some changes need to be made isw
 

qualifying is nice, and is needed, but it shouldn't be the basis for the whole night. What i mean is, if you start dead last in the heat race and race up to 5th, you should not start on the tail of the b-main:action-smiley-049:. Get rid of the lcq's make the heats a little bit bigger. Big fan of d,c,b,a. use the drama of the transfering from race to race. Right now the lcq's are there to point out whao is slow tonight. Next I hate watching drivers that won't race in the heat race. These guys know that once they are out of a transfer spot it does not matter anymore. They will be starting on the front of the bmain.:headbang Then my biggest pet peive is how do the b-main guys get to start up front in the a main. :doh: REWARD THE GUYS THAT RACE! maybe this is why we see fewer fewer of the little teams doing well.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

I consider the Non-Q races as C-Mains. I really don't see how they are any different than C's.

I believe that if qualifying is used(Which is what I like) it should mean something. If you Qualify in the top 6, then you should be locked in. Instead of running a heat, I believe they should either just line up the feature inverted or run a race to determine starting position.

No matter what, it is hard to make it fair for everybody.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

i guess the point that i am tring to make is use qualifing to set up your heats, (top six make it, great) once you start raceing how you race determins your starting spot for the next race!. Bad drawl in qualifing ruins your night????? thats not raceing.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

I have to say I'm with you on this one.... That's why we don't run USAC... we don't have the money to take on the big guy's.. so why send money on gas and pit fee's to get zip.. back if we don't make the top 35 or what ever it is.... I can go to Paragon and at lest get my pit money back......My two cent's...

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Hot Laps is Qualifing [Group]

All cars to heat race. add 1 lap per added car.
Top 5 to feature [20]
Heat line up draw for invert. [2-6]

Passing points of heats line up feature. [1 1/2 per pass]
1st is 50 points, 2nd is 49 points and down field.

Heat points line up C-Main two transfer to tail of b-main. [2]

Heat points line up B-Main 4 transfer to tail of A-Main [4]

A-Main lined up by heat points, draw for inversion. [24]

All cars stop on front straight for fans to come on track after checkered flag!
All driver must stay near cars for 10 minutes after for fans on m/s.


:dologob:

Just a thought.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

USAC has stepped up to the plate and is paying all entrants $100.00 even if you do not make the heats.:thumb

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

DO your a great saleman, now go to usac and sell this one, sounds pretty fair, and if you go with a draw, they will probably get everyone home an hour earlier, now if we can get the world to drop the price of fuel , we can all enjoy your idea! Jeff:respect::respect:

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Instead of saying about damn time. I'll say thank you!

Also I agree with dropping the LCQs. A fifth heat and C main are the way to make events. Gotta say tho that its better taking four instead of the old two. At least theres some chance now.

Chuck, who always thought if you showed up to help put on the show. You should get paid something, Now they are :)

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

so your tell me that if I show up at Bloomington Friday, that if we don't make it out of the NQR, that USAC will pay me a $100 buck just for showing up?? that would be great......

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Bet it cost anyone living more than 20 miles from a track at least 500 just to make it to the track and put it out there. Pit passes, fuel for travel, car, even some tire and motor wear.

100, Thats tow money and better than the previously recieved. NOTHIN! :)

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Chuck,
No matter how much it costs anyone to get to the track. We all would gladly take 100 in cash when we got there. I think USAC is at least putting forth an effort to give back to everybody. I commend them for the action of paying the 100 if they are.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

the current way of setting up the whole night based only off qualifing pentilizes a car and driver twice in one night. A driver gains nothing by charging from 10th to 5th as he then must go back to the back of the b main. He would be just as well off to run a lap and pull in and still be in back of the B.What i would like to see is, Qualify to set up heats and non qualifiers but set the B MAIN lineup bases on your positions run in the heats ! Currently if you don't qualify well you would be better off just putting the car back on the trailer.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

No Kyle, Im not dissing them a bit. Im congradulating them for stepping forward.
:applaud:

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Nobody ever said making a USAC show, let alone a Sprintweek show, was easy.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Yes Mark I asked Kevin Miller on DO's radio show last monday night. He said all cars even the cars that do not make it through the non qualifiers will recieve $100.00 for the rest of the year. Kevin Miller is really trying to make USAC a premier series. I talked to him at length that night and I believe he has alot of really good ideas. He also will listen to anyones ideas. If you want to hear the show it is archived on racefanradio.com

