Jeff Diehl gets bit by the Friday bug....

[PJ]

I understand the rule. I would amend it in one way. 8 Friday, 8 Saturday. Don't leave just 4 spots, split the field in half. You want to make Saturday exciting, let's see some of the big boys who miss on Friday have to step up. Any way you look at it, 0-3 cars are going home every race.

I don't like the current format and as much as I would prefer best 16 period. I could easily see and 8 and 8 rule working. Ideally they would make places 1-8 on Friday, then 9-16 on Saturday. Imagine some wild first round matchups that could happen if one of the big names has trouble in the Friday night session. That would make some excitement on Saturday during qualifying as well.
Not only trying to get in the show but also trying to just move up one spot to avoid a first round match with driver X.

Hell as much as I hate the c-down I even have ideas to fix that. Huh and open-minded helpful critic, who would have thought lol

 

[mick]

they make such a big deal out of driver introductions, they should have drawings for 1st round matchups.....1-8 draw for opponents
qualified 9-16, then introduce them together as your first round matchups.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

PJ, please explain the 8 +8 system. How would that prevent the same thing from happening???

 

[PJ]

Pops- While it could still happen that the guy running 9th on Friday could not make the show on Saturday, the odds are lessened.
Plus it opens up some excitement and intrigue to qualifying as first round matchups. Not only could we see two big name players battle in round 1 but if one of the low budget guys makes a killer run on Friday we could get a matchup of underdogs in the first round. This means one advances and everybody loves seeing the underdogs go rounds
With only 1 or two cars not qualifying there really isn't much excitement to qualifying right now.

It also helps with the reason the concerns over Friday night being the only session with conditions good enough to get in.

Basically it tries to help both issues, while also adding some level of excitement or intrigue. Call it the Great Qualifying Compromise of 2014

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

If it can still happen, then the 8+8 system is NOT a fix. I still say keep it simple. Everyone gets the same number of "Q" shots.
The QUICKEST 16 race. period.

 

[PJ]

Then we go back to the issue and complaints from before which was you really only had 1 session(especially pro stock). If you didn't make it on the good Friday night session, you weren't gonna race.

This tries to better solve both issues.

 

[none]

The "8 and 8 rule" would throw out over half (if more than 16 cars show up) of Friday's runs. Not sure that would end up benefiting the smaller funded teams.......

 

[vegasnitro]

The "8 and 8 rule" would throw out over half (if more than 16 cars show up) of Friday's runs. Not sure that would end up benefiting the smaller funded teams.......

When do the lesser funded teams fire off a top 8 run? Very rarely. If the 8 and 8 rule came to be, there would be no reason whatsoever for the lesser funded teams to run on Friday, as they likely wouldn't be in the top 8. They would just sit until Saturday and take 2 shots at the bottom 8. There are usually 18 or so cars for each pro class at a given National Event, 8 spots would be protected, so that leaves ~10 cars chasing 8 spots on Saturday. Seems more fair on the surface for the competitors, but the fans on Friday get to see less cars making runs and the law of unintended consequences would rear it's ugly head somehow.

 

[PJ]

I think some lower funded teams would make a go at Friday, hope some of the big boys get too greedy and they wind up with a 5th or 6th spot and face another low buck team in round 1

 

[Leebone]

I don't like the current qualifying format, don't like the clown down, don't like four wide racing and I don't like completing rained out races at the next venue. I tolerate 1000' racing because the fuel cars have outgrown the tracks and shut down areas. That's the only change I agreed with over the years. Just my honest opinion.