I'll never agree that someone from the B main starting in front of any of the heat transfers is the best method. Granted they can start no better than 7th but it should be 17th

That being said I Know at least three of the heats cars from the third row won or finished second. DD also won his heat which I missed the pass for the lead as I was watching the final transfer spot.

I just don't like drawing for position and the two fastest guys start up front. Win and then win the feature from the pole. I get your theory on b main cars starting ahead of cars that made it from the heats, but to me that equalizes the invert a little. I like that the fast cars have to pass in their heat to not run the b. Back to the subject. I thought last night was pretty good

It was pretty good. Hoping I can get to another couple shows to enjoy the top class fields that have been showing up. I love it.

I wish the Late Model tours would use a format similar to this.

One of the large tours does everything heads up all night and the "racing" has suffered ever since they started doing it. But now car counts are really falling off because the local and mid regional guys that are left aren't going to that Series races because they have such slim chance of running well enough to offset costs.

You add some inverts and guys may feel like they have a chance against the guys in better equipment to make the race and/or steal a good finish. But its just the top equipment and fast cars being given the front all night.

I hope USAC doesn't go away from their format; the way WoO has went away from heat inversions. Stay the course, gives the little guy a chance if he will fight for it and gives the fans some great racing to watch.

This is probably going to come across as a novice question from someone who has been to plenty of races over the years. Reading through some of these awesome, very detailed comments, I keep wondering, how do you guys know what to watch come feature time? I'm sitting there last night trying to keep up when the cars get spread out and it was a challenge to even find Leary tearing em up. As weird as it sounds...any tips for watching a full field of sprint cars on track?

I think knowledge of the cars, drivers, and tracks help a lot. Sprint car racing is an intense action packed sport that can be hard to keep up with. Knowing who runs well where is a good way to find someone who may make a charge from deep(example if Kyle Cummins started deep at tri state where he always runs well) also knowing where cars start helps. I usually watch the lead group early until or if it spreads out then I'll watch throughout the field periodically checking in on the leaders to see if anyone is closing or if it looks like he may encounter heave traffic that may tighten it up etc. I rarely get locked in on 1 battle for extended periods of times even if there is a great race for 5th I'm still finding the leader every lap or 2 to make sure nothing is changing there.

I just try to find a good battle or two in the pack if the leader checks out. Last night I was focused primarily on KTJ and the meseraull/ballou battle until tmez broke his jacobs ladder. I'll glance back to the leader every now and then to see how he's handling the lapper and if second is catching him, but there's almost always a good race somewhere on the track. Just enjoy it and soak it all in!

Agreed. B-Main guys should start behind heat qualifiers, IMHO

I've only been going for 7 years & still trying to figure it out, & I suspect its a challenge for everybody. You can't see everything. I kind of prioritize, battle for lead first, other battles (especially last qualifying spot), & sometimes focus in on a particular driver who I think will advance. Just like Mr. Nungester, I missed a pass for the win in one of the heats while watching another battle. & if the leader has lapped several cars, its easy to lose track of him if you start following another battle. I think the chaos & sensory overload is probably part of the appeal....

I keep track of the top three. If nobodys gaining on anyone there. I look back to see if anyone is moving forward. Like another said, Kevin Thomas in the 9 was moving foreward and who I was watching for the most part, But I did catch where Leary, Bacon and Darland where every couple laps. Ballou was also in that mix for awhile.. Beyond fourth or fifth. I couldn't have told you who finished where.