Well here is my rant, which I was going to put in another thread...


This new deal is BS!!!! Honestly if you think it's a good thing you're kidding yourselves. A small example... Urs was already in with a .786 from memory, but his time got scrapped and he had to just fight to get in above Bob V's 6.30 something. Now what about Vandergriff he had run a 4.678. Troy a .708 now Bob will be hoping to run better then Chrismans’ .97.

We are already seeing faults in this, should we look at FC now

Why can't the NHRA just leave things alone!!! This is not going to get better, and this change will not grow on me. If you can't run well, you don't deserve to be in, don't sell the others who put down a good number short and kick out their time, if you can’t run on Friday tough luck!

You're right, they should just scrap night qualifying all together. No good data comes from it and the teams don't like running at night anyhow. Then they could go back to regular qualifying.

Either that or just run one session on Friday night and save the $$$ from the other 3 rounds. At $5000+ per pass I am sure most teams would love to save $350k per year. It would make it a lot easier for the low budget teams to run more races too. A little unfair since the teams would only get one shot to get in, but then that's how it's been for years anyway.

Come on Mike- you know that it should be qualifying at 5 and 8 on Friday and 3 and 7 on Saturday.... That way everyone gets at least ONE session they can't figure out!!

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Brent,

As much as I like Nitro at dusk, yeah, Two during 'race time' on Friday, Two during 'race time' on Saturday... let's say Noon and Three both days...

JMHO

d'kid

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Personally I like it. Its a needed change if they are only going to have one night session. I think it would have been better if they just added another night session, or taken away the one so there's just 4 regular sessions and left it the fastest 16. But with just one Friday night hero session, I like this idea. And I know the drivers dont like night sessions, but for fans there's nothing else close to it.

Martin bro, I love Night racing, I mean that's what I grew up with here. I'd like to see race day in the states for the pros start around 2pm, personally, even later, but now I'm getting greedy I just think the new qualifying format is not fair on those who may run a decent number, only to have it scrapped come Saturday.

You having fun out in L.A LA land?

Face the facts - this is all about filling seats. Friday night qualifying is not going away . . . it gets people in the gates who had to work during the day.
Saturday qualifying has been for the most part a disaster for years.
So . . . NHRA creates a system to create some excitement - surprise!
I don't like the fact that the top 12 can be bumped on Saturday, but letting racers outside battle for the final four spots might not be so bad.
NHRA does not want to hear anyone's opinion about letting the competitors stand on their performance - they just want more gate dollars. JMHO

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"The Counterfeiter"

Almost too much fun... Grammy party tonight; we have sucessfully hijacked the bus AND the driver for tomorrow; bringing lots of newbies to what looks like what will be a great race; AND I get to make up for missing all those Phoenix sessions in a BIG way!!!

Sometimes life is too good!!!

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a.k.a. 98percentnitro

http://www.myspace.com/relentlesslightingdesign

I'm with you Karl. As a fan I LOVE to see nitro at night, there's nothing like it. However, there is no logical reason to run at night of you take the fans out of the equation. The conditions are no where near race day (in general) and it's much harder on the drivers and parts. I would bet that most teams would rather not run at night at all. I wouldn't even mind if they just ran Friday night and didn't count any of the times. Give everyone 3 rounds to qualify and 1 round to show off. That way the lower budget teams could save the $$$ and not have to set it to kill just to get in. Maybe offer some sort of bonus $$$ for fast runs on Friday night.

I don't like the fact that the 13-on times are thrown out for Saturday. Del Worsham would have qualified had that not happened, as he was #13 at the end of Friday. Since he was unable to match that number, he's DNQ. That doesn't seem fair to me.

Once again it's NHRA's bottom line (read big wigs pockets) instead of what's best for the racers.

Scrap night quals all together? Sometimes I do wonder if some folks look at reality here. What happen to the fan! Yeah, let's say it's April or May, and I guess hard working SOB in Gainesville, North Augusta, or Marietta GA is just going to scrap a day and go watch quals in the afternoon. Yeah right. But he can manage to get off at 3 and make it to Commerce and enjoy the 1 event he can go to each year.

There is a reoccurring problem in NHRA and NASCAR (as well) these days. Some folks think they are a part of the freakin team, getting paid, and eating the free hospitality each week; and not sitting at home or at the track with the purpose of being entertained.

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I never thought that being an optimist would piss people off so much.

I'd like to see the "friday night lights" stay. As mentioned, there are alot of folk who come through the gates after 5 just to see the nitro cars. I know at Maple Grove it's been that way for years, & even though it may only be the casual fan, it's still money coming in for the track that quite honestly wouldn't be there if the 2nd session was held during the 9-5 grind. This is a part of the entertainment industry solely dependent upon capturing the time & $'s of a group of individual's out there who in this day & age have a myriad of other things out there to choose from during happy hour's, not to mention the dreaded debt factor in the present economy. If the NHRA/teams/drivers wish to scrap the night session, so be it. I think it would be detrimental to the growth of the sport if they really are looking for it to expand.

I want to wait until the hot races before passing judgement on the new qualifying format. I can't believe people want to get rid of night qualifying, was anybody that's saying get rid of night qualifying at Chicago last year? I'm thinking about skipping Saturday for a couple of races (Chicago and Sonoma) if they are forecasting sunny weather. To me it's not worth $55 to see fuel cars go up in smoke.

Can someone help me understand this "new" system. I thought I had it, but apparantly I'm missing something.

My understanding is that the top 12 after Friday are locked into the field, but their qualifying position is not. Then, the drivers outside the field vie for the remaining 4 spots in the field, irregardless of position.

So, if I am correct in my understanding then how does this happen?

Jim Head is shown in the #11 position with a 4.88 after qualifying ends on Friday locking him into the field. After Saturday he is shown as #17 with a 4.875.

Was he not in the top 12 and "locked" into the field?

you are not locked in you just get to keep your time. In theory at a hot race it will be very difficult for another car to go faster but if 6 cars post a faster time you are out. the 16 fastest cars "in theory" qualify. This is really an attempt to get fans out on Sat. nothing more nothing less.