Consider this Scenario...

[Tim Northcutt]

The weather forecast is now an 80% chance of rain through the weekend...Monday looks almost as bad...cold and wet...Tuesday is expecting some showers as well...

If they can't qualify through Monday, how does that change the dynamics for qualifying?

Teams that ran this week will have more data and set-up info, but Honda is giving everyone one engine to qualify and one for the race....the guys who ran this week have put miles on their engines and they will possibly have less power than those who only have budgets for the second weekend only...

Teams like Arie Jr. have experienced people in their paddock....less $$$, but the know-how to get a car to go fast here....as Arie Sr. said this week, they have the people to do it and a good chassis from Ganassi...it will be up to his son to push the pedal down to go fast....

Does this level the playing field a little for the "have-nots?"...at least for qualifying???

I believe that it might...at least a little....

and if they go into next weekend without a field, Saturday and Sunday could be quite wild the weekend of May 20-21.....also dependent upon the weather....

I can't remember this kind of prospect (weather-wise) since 1969....when qualifying was under the same type of scenario....

Personally, I think it favors people at the end of the original line if they get "windows" that open and close due to the weather....the longer you have to sit, the better the prospects are to get better weather...and everyone has to get one shot at the Pole if they were drawn and have not been passed up in the line.....even if it is the next day...as long as the original line has not gone completely through one time.

Arie Jr. said today that he hopes it rains all weekend long...he feels they can qualify well if this weekend is a washout....and if nothing else, he and other "2nd week" cars might be able to be better off than 23rd at best if things went according to the normal qualifying pattern...

Your thoughts???

[2112]

The month long thing has not been working out.
Anything that places more drama on one weekend is sure to bring more people out to the track.
As far watching, it makes it more of a definitive event.