Qualifying Concept Long Overdue - Race for the Green
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The
Green Flag has dropped on the 2018 season.
Daytona is in the rear view and Atlanta is just ahead. That means it’s time to once again pick up my
annual banner for the one simple change I believe NASCAR could implement and
make a positive impact on the sport. I’m
talking about Race for the Green (RFG - originally known as
20-20).
For
those not familiar with the concept, Race for the Green is a different way to
set the starting lineups for each week’s race.
Racing against the clock for position is gone. Instead, like short tracks all around the
country, the starting order for Sunday’s “Feature” or “Main” would be set by
the finishing order of two short qualifying “Heat” races, with a couple of
important twists. The First twist is,
the starting order for the RFG Heats are set by the finishing order in the
previous week’s “Main”. The Second twist
is drivers who finished in positions 1-8 in last week’s “Main” do not run in a
qualifier this week but instead start this week’s “Main” in the same position
they finished in last week.
If,
during the off-season, NASCAR had put RFG into place for this season, Daytona
winner Austin Dillon would bring them to the line with Bubba Wallace outside
front row. As a matter of fact, the
front four rows for Atlanta would already be set and look like this -
Austin Dillon-Darrell Wallace Jr.
Denny Hamlin-Joey Logano
Chris Buescher-Paul Menard
Ryan Blaney-Ryan Newman
You
see, under RFG, the top eight from the previous week’s finish don’t have to
“race their way in.” Their performance
last week is rewarded by starting in positions 1-8 (along with corresponding
pit selections).
With
RFG, the remainder of the field would have to “race in” and would do so through
the two “Heats.” The finishing order of
Heat One sets positions 9-24. The
starting lineup is set by the Daytona finishing order, meaning Heat One would
roll off like this-
Michael
McDowell-AJ Allmendinger
Aric Almirola-Justin Marks
Trevor Bayne-David Gilliland
Clint Bowyer-Jamie McMurray
Alex Bowman-Martin Truex, Jr.
Kyle Larson-Gary Gaulding
Jeffrey Earnhardt-Mark Thompson
William Byron-DJ Kennington
That
would be an interesting race, don’t you think?
Aric is only in it because he was spun in Turn Three of the last lap at
Daytona. 2017 Champ, Martin Truex Jr.
will be racing for at best 9th starting spot (and pit selection) along with
other top cars like Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, and Clint Bowyer with young
guns Alex Bowman and William Byron. The
remainder are racing for that or no worse than 24th which may be better than a
Gray Gaulding or a Mark Thompson would start if running against the clock,
Heat
Two is even more interesting. This Heat
is loaded with top cars... and they are all racing for 25th starting position
for Sunday’s race
Kyle Busch-Kurt Busch
Matt DiBenedetto-Brenden Gaughan
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-David Ragan
Kevin Harvick-Brad Keselowski
Chase Elliott-Kasey Kahne
Danica Patrick-Erik Jones
Daniel Suarez-Jimmie Johnson
Ty Dillon-Corey LaJoie
Under
RFG, cars in this Heat cannot start any higher than 25th. Win this and the best you can do on pit
selection is 25th best. That might not
mean much on some tracks, like Atlanta but at some point in the season it will
play into the mix.
When
you look at this lineup can you imagine how some of those drivers would handle
going all week knowing that they can’t just roll into Atlanta and erase all of
their Daytona misfortunes by busting off a good lap against the clock? I can see where some might not care for it
and a week of pressure with no chance of “relief” might make for some interesting
viewing.
The
storylines from Daytona will fade in a day or two. Under RFG they continue on up till
Sunday.
The
race between Bubba and Denny didn’t end when the checkered flag dropped-it
continues on to the green flag at Atlanta.
Can
Austin Dillon build on the win? Can
Martin and Kyle dig out of the hole they find them self in now?
Can
Kyle, Kurt, Kevin, Brad, Jimmie dig out of an even deeper hole?
How
will the youngsters respond coming from the back of the pack? They can’t bust a good lap and get clean air;
they are going to have to be smart.
How
hard will the racing be to get to the front for Stage 1 points? Gotta go-can’t wait around!
The
neatest thing is under RFG we could be talking about this kind of stuff all
week! RFG builds on the buzz created
from last week’s race!
The
RFG benefits don’t stop there, as it has a positive impact on nearly every
aspect of the sport. If you’ve read my
writings on RFG, you are familiar with them-if you haven’t or have and are a
little fuzzy here are just a few -
For
drivers, good finishes are further rewarded-free pass to the Main, prime
starting positions in the Main and top pit selections. Not so good finishes-you can’t bust off a
good lap and undo it all, you have to race for it.
For
teams, under RFG it’s all racing, there is only one setup-race setup. No more race setup, practice, change to
qualifying setup, qualify, tear it all out and put in race setup, practice
again, go race. Under RFG it’s come to the
track with race setup, practice, qualify (race), tweak, and race in the Main.
Teams
performing with good finishes could also see more sponsorship interest. Do you think someone might be interested in
getting on Bubba Wallace’s hood or Chris Buescher’s
fender with the guarantee this weekend that they will be rolling off second and
fifth respectively? That’s only
available through RFG.
For
fans, what would you rather watch this weekend-knockout qualifying against the
clock or these two Heat races? What
would you rather talk about, these story lines or wait until Friday, after it’s
too late to build water cooler buzz, to have something to talk about?
For
the media, RFG sets up meaningful story lines every week, every week!
For
broadcasters, what would be easier to sell commercial time for-qualifying
against the clock or a race? RFG provides
a better product.
For
NASCAR, there might be a chance to eliminate an inspection which would speed up
the weekend and make things go a lot smoother.
Plus, RFG is ideal for short race weekends-pit selection is set by
previous week’s finish (meaningful) and not previous week’s qualifying results
(meaningless). Plus, these additional
races give them another opportunity to bring in Entitlement Sponsors for the
Heats, similar to the Can-Am Duels we had last Thursday.
For
everyone, this is one change NASCAR could implement to help the sport that
would cost absolutely nothing to put in place.
For
the sport, it takes stock car racing back to its roots, what it is all
about-racing, nothing but racing.
These
are just a few of RFG’s benefits. More
can be found in earlier articles. I’m
sure as you go through this week heading into Atlanta you’ll see even more than
I’ve touched on here.
When
you turn on your viewing devices on Friday to watch the field qualifying
against the clock, just think RFG and this article, look back at these lineups
and smack your forehead vegetable-juice-commercial
style
and say, “Wow, I could’ve watched a race!”
If
only NASCAR would take a chance.