I had a discussion with several very knowledgeable sprint car racing fans over the weekend regarding usac having "non qualifier races" to eliminate contestants before the racing even officially begins, and it was unanimously agreed upon that: all contestants should be given a chance to run a heat race and a main; if there are 55 contestants, then there should be 5 heat races of 11 cars, with the top 3 finishers making the a-main, with the next 4 making the b-main and the rest going to the c-main/ then taking 4 from the c-main to fill out the b-main and taking 7 from the b-main, to fill out the a-main! what do you all think?

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I think you'd be there all night and the end result would be the same.

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I think the high-stakes nature of the ISW format makes it all the better, frankly. It is sprint week, not Paragon. Bring your "A" game or go home. And, yeah, I had short ISW nights when I had a car.

I guess I was thinking that the non-qualifiers race was to give the racers another chance rather than "eliminate" them. In other series if you don't qualify on time you're eliminated before racing at all.

Tim Simmons

I don't see why you think it would take that much longer/ the only extra race would be a c-main instead of the second non-qualifiers race.

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i like the non qualifier races myself.
But with a C or even D main if needed. Bring me some alphabet soup please. im always hungry for some sprint cars.
i also think 24 cars is too many for 12 laps. Run those last 2 heat finishers to the C main. Transfer 4 from the C to the B, to get your 20 cars. I dont know about yall, but i love to watch someone race his way through the alphabet. And get rid of those provisional's please. The hooligans would have so much more at stake. I never thought id see the day that they would be used in sprint car racing. Send em back to stock car country where they belong.

But either way it is the non-qualifiers race or the C which ever it should end up needs to be atleast 15 laps if not 20. Gotta give the guys at the back half a chance.

With your proposal of transferring 3 cars out of 5 heats for larger fields, would you still invert 6 cars in the heat? This would make it much harder for the faster qualifiers to qualify through the heat. Thus you would have B mains with more cars qualifying in the top 15 that night and they would not be able to start in the invert for the feature. A good qualifying run should not place a driver at a great disadvantage to win the feature event on any given night. Also with more fast qualifiers in the B main it will be harder for the non qualifiers to make the show anyway. Just raising a point on how this simple proposal might change the show in an unintended way.

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As a car owner myself, although not a USAC Sprint Car, I personally love the format. I have ran numerous races with the alphabet soup and it costs me far more money (tires, fuel, etc) for what can be crazy long shot. There is no doubt it takes longer and is harder on track conditions. USAC Racing (and SprinWeek) is probably not the best place to try to gain experience. It's arguably the top tier of non-wing sprint car racing.

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Personally, I like the straight forward USAC rules and format. I do understand the officials do have some flexibility and can sometimes adjust these as they see fit. When it happens, I usually catch wind of it over the frequency before it takes place so I can adjust my scoring sheets.
The following is taken from the actual rule.

QUALIFYING RACES
When the total number of cars qualified is 41 or more, a Qualifying Race
may be held for cars qualifying 33 and higher, starting straight up by qualification
order. Cars finishing 1 through 8 will start behind qualified cars in
the heats. Added Heat Race starters from the “Qualifying Race” are eligible
for the Semi Feature and will line up according to the official qualification
time.
When the total number of qualified cars is 48 or more a second qualifying
race may be held. Cars qualifying in odd numbers starting with 33 will
comprise qualifying race #1. Cars qualifying in even numbers starting with
34 will comprise qualifying race #2. Starting position will be based on
qualifying starting straight up. Qualifying race winners and 5th place finishers
will start in heat race #1, finishers 2nd and 6th will start in heat race
#2, finishers 3rd and 7th in heat #3, finishers 4th and 8th in heat #4.
These cars will also be eligible for the semi feature and will start according
to qualifying time.