its an outdated rule and causes some qualifying drivers to not have a qualifying et because their friday run is thrown out and then they don't run on saturday, but are still in the show
see funny car ladder from the topeka 2009 race, jack wyatt doesn't have an "official qualifying et" but runs force in the first round
i'd like to see the driver carry forward their et from friday...caused johnny gray to not get in at chicago as well
this run:
13 31 Johnny Gray, Artesia NM, '10 Charger 4.394 230.13 230.13
since it was made on friday and 13th, kept johnny out of the chicago show as well
I thought this from the start yesterday, it's not fair and truly unneccessary.
It's not about "Fair", it's about "The Show". It's about one lane race tracks, with 140+ track temps, it's also about letting the 'little guys' getting into the "SHOW" on Saturday, because track temp is a great equalizer between the "Haves" and the "Have Nots".
I think about it as the "Route 66" Rule... and you can't change the 'rule' just because there may be a 'short field'... it happened when there were 22 to 24 cars showing up for each "PRO" class... and if you did not qualify in the 16 on Friday night under the lights, you didn't get in the field.
There is a way around it, Run Qualifying on both Friday and Saturday at 1 and 3 in the afternoon... opps, there goes your Friday Gate, can't have that.
d'kid
The rule is necessary with a 15 car field or a 14 car field. Not implementing the rule could alter the ladder. Racers opponents should be determined by the same set of rules for all events for consistency. Do not change the order of 13,14,and 15 seeds of the ladder cause there is no 16.