New Indy 500 Qualification/Points Procedure

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

My take:

whatever! It will play out just fine..... But ya gotta ask? Why keep messing with tradition!?!?!

The only thing I don't like is giving points out for qualifying. As it has been seen in most forms of racing, and certainly at Indy, you can win from the back in a 500 mile race. By adding the pressure for the pole in the terms of putting out significant points for poles and good qualifying positions; you have now rewarded people for being fast for 4 laps. We call it racing, not qualifying. A point for the pole I get....maybe 5 for Indy, but 15?

All you are doing is pretty much handing one of the top teams free points for one of their drivers....

Anything that is that complicated cannot be good.... If the average person on the street says "huh?" you have a problem....

The points thing is a joke, points should only be awarded for race, qualifying on pole give you no guarantee that you automatically win the race. I dont understand why some are mad. the pole is gonna come from a driver from Penske or Ganassi

So you get three times as many points for qualifying last for the Indy 500 than you would get for qualifying on pole for any other race? Ridiculous points scheme IMO...

Don't like this at all. The old way worked, why mess with it?

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Originally Posted by Chris R

Anything that is that complicated cannot be good.... If the average person on the street says "huh?" you have a problem....

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I don't know whose idea this was, but if this was Bernard's idea, that is one strike against him. I suspect tho this is a Brian Barnhart idea, and Bernard didn't have that the sense or common sense to say no to the idea. On paper, to a layperson, it isn't a big deal. To those of us who understand racing, it is a bad idea.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

The only thing I don't like is giving points out for qualifying. As it has been seen in most forms of racing, and certainly at Indy, you can win from the back in a 500 mile race. By adding the pressure for the pole in the terms of putting out significant points for poles and good qualifying positions; you have now rewarded people for being fast for 4 laps. We call it racing, not qualifying. A point for the pole I get....maybe 5 for Indy, but 15?

All you are doing is pretty much handing one of the top teams free points for one of their drivers....

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Good point Mark. Yeah, I wasnt hip about this when I first read it.

I do not like it at all.
I do understand the reasoning behind it.
It is to try and make the 500 that much more important in the eyes of the average person, although not for the real fans.
The Powers that Be are not concerned about us. They are pretty sure we will keep following the sport.
It is quite possible the impetus for this came from the track, not the IC itself.
Remember the Hulman family always had different rules for Indy no matter what group had a series. AAA, USAC or CART, the Hulman Family had different rules for the 500.
Tony just wanted to carry that a step further.

I'm glad qualifying has gone to a two-day format, but this makes no sense. In my mind it was a matter of setting positions 1-16 on Saturday and 17-33 on Sunday.

I'm okay with giving points for qualifying, but not changing the point system for a single race.

i like everything about the change. give the fans some entertainment and they will turn up to watch

also more importantly it adds value for the sponsors

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Originally Posted by call_me_andrew

I'm glad qualifying has gone to a two-day format, but this makes no sense. In my mind it was a matter of setting positions 1-16 on Saturday and 17-33 on Sunday.

I'm okay with giving points for qualifying, but not changing the point system for a single race.

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Well first off, if they were going to do something like this, they should have done it when it was just the IRL before the merger and they were life and death to have more than 33 cars show up. Those qualifying days were boring, and needed something, but I still even then don't like giving points away for just being fast on Qualifying day. It is so meaningless.

The goal is to win the Indy 500, not to be fast 2 weeks early. It is a nice thing to be fast, but as Scott Goodyear proved in 92, starting 33rd means little if you are smart and work on the car all day. He was 3 feet from winning from 33rd, and I believe someone has won from almost every place on that grid.

Typical of the IMS to try to give their race that little extra importance over the rest of the series at the expense really of the series. If I am running the LBGP or Toronto GP I am thinking what am I? NOT important?

We all know Indy is a different race entirely from the others. We all know it has been around longer, has the biggest purse, and has the most attention. Stupid tricks like this just make the Hulman's look petty. Come to think of it, these are the people who backed Tony for 15 years while he glorified the race at the expense of the others, so I guess things haven't changed much.-

What the hell difference does paying more points out for the 500 make when there is no season end cash payouts?

Unless I'm mistaken only teams participating in the full season earn the TEAM money...?

This could make some sense if there was a more typical season long points championship with corresponding payouts.

As I understand things the points are basically meaningless for all but those contending for the Championship.