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

I say if it ain't broke don't fix it. Last night I saw 2 heats with top eight inverted. The first heat was one of the most exciting race I have seen in years. I attribute that to the format. The B main was loaded, and great. The A main was awsome. All the ideas are OK, but how do you think it could possibly make the racing better than last night. Instead of trying to re invent the wheel maybe we should enjoy what we have.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Last nite was good. But, awesome?? Not a pass for the lead in the feature. Heats were much better than the A. Sure their was a lot of drama late. Congrats to DD. Are support classes necessary when you have 55 sprinters? ISW....sprints only. Then maybe the first heat won't start at 9:20.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Very well said. :checkered: We have had a run of bad luck, with that being said when we do make a show we know nothing was given to us. We have not had the results we had hoped for but Josh has gained a tremendous amount of experience running with the best Sprint Car Drivers around. :respect:

Jerry #66j
www.joshspencer.com

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Thank you Riskybrisky5. that does make thing's much better.. and yes Jerry, we don't want anything handed to use.. but it's hard to race these day's and not get some return. I love to watch my son run with the best.. and he injoy's it to... when you bet them you know your doing well. My son can drive just need's the seat time.... ( and a good set up man:D)it make's me want to look at USAC more... thank you all.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

my personal favorite is when you draw and qualify within your group say you draw a 56 well cars that drew 50 - 70 there are twelve cars that drew in that range those 12 qualify for there spot in there 12 car heat, and then invert top 4 of each heat... so the draw can not dramatically effect qualifying because the group you will heat race against all hit the track with very very similar conditions, with this format, everyone gets a fair amount of laps and it gives smaller teams a better chance...
and base the rest of the evening off of the race finishes, this may work better just with sprintweeks because of the large car counts

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

You just made my point. The format creates good racing in the heats. I was not commenting on anything other than the USAC format as far as other divisions go. Hey the king's royal was over early, if that is what you are worried about I guess you could have went there.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

you are exactly right, might as well go home :applaud:. With the large car counts the track changes quite a bit from the first car to the 50th car. night #2 at the burg Bosfung qualify early and bad. Wins the lcq. Starts on the back of his heat and makes it up to 5th, by far being the fastest car on the track. Comes back out for the b-main to start on the tail, I think he passes 8 cars in the b-main or maybe 9. How was he rewarded? I beleive he got his $100 and put on the trailer. :action-smiley-049: REWARD THE RACERS! There are examples of this every week. This is how the little teams make the race. I don't care what format usac wants to use, just start makeing the races count for something.:headbang

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Are you going to cellebrate your honeymoon or B** all day? :doh::applaud:

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

He did the same thing two nights in a row. Charged to 5th from the back, started lastr in B and past more cars than anyone all night in b and got his $100 and went on trailer !!

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

So if they would have drawn, and he started last in a 10 car heat, finished fifth, finishes one spot out if a transfer how is that any different? I thought his run at the burg was great, but you either make it or you don't. Inverting 8 in a heat is still the way to go for me.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Who ever said life or racing was fair.

Take what you get and live with it. Do the best you can and hope you get a break to put you on top.

That is the trouble with society today. Everybody wants things to be fair, but in the real world, life is not fair.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Sure, the cards are stacked against the smaller teams. But, also therein lies an opportunity that isn't available to the better funded teams. It lies in the expectations game. I remember several years ago when Dickie Gaines went out on most nights and didn't do himself any huge favors in qualifications and ended up racing himself to within 2 points of winning ISW. In fact, I still hear more people talk about what Dickie ALMOST did that year, than I do talk about what Levi DID DO that year. And that was win ISW. It's tougher and tougher, but when it does happen, it's the kind of thing that legends are made of.

And flash forward to the first two nights of Sprint Week. Sure, we were talking about the heat winners, transfers and feature winner. But, one of the things that was said quite a few times, amongst the "Section A Gang" was "Hey, Chad Boesflug can drive!" And I'm guessing we weren't the only people that noticed that.

Jerry

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Without having the stats in front of me I may be off base here, but isn't there less than 10 teams to have made every race? That seems like a pretty fair deal to me.

I believe that the more races that are run, the less chances the "little teams" have of making the show. With the system they have now, the teams that were decent, but not great are rewarded by starting up front. They have a fighting chance of running fast enough for 8-10 laps and holding off the teams that have more speed than they do. The cream rises to the top eventually.

Nothing against Chad or anyone else, but the fact is that USAC uses qualifying to line their shows up so you had better get the job done in qualifying.

