Back in the "good old days" when you went to a Sprint Car race, that's what you got; Sprint Cars. One class equalled fewer cars to beat the track up, and back in the really old good old days the tires were narrower so they didn't pack the track down like they do now.
At Ascot, before the days of curfews and 5 classes in one night, qualifying didn't start until around the time the heats are wrapping up now; starting later meant the track stayed heavy all night. One class meant you could start later and still be done without even worrying about a curfew. And have a Trophy Dash. And a Consi. And a Rookie Race. So, qualifying didn't "drag out the show", it was part of the show.
To Casey's point, Sprint and Midget Weeks usually only include one or two support classes, as do most USAC stand-alone shows, so it stands to reason that the tracks stay in better shape even with time trials and the racing benefits from that.
I always remember two or three classes, However when they hotlapped the track was wet and any wheel packing was done by the cars themselves. Qualifying would start out one line and widen out as the heats went on. By feature time it was usually pretty wide. If there was holes in the track, there were holes. you went around or through em, not the super groomed five time reworked tracks we have now.
If it got dusty, they threw a few bags of calcium on it.
Originally Posted by cshuman:
I don't really understand why or how qualifying was standard operating procedure around here for so long, and they seemed to still put on great races back then.. But now days, it kills the track and kills the racing? Every top tier racing organization still qualifies, and puts on great racing, in front of big crowds. Sprint week and midget week usually puts on the best races of the year, and they qualify. So why did it stop in the first place?
Now Shuman, there is no need for you to be on here making perfect sense.....
Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
I always remember two or three classes, However when they hotlapped the track was wet and any wheel packing was done by the cars themselves. Qualifying would start out one line and widen out as the heats went on. By feature time it was usually pretty wide. If there was holes in the track, there were holes. you went around or through em, not the super groomed five time reworked tracks we have now.
If it got dusty, they threw a few bags of calcium on it.
Ascot had 5 classes; Offroad on Wednesday, Modifieds on Thursday, Flat Track on Friday, Sprint Cars on Saturday and Supers and Figure-8's on Sunday afternoons on Channel 5.
and it NEVER got dusty. Rico Hawkes saw to that...
I'm gonna put it best I can and hope it's 100% but don't quote me . For midget week Kokomo had 30 sprints and 36 midgets. Midgets did single car. Sprints draw for there groups. In this night was. 3 of 10 cars. They all get 4 laps to record their best lap with all 10 cars spread out as was only 3 groups. Their group is also their heat. Here is where I'm not 100% I think they do a 4 invert for heats. And top 5 transferred to the A. Top 2 in each heat re draw for their starting spot in feature. They took 5 out of a 15 car b main for 12 laps and started 20 car feature for 25 laps. Yes each sprint and midget was on a transponder
From here on out. This is what's gonna happen. All 20 feature staters will line up 10 on one side, 10 on the other and Rock Paper Scissors. The ten left will then split into 5 and 5 and take turns kicking each other in the shins until one falls over. The remaining five will then have a dance off to see who starts 1-5.
If memory serves me correctly, and it often doesn't, most tracks in Indiana dropped qualifying when Mitch added an extra hour of sunlight for them to deal with.
Originally Posted by Chris Nunn:
From here on out. This is what's gonna happen. All 20 feature staters will line up 10 on one side, 10 on the other and Rock Paper Scissors. The ten left will then split into 5 and 5 and take turns kicking each other in the shins until one falls over. The remaining five will then have a dance off to see who starts 1-5.
#newschool
Makes more sense than passing points at some tracks haha
