New Indy 500 Qualification/Points Procedure

[DanicaFan]

Im not sure if I like this or not. The IRL keeps messing with tradition. They already took the Month of May away from the 500 and made the race basically a 2 week format.

But I will give it a fair shot and see how it plays out. I hope I get this information right and that it makes sense.

Here I go..

There will be a new qualification procedure for the Indianapolis 500 this year as well as how they distribute the points for the championship standings..

On pole day (May 22)they will qualify the top 24 spots for the 33 car field. They will still do the traditional 4 lap attempts. These attempts will be made between 11am-4pm. Each car will have 3 attempts during this time. After 4pm, the top 9 drivers in speed will have thier times erased. They call this the "FAST NINE ".These drivers will start no worse than 9th in the race. These 9 drivers will then make at least one 4 lap qualifying attempt between 4:30-6pm and possibly another attempt if time permits. The starting positions will be determined by thier speed. Then, the pole winner will be declared. If the weather is bad, the times from thier original qualifying session will determine thier starting position. Drivers from 10-24 will fall in position by speed.

On Bump Day (May23), the remaining 9 spots from position 25-33 will be filled(12-6pm). These spots will be determined by speed with the same 4 lap qualifying attempts. Once the 33 spots have been filled, the bumping will begin until 6pm and the field will be set.

As for points for the championship standings, this will be different for this race only. These points rewarded are as follows..

Pole Sitter - 15 points
P2 - 13 points, P3 - 12 points (front row)
Rows 2 & 3 will receive 11-6 points depending on starting position.
(Example - P4 (row 2) gets 11 points, P5 - 10 points. etc..
Positions 10-24 - 4 bonus points
Positions 25-33 - 3 bonus points

The Peak Performance Award Prize money will go up as well. Here is how it will break down..

Pole Sitter - $175,000
Position 2 - $75,000
Position 3 - $50,000

[JagtechOhio]

I think it's all conceived to attract attendance for qualifying, and I think it will work. Imagine all the money they made in the old days, and how long that has been missing.

All of the changes result in the drivers having to hang it out a lot more this year. I hope that doesn't become a problem for many who are less experienced, I think it will.

And a lot less time to repair or replace busted cars. And a lot more dependant on good weather.

Might work great, might be a disaster. I'm hoping for great.

[JagtechOhio]

[GrahamRahal] Indy quals will mean more now than ever! Get your ticket so you can see some action!

[courageous]

Tradition to one side for a second, only 2 things really matter in qualifying - pole & making the field so the old 2nd & 3rd days didn't decide anything (in a long race, starting midfield isn't a huge advantage over the back row).

Question on the top 9 "super pole" - does this mean that those cars are definately safe from bumping (I know it would be unlikely anyway, but hypothetically)?

[JagtechOhio]

Top 24 are safe at the end of pole day, the way I read it.
You could beat the pole speed the next day and start 25th.

[DanicaFan]

Originally Posted by courageous

Tradition to one side for a second, only 2 things really matter in qualifying - pole & making the field so the old 2nd & 3rd days didn't decide anything (in a long race, starting midfield isn't a huge advantage over the back row).

Question on the top 9 "super pole" - does this mean that those cars are definately safe from bumping (I know it would be unlikely anyway, but hypothetically)?

Yes, the top 9 are safe from bumping.

The more I look at it, the more I dont like it. It is too complicated. I think it will really confuse people, especially a lot of new fans. I also dont like the points system in this race and how freely they are given out. I think that you give out too many points for this. Points should be earned in the race, not qualifying. I dont mind the pole getting a few extra points but I think too many points are just given out period.

[marcostraz]

I think we'll see a wild last one hour and half of qualifying..it will determine the championship, because a lot of points are available...I don't konw if it's positive or negative...we will see...

[Yannick]

It makes perfect sense for IMS to have only 2 days of qualifying. I strongly feel that even Saturday's grid spots should be allowed to bump. The "Fast Nine" probably will have a sponsor's name come Pole Day.

However, there seems to be one problem: the time left to repair a damaged car is much less under this system than it used to be, so that by bump day, the car count could have gone down so far that bumping becomes unnecessary.

[NaBUru38]

I'd do it exactly the other way round, that is from the back to the front. On Saturday morning, the top 9 would get into the first group and the next 12 cars into the second group. The rest of the cars (from 22th onwards) would bump qualify in the afternoon: 25th to 33th would be set, and the best 3 would get into the second group. On Sunday morning, these 15 cars from the second group would qualify: 13th to 24th would be set, and the top 3 would get into the first group. The 12 cars from the first group would qualify in the afternoon and the 1st to 12th would be set.

Giving bonus points for all qualifiers is very strange. If any, I'd give ony first few rows, and definitely less points than now.

[JagtechOhio]

Agreed wholeheartedly with you marco and NaBUru, the points awards are far too influential on the season championship.

I'm guessing, but if you go back for a few years in the history you could find examples of where the qualifying positions at Indy would have resulted in a different champion.

[JagtechOhio]

Here's some added thoughts on the new-look Indy 500, from my new blog. Have a read if you wish, and your comment is always welcomed.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3...-yet-tradition