Importance of qualifying the the top half of the field (1 Viewer)

[flapjack]

I guess I've not really paid attention to the qualifying order that much (as the top ranked
teams always seem to do well no matter where the qualify), but round one at Phoenix made
me realize how important it is. Witness Langdon vs. Pruett. She qualified in the top half
and had lane choice. I suspect given Langdon's tune up, he would have fared much better in
the right lane. But, since he didn't have lane choice... C'est la vie...

 

[none]

Depends on the track (conditions)
One lane track magnifies......
good track minimizes............

 

[stitcherbob]

I always wanted lane choice..... even with equal lanes I would rather look over to my right through the center of my windshield at the tree than to have the windshield post in my way if I was stuck in the right lane. My reaction times were better when I was in the left lane....

but then I never had a HUGE hood scoop to look over

 

[z28]

I guess I've not really paid attention to the qualifying order that much (as the top ranked
teams always seem to do well no matter where the qualify), but round one at Phoenix made
me realize how important it is. Witness Langdon vs. Pruett. She qualified in the top half
and had lane choice. I suspect given Langdon's tune up, he would have fared much better in
the right lane. But, since he didn't have lane choice... C'est la vie...

They probably would have smoked em in the other lane. On some tracks it's huge. I think one big advantage to qualifying high is being able to determine your spot in the run order. Wilk always runs early if given a choice, especially if up against one of the multi car teams. The multi car teams tend to run later so they can make last minute changes by what they see.

 

[Larry jr.]

Lane choice in my opinion is / was only good for us if we were back of the pack and could see what everyone else was doing.

I always liked to hang back and watch, but these days you don't always get to do that.

I wonder if a really good team could sand bag and get say # 15 or 16 spot and take out another hitter car in round one, like if the points are on the line or something .

That would be cool.

 

[MHayes]

I wonder if a really good team could sand bag and get say # 15 or 16 spot and take out another hitter car in round one, like if the points are on the line or something .

Larry, I know that Greg Anderson tried to do that last year during the countdown to help out Jason Line, but unfortunately he didn't hit the number in order to match up with Allen Johnson in round 1. But then again, given how tight the field is in Pro Stock, that's a pretty tall order!!