat races looked like hotlaps. 9 of 10 heats were won from the guy who who took the lead off the front row on the start. 18 of 20 top TT were in the B main Wednesday night. Both prelim features were led start to finish from the pole. Less invert for heats and larger invert for A main - problem solved. Saturday nights A main was a good one, agree with you there. I'm not upset at all as I have no dog in the race. Just casual observations. If something can be made better, why not do it?

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It's been changed many times. The heat race invert was lowered from 10 to 8 a few years back and obviously needs lowered to 4 or 6. The Friday format is completely different than it used to be. These changes were great improvements. You have to keep up with the times. No one can pass in the heats anymore on a tacky 1/2 mile track. 

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Here, I fixed it for you. We don't need to change the format or the points awarded. We need to fix these shitty cars! Do you think a bunch of these on a big track would have as much difficulty following and passing each other as the ones we have now?

What winged sprint cars could become

Well, I guess it's true what they say, you can't please everyone.  Have what most sprint car fans call the greatest 4 days of sprint car racing and a few clowns on the internet will say "Oh it's not fair, it's too hard of a format for the professionals".  I don't understand what the "problem" is and what there is to "solve"?  You think moving guys with the faster time closer to the front is going to make more passing?  It's a format on a preliminary night, if you don't make it there you can race your way in Friday.  I'll ask you again, who missed the A main on Saturday due to the format on Wednesday or Thursday that would've been a factor?  It's obvious you don't like the nationals since you're on every other post ragging on the nationals.  Maybe next year you should just skip it.  But everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how dumb it is.

Not sure why the format is catching any flack.  The cream rose to the top.  5 of top 6 in WoO points got top 10 and the Macedo was top 5 until flat tire.  Top All Star, top 5, 2nd in All Stars 12th.  Best Posse, top 10.  Best California locked in on prelim night and mechanical failure ended his night. Former WoO champ Pittman (hasn't forgot how to drive) top 10.  Kofoid winning in multiple disciplines, top Rookie 11th.  Larson overcame tire issue, top 10.  Other top true outlaws, Rico, Reutzel, K.Madsen 13-15.  4 Knoxville locals in the A. Both Prelim winners got top 5.  What am I missing where anyone "deserving" got screwed?????

Highest WoO not in A = Zearfoss

Highest All Star not in A = Wise

Highest Posse not in A = Macri

Highest California not in A = Golobic/Day

Highest Knoxville Regular not in A = Justin Henderson

None of those missing the A is even a tiny bit of a shock. 

Good info Armyduke.

6 of the top 9 in the A main were 6 of top 9 in WoO points.

2 that weren't were Marks and Larson probably the 2 fastest non outlaws all year.

After multi nights of qualiying 100 cars and a great final night A main with lots of action I would say Knoxville's qualifying procedures worked about perfectly. I wouldn't change a thing.

The worst president of my lifetime:
Ronald Reagan