I say have a Hell in the Cell match on the front straight, The longer you last the further forward you start.

This solves two problems. Sets the lineup and elimnates fighting after the events.

I grew up in New England and the majority of the tracks used a handicapping system (and I believe several still do) for their weekly shows. It provided for entertaining racing and, generally, a fair amount of passing. I certainly understand from a racer's point of view why they would like to start closer to the front but, strictly from a fan's point of view, I think starting the cars that have had more success in recent weeks in the back makes for a more exciting show.

Dan Nelson

I like the idea of starting the race by position in points if the competitor is a regular racer. However we also have guys that don't give a hoot about points and just go to race ever so often, should they too be started in front of the regulars?

Racing should be an entertainment venue. We also need people in the stands, what do we as racers or promoters need to do to fill up the stands. I became friends with the promoter that used to bring the Monster trucks to town. He would spend $6,000.00 + on a two week TV add campaign a couple of weeks before the shows, and it worked. Race promoters can't afford that kind of expense. There is also the philosophy that the best advertising is word of mouth. That requires that we constantly give the fans an exciting and economical night out. As racers we can do that by making the racing as exciting as possible, (that doesn't include flipping out of the race track). I know a lot of times the race doesn't get exciting until lap traffic comes into play, and by that times things have thinned out enough that that sometimes isn't too exciting either.

I hear guys talk about those big tracks and the thrill of speed for the driver. The fan sitting up in the stands does not get that same feeling when the race is running and the cars are strung out like a big old freight train. Lawrenceburg would be a good example of a track growing up and out. The old track basically round with a straight wherever a driver decided to make it was an exciting race tack, not because of the speed but the proximity of the cars to one another. Now it is a much faster track, well suited for 410 sprints if the owners can afford the money for a big HP motor, but the other classes are way out of place. When I was a kid Big Salem, Winchester and Dayton were the Super Speedway for Sprint cars, with most of the other races run on smaller tracks that surrounded them. When we thought of Sprint Car, they were special, they was "USAC" all other racers raced Modified that Morphed into the modern day sprint car. Guys raced for years in modified dreaming of the day of getting a Sprint Car Ride. That was a big step toward Indy.

We need to work on that three wide type of racing that the little Bull Rings tracks can provide. We need to get more passing in the races, maybe just a little wheel rubbing, so that when the fan goes back to work the next Monday they tell their fellow workers what a great time they had and invite them to join them the next week.

Honest Dad himself

As for me, KISS, make it as simple, and fair as possible, I prefer to qualify, gives me one more shot at the track, but it does wear out the track, pill draw is about as simple as it gets, if they don't get carried away after that, and, after all, that's really what the heat races and semi's are for, let you race your way into the feature, all the passing points do is confuse everyone in the stands, that's where all the arguments come from, the guys in the race cars want to race, that's when they find out who is the winner, and hopefully that gets passed around a lot, brings more cars and drivers! Bob

In MY Perfect World, for the first 3 races of the season, we would line up the Heats by pill draw and use the ASCS passing points system for the Feature.
After the 3 race, the Heats would be set with Fully Inverted Season Points standings and use the ASCS passing points system for the Feature. Anyone with less than 3 shows recorded would start at the back.

Someone suggested the Kart system of 2 Heats & a Feature. We did that at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN last season with the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series due to a poor car count. The fans liked it because they got to see 4 Heats & a Feature instead of what would have been, due to our normal procedure, 1 Heat & a Feature. We liked it because we got to more laps, which made the 300 mile round trip more worthwhile.

steiny

I say start them the way they line up to get pushed off,sure would speed the show up!!

The problem lies in the quality of talent on a track to track basis. Lets face it, most tracks in the midwest just don't have loaded fields that places like Kokomo or Eldora have. There are WAY WAY more "have-nots" than "haves" in local racing.

If you have a field of top tier equipment and talent, then you really don't need any kind of inversion system and drivers should be able to earn their way forward all night.

Now if we go to Joe Blow Speedway and they have 20 cars, but only 5 real contenders, then you need an inversion system. Problem with inversions is that drivers lose their incentive to "RACE" in the heats. Noone pays heat races anymore... and they should.

The answer is, there is no universal answer. It will always be something that changes based on the circumstances of each individual track.