[BrentTFunk]

Originally Posted by yeleyfan76 Bingo! You nailed it. It makes me feel better to end the boredom. Since people are talking about how it’s been from back in the day, I’d like to share how I grew up. Here in the east we did something real simple. The guy leading the points started the feature (A main) in 16th or 18th depending on the track. We had absolutely no time trials. The fast guys started in the back all nite every nite. We could care less if driver A entered turn one an inch and a half higher than did driver B. If that mattered we found out because A would then pass B. This crap about guessing the time on a scoreboard or hoping to remember later in the night that the 23rd car on track was a tick quicker than the 1st and 39th guy did. The reality is that in the Usac sprint car series( which is the only series I care about), the top guys in points usually start the A in the front 4 rows, barring an issue in the heats. That means you have to spend a ton of money to run two laps against no one to assure you have basically passed over half of the field before the real race starts. I will never win this “debate” but I’ll bet that if Bacon,Grant, Leary, Axsom, Ballou, and Swanson, started further in the back every nite, they would be a bunch more fun to watch pushing hard to make it thru. Tip toeing thru lapped cars is passing yes, but pushing thru the field is what I thought racing was all about. Now that the cars are locked down due to tires, track prep and other issues passing is at a premium. I’m not sure how many people were at Smackdown this year, but the clinic Kyle Cummins put on coming from the back was an instant classic. Imagine if all of the “fast” cars could do that every nite. I’d think more folks would be in the stands each week. Speaking of which, it’s amazing how much more the stands fill up when the heats are ready to start and not during TT. I guess they are enjoying the excitement in the parking lot?

I think it is funny that the example that you used was a race that had single car qualifying. Cummins was impressive that night. I also remember Terry Pletch coming through the non qualifiers race, and winning the Hulman Classic. The USAC format makes the fast qualifier pass more cars than any series that I know of. It also rewards guys who don't qualify well but win their heat.

If you can name me a series that requires more passing out of the fast qualifier than USAC I would like to know.