NASCAR has made a trend of overcomplicating its most straightforward systems over the past 25 years, whether changing the points system to the Chase in 2004, Changing the Chase again, or Changing the Chase to Playoffs.
Even something as easy as qualifying has become a weekly topic of the online NASCAR community. A system once thought to remain untouched has been modified, returned to its original system, cast aside, brought back, and changed once again. Now, the current system begs the question again: Is qualifying too complicated?
For years, qualifying was a highlight of every race weekend. The original system took a lot of work to follow. It featured cars going all out for two laps at each track, then ordered by fastest lap. Got it? I’m glad you could hang in there for the complexities of that system.
The speed, intensity, and occasional edge-of-your-seat moments made for an almost bonus race every race weekend. Many memories were made with this system. However, as with most things in the 2010s, NASCAR would change it.
In 2014, the first year of the Playoffs, NASCAR introduced the “knockout” group qualifying system. The system saw three-timed rounds to set the field. The first 15-minute round featured all cars, the second a 10-minute round featuring the 24 fastest cars, and the third round was a five-minute finale with the 12 fastest cars running for the poll.
This system would continue to evolve until the infamous 2019 Auto Club race, where the final round didn’t happen as drivers chose strategy over speed, and no one could post a lap time.
It’s not that this system didn’t require strategy, be it drafting, tire usage, dirty air, or overall track conditions. However, teams, always wanting to win at whatever they were doing, over-strategized until NASCAR stepped in and returned to the old format at Dover.
This didn’t last long, as in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the use of a metric for running order, which would return for the majority of the 2021 season.
For 2022, NASCAR shook it up but maintained the same principles. There were two groups, Group A and Group B. They would run a single lap or for 15 minutes on road courses. The top five from each would advance to a final round for the poll. Superspeedways had a similar format but no groups, and the top ten would advance to a final round.
This stuck around for 2023, with tweaks to how the qualifying order was decided. But like a mid-race wedge adjustment, more changes would be made for 2024.
The 2024 qualifying process is simple, in a NASCAR way. But once again, this sport once had Mario Lopez explain in simple terms how its champion was crowned.
For those who watched the previous two years, it’s similar to that format with one very distinct change. That change is that a driver who has a faster time in one group can systematically start a race behind a driver who is slower than them from another group.
Fundamentally, it is the same, except for how drivers qualifying outside the top ten would line up. Those in Group A would be sorted on the outside row, and Group B would be sorted to the inside row, with the fastest five from each group moving to the final round of qualifying.
This was done to help ensure fairness with the ever-changing track conditions during practice and qualifying. However, this created initial confusion when looking at the scoring data and seeing that the driver in 13th could be slower than the driver in 16th.
As standard, the top five from each group would advance to the final round and go all out for one lap to set the top ten starters. This was until the hounds of unfairness howled again.
This led to a few weeks ago, when NASCAR decided to make the final round essentially a smaller version of the normal round, with the top five from Group A running for the outside row of the top ten and the top five from Group B running for the inside row.
However, it can’t be that easy, as the front row, starting positions one and two, are the fastest two of groups A and B, with the fastest of those two getting the poll.
As you would expect, this would lead to more fans pointing out that the driver in fourth could literally be slower than the driver starting fifth.
Read also:
NASCAR fans and online commentators have responded in the usual manner.
The system’s backlash has been very similar to the backlash found with the 2014 system. While some like what NASCAR has cooked up from a competition standpoint, some still disagree with the complexity of the system as a whole.
This came to a head last week at Indianapolis when Chase Elliott laid down a 49.504 while Denny Hamlin’s lap was 49.589. In this system, Hamlin would start second, Elliott third.
This happened because Tyler Reddick ran a 49.469, faster than both. But Reddick was also in group B with Elliott. With the system in place, Elliott being slower than Reddick and from the same group, Elliott would not be on the front row; instead, Hamlin, from Group A, would be on the front row as the fastest of the Group A qualifiers.
There have been many complaints about NBC and Fox Sports’ presentation of qualifying, specifically in the department of graphics. The two sides have had to work furiously this season to keep up.
NBC has had to step up tremendously, especially with the recent changes to the final round of qualifying. The network created a live scoring pylon that is as easy to understand as possible. This pylon shows what groups will be in what row and how the front row lines up.
Unfortunately, the NASCAR app has the potential to confuse those who are far from a TV. Even then, the lack of a voice like Mike Joy or Rick Allen to explain the convoluted system makes it more difficult for fans checking in to see their favorite driver starting behind a slower car.
The system still may not make sense for the drivers. In a prerace interview before the race at Iowa, Michael McDowell was unsure whether NASCAR would align the groups by row. After this interview, Jeff Burton quickly reminded fans how the system works and why the system was installed.
While NASCAR finds the right balance of simplicity, fairness and excitement, fans will always continue to have ideas on what is best for the sport. Be that the points system, the schedule, and, yes, how the cars line up on Sunday. For now, NASCAR fans can rest easy knowing that, at the very least, the fastest car will start in the first spot, well, at least for now.