For years I've heard guys complain about qualifying and how they don't like it. They want to race but don't like being the center of attention and being on the track by themselves. To me; qualifying is like Free Throws in basketball, you can be exciting and dunk all you want, but most of the time it's the guys who quietly get it done from the charity stripe who end up being the winner.(Shaq and Wilt being the glaring exceptions to that.)

I personally like the system, but as I said before, I would like to see a little more reward for qualifying in the top 6. If the guys are sand bagging the heats, pay points for heat race finishes, but not for B-Main finishes. Or don't give them their starting spot back. Heat race transfers lined up ahead of B-Main guys.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Bingo!!:thumb

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

It's all on how you play the game.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

I have heard people bring this up for a long time now about having a better format for USAC qualifying and such. Honestly, I am not sure how long I have heard it, but enough that it gets old. Same arguement always. I really get tired of hearing it.

I think it is just fine the way it is. I am just glad to be watching the race when I go.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Just do away with getting your time back if you have to run the Bmain. Plain and simple as that. Start straight up how you finish B you start no better than 17th if you win. Top 6 qualifiers that make it out of heat races are inverted and then start from 7th with guys that made it out of heat races that didn't qualify in top 6.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

I by no means am an expert having never strapped into one of these machines...I have however been around racing for more 20 plus years and have been fortunate enough to call many of the best to race sprints friends....with that said...i can honestly say i have never heard any of them complain about a format that gives them an oppurtunity to put their night of racing in their own hands....

The current format allows them to have 2 laps to make their own nights destiny....every last chance race so far has had various cars from local teams to the best that USAC have to offer....it's just what sprintweek and racing with USAC dictates.

Like Jerry said....nothing was given to Josh when he lined up in the front row of his heat at the burg...then raced his butt off and held off some of the very best to transfer into the main....his night's racing was put into his contro because he made the invert...and raced as hard as i can remember seeing him race and made it...walking by his pit after that heat was cool...because the sense of accomplishment in his and Jerry's eyes is why IMO this format is the best format.....leave it in the driver's hands....2 laps of hard..balls to the wall qualifying and then race hard...knowing the sense of urgency of making the cut...it's what it takes in my eyes to run with the best....not the luck of a draw!

funk....i agree with you....leave well enough alone!

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

yup life's not fair, thats why there are 20 to 30 cars sitting on the sidelines this week. Simple put the raceing back into this sport!

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

I agree, if you have to race the B then you race in the A behind those that got in through their heat.:thumb

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

I like most things about the present format but I would change it to what the USAC/CRA does (or did in years past). If you don't transfer from through your heat the best you can start is 7th (behind the invert).

This penalizes the guys that don't race hard in their heat because they know they will start in the front of the B but also doesn't give them the death penalty and force them to start 17th for not being able to pass 4 cars on a track that has not widened out enough to allow passing.

I think this is a fair compromise and would address many of the concerns expressed in this thread.

I don't like a draw format as all too often you can get placed behind a guy who has no business starting up front and you get taken out in a heat race. I know everyone starts somewhere (I took out Keven Huntley in my second race ever as he was lapping me in a feature at the Burg in 1989). At least with qualifying, it can eliminate some of that in a heat race.

If they wanted to start all the cars that qualified in the 4 - twelve lap heats I would not have a problem with that either as long as we maintained an 8 car invert due to the above issue. So if at Kokomo we had run 4 - 14 car heats, top 4 to the A, next 4 to the B and remainder to the C with top 6 transfering out of the C AND getting their time back and top 6 transfering out of the B AND getting their time back with the exception of the top 6 starting spots which would be reserved for the top 6 qualifers that transfered through their heats.

This might be the best of all worlds.

Rob Hoffman

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Rob got it. That's pretty much what I like, too.

The one reason I like the Last Chance races is because it keeps some guys out of the heats who probably will ruin the good heat racing.

A wise friend of mine suggested adding a C Main after the heats, so the LCQ guys get another chance to advance forward. That way, we could also trim down the B Main a little so there's not 24 cars out there for one race that only transfers six.

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Thems good points or just add a fifth heat, drop the LCQ and add a C main.
Same format, Top 8 of each heat inverted. That system works to create great racing. This is also why I kinda like a top 10-12 invert for the feature as well but thats never going to happen.

Chuck

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Way ta go Chuck!!...Nice to meet ya at da 'Burg!!.....Brucer'

Re: some changes need to be made isw
 

Seems to me that Rob Hoffman's thoughts are the best so far on this topic :respect: