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

No more World Challenge at the Nationals

B-main top 4 now start in positions 17-20, Last Chance Friday night top 4 now start 21-24.

If so, why the change?  It has worked out well with some extra excitement as to who it would be.  If this is true I do not know the reasoning.  There are a few old stuck in the mud people who want the national to be just like it was in 1975.

Here you go...

http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/Article/2205/knoxville-raceway-announces-changes-to-knoxville-nationals-format

That's too bad.  I thought the World Challenge format as it stood was pretty exciting.

I read it.  It sounds like on Sat. night no one will transfer from B Main to A main.  It said friday A main top 4 will start 21-24 in A main sat.

Saturday night B main start 17-20.

The World Challenge was a gimmick race and the golden ticket just made it more gimmick-y in a week where no gimmicks are necessary. 

That being said, the race paid 10k to win and had a healthy purse going back, will that money get redistributed to the Hard Knox Friday show or elsewhere during the week?

The ironic thing?  I watched my 17th straight World Challenge in 2018.  This was the first one I can remember being worth a crap.  Then, it gets cut.  

No big deal.  Friday night could use one less feature anyways.  Usually a midnighter.  

Not sure about the purse money but the race always had a title sponsor which helped chip in on some of the purse. Also, I believe the racetracks who held "World Challenge Qualifier" races helped chip in on the costs as well.

-Austin Rankin

I think people on this forum mentioned earlier this summer that Friday qualifiers starting ahead of of B main guys (who did well on their qualifying nite) was unfair.... seems reasonable enough to me....

Funny, somethings get posted and certain people seem to want or need an index along with the info in order to believe it or to be able to find the info on their own. Some find the info and don't seem to read it thoroughly and claim something is missing that isn't.      

And yes revjimk this was a topic of discussion a while back. Had rather mixed reviews. Knoxville more often than not seems to always get it right.

Friday is a long show even without that race.  It has been 12 or so the last 2 years for show to end even with no long delays.  I stayed to watch but won’t mind leaving an hour earlier on Friday night.  

You said it-------knoxville does seem to always get it right.    

Good call. I like the flipping of the Friday A and Saturday B.

The changes could have and perhaps should have been more revolutionary.

I'm yet to talk to anyone who likes the length of the A-Main. The fuel stop kills the momentum of the race and it's just not what we do as a sport.

The other aspect I'd like to see reviewed is the heat invert on qualifying nights. The depth of Sprintcar racing is such that the invert minimises the qualifying chances of top time trialists. We are ending up with too many quick timers in the B-Mains on qualifying night which in turn reduces the spectacle of those races because they simply drive into the distance from the front of the grid.

Happy enough with the changes made but wanted to see a couple more.

I think they should just make the heats 12 laps instead and keep the invert as is.

Gotta say that angel sure knew what the hell he was talking about...

The invert is what makes the Nationals good.   You must really like to watch single file freight train heat races with no passing.    

I like both changes.  The World Challenge provisional was too easy.  I think maybe a lot of drivers thought the same thing.   

I also like starting the B main transfers ahead of the Fri night qualifiers.  Those cars did it the old fashioned way and deserve to start ahead of the Fri cars.  They also don't get the option to even run Fri anymore so it's not really fair to them to start in the back.  

Count me as one who likes the 50 lapper with the stop.  It gives every car a realistic chance to get to the front no matter where they start.  It also seems to add more excitement at the end.  Every one of them have been close after 50 laps.  I haven't seen anyone leave early.  

It's good to see Knoxville being proactive and trying to improve their show.  My group has talked about these exact changes the last couple of years.  The bigger seats were a welcome this year as well.  I'm not sure what else I would change at this point.  

If the A main would have been 30 Laps this year, Sweet would have won by a mile and it would have been a ho hum race instead of the great race we got. 

I think much like a lot of sprint car racing, a vocal minority has a strong opinion about an issue and likes to bring it up a lot, but the silent majority likes the 50 laps.