[Stevensville Mike]

Originally Posted by illiNOISE ..But how hard is it to take 60-90 seconds to explain basic format ...

Good point. Of all the races I have been to, stuff like that STILL bothers me. Not so much for me, but for the casual fans trying to figure it out.

But on the other hand, I have been to a couple of WoO races over the years and when a certain portion of the program was completed (heat) we all just looked at each other and asked, "What in the hell did we just watch?"

One was a pre-heat dash of some sort with six cars in it. Turned out the WoO had capped the field at 50 cars, or so, but only took the top 48 qualifiers, and everyone qualifying 49 on had to run a "last chance" heat for the final two spots. Never explained it. One of the guys in the stands went into the pits to find that out.

Another one was at Hartford a few years ago wherein they had a small car count and decided each car was going to run two heats. So they did that. No one knew WHAT they were doing. Never explained. Slowed the show down a bit. Then the rain came and the Feature was never run. They ran a whole new program a week later.

But yeah.... a little time invested up front explaining, while it is quiet on the track, would go a long way.

[illiNOISE]

Originally Posted by Rpracing1 Don't let anyone fool you. Only two people actually know how the format works and their lips are sealed. Anyone tells you otherwise just shake your head and agree with them and watch the race. Trying to explain the format to the gen. population would just further confuse the issue.

Sounds like the old "You're not supposed to understand it." argument used to defend the IRS Tax Code.😉

[Rpracing1]

Originally Posted by illiNOISE Sounds like the old "You're not supposed to understand it." argument used to defend the IRS Tax Code.😉

You got it NOISE!

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by rpracing1 don't let anyone fool you. Only two people actually know how the format works and their lips are sealed. Anyone tells you otherwise just shake your head and agree with them and watch the race. Trying to explain the format to the gen. Population would just further confuse the issue.

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by oldfan49 Heck it's not that rare around here to win your heat race and not make the A. I never could understand the reasoning in that. We also get treated regularly to several weak heats and one loaded heat with Vegas style lineups. A bad pill draw make make or break a night. At least the Sprint Bandits had Qualifiers so you got to see some quality races before the feature, wish more tracks would do that weekly especially with the low car counts. As for the USAC format I like it. I go to see a race and to me being fast everytime you roll on the track is what racing is about. you have to hang it all out every lap. Putting the elbows up for 2 laps should mean something when you go to watch the best of the best. And no format produced the quality of heat lineups every race every night. And on the occasion when a local stands toe to toe with the stars of USAC the fans and even other local teams go wild because every one is seing something special. I have no issue with getting the time back because the heat format makes making the invert damn hard. Remember you want to see them make it to the front to battle and they have 6 heavy hitters at least in front of them every night, you don't luck ionto the invert. . Plus when they came to a place where we see them so few times most fans pay to see the stars battle and it puts excitement into qualifying.

"Heck it's not that rare around here to win your heat race and not make the A".
What group or track are you referring to?

[JakeCroxton]

Originally Posted by dstensland Fastest 6 cars that make it into feature by finishing in top 4 of their heat are inverted in the first 3 rows of the feature with fastest car starting 6th. The heat winners occupy spots 7-10 if not one of the fastest 6 cars. This is new this year. The remainder of the field is straight up based on qualifying results. The format is slightly altered if qualifying field is divided into 2 flights because car count is greater than 36. In the event of over 36 cars in competition with a standard format, a split-qualifying format would be in effect. Cars in group one qualify into the first two heats, with cars in group two filling into the last two heats. From there, a standard format is followed with the overall qualifying seeds being meshed together, with the group including fast time taking all odd positions in the feature lineup. The other group will occupy even starting positions in the feature. Cars making the show thru the B main get their time back but cannot start any better than the last car who occupies a heat winner designated starting spot.

I'm late to the party on this...any other questions or lack of clarity on this? I'll suggest to the studio team that they make a video explaining it like the SuperCross crowd does...but I don't think you all want to see Richie Murray dressed up like a Monster girl...

[erich45]

[QUOTE but I don't think you all want to see Richie Murray dressed up like a Monster girl.
Why not? After what we've experienced the last couple of months, we could use a chuckle.