Weird.

The qualifying format itself should be more exciting though...expect a few waded up cars than normal this year...

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Originally Posted by Hoss Ghoul

What the hell difference does paying more points out for the 500 make when there is no season end cash payouts?

Unless I'm mistaken only teams participating in the full season earn the TEAM money...?

This could make some sense if there was a more typical season long points championship with corresponding payouts.

As I understand things the points are basically meaningless for all but those contending for the Championship.

Weird.

The qualifying format itself should be more exciting though...expect a few waded up cars than normal this year...

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Since there are 25 or so cars running for the championship in theory, but the reality is only Ganassi and Penske are likely to sit on the pole, one might just think this is a free gift that the champion this year will come from one of these teams. No shock, I know BUT it doesn't really make it much easier for one of the lesser teams to maybe make some ground up. I just don't see the point in it. Like you Hoss, I wonder why they would bother.

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Originally Posted by SUBARUTEAM

i like everything about the change. give the fans some entertainment and they will turn up to watch

also more importantly it adds value for the sponsors

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Which do you think would put more butts in the seats eyes on the tube and value for a sponsor:

A: this new qualifying procedure
B: the possibilty the racers will set a new track record

what will put more butts on seats is the fact that there will be two days of meaningful action where there is something in it for the teams to scrub their time and go out again for another crack at pole or to better your starting position and earn more points (risk vs reward)

fact - the teams spend just as much (if not more) time preparing for the 500 qualifing as they do preparing for a normal oval race, so why not reward them.

sure pole will go to one of 6 - 8 cars, but there is incentive for every driver to qualify as high as possible rather then simply 'making the field for the 500'

i simply don't understand all the negativity in here - you guys are a hard bunch of people to please.

They should have just left it all how it was....

Instead of another qualy session for pole they should have a 10 lap shootout. Then, based on the order of finish each team will be assisgned lottery balls (more balls the higher you finsh). Teams will also have the option to purchase extra balls (more balls the higher you finish). The lottery will take place that night at a black tie affair at the Journey's End and broadcast on ESPN.

This system will guarantee that no low budget, undeserving, upstart team could possibly fluke a pole!

Oh wait, that's what the new system guarantees.

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Originally Posted by SUBARUTEAM

what will put more butts on seats is the fact that there will be two days of meaningful action where there is something in it for the teams to scrub their time and go out again for another crack at pole or to better your starting position and earn more points (risk vs reward)

fact - the teams spend just as much (if not more) time preparing for the 500 qualifing as they do preparing for a normal oval race, so why not reward them.

sure pole will go to one of 6 - 8 cars, but there is incentive for every driver to qualify as high as possible rather then simply 'making the field for the 500'

i simply don't understand all the negativity in here - you guys are a hard bunch of people to please.

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seriously?

you really believe this new qualifying format is going to create more Buzz and put more butts in the seats then the possibility of a new track record?

Like i said earlier....I haver no problem with the new procedure just dont see it as a significant step towards increasing popularity of the sport/event...


Im sure those in attendance will enjoy it

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Originally Posted by Ken

seriously?

you really believe this new qualifying format is going to create more Buzz and put more butts in the seats then the possibility of a new track record?

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not a new track record

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Originally Posted by Ken

Which do you think would put more butts in the seats eyes on the tube and value for a sponsor:

A: this new qualifying procedure
B: the possibilty the racers will set a new track record

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Easily option A.

You can now focus on just a 90 minute session to see who sits on the Pole - MUCH better for TV coverage (read sponsorship value). Rather than previous years where unless you watched the WHOLE DAY you could easily miss the fast guys setting the pole times.

Whilst I don't particularly like the idea and seems more of a gimmick, it makes way more sense for attracting the sponsor money. Think it may also help to get more people there too - they can turn up later in the day and not risk missing 'that' pole run, if perhaps they can't dedicate the whole day at the track.

Take away the giving of points away, I can live with the changes. They have wrecked so much of what Indy was over the last 15 years, that how they get to Bubble day doesn't really matter. But giving out extra points for qualifying for only THIS race is wrong, it diminishes the rest of the series in importance, and rewards teams for something that in the end, shouldn't and doesn't matter. No one really cares where anyone starts once the race starts. You read the paper the day after the 500 to see who won? No one really cares about where people started once that green flag drops. So WHY give away 15 points for winning a pole?