Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
It flooded at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but the races were able to get in, though maybe it was better underwater. It would have saved us from a fight. It did not flood at Imola this year, and there was a tense finish. It was a busy weekend in the Emilia-Romagna region. Austin hosted a historic first and then a historic second. Thanks to Théo Pourchaire's move to IndyCar, Ben Barnicoat made his Super Formula debut at the 11th-hour, and he set fastest lap. Scott McLaughlin set the record for fastest pole position in the history of the Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average at 234.220 mph. However, the future is on my mind.
What Would an Indianapolis 500 Look Like With Guaranteed Spots?
This likely isn't an avenue you wish to venture down, but as IndyCar's charter agreement remains on the precipice of being agreed upon, though it appears guaranteed spots for the Indianapolis 500 will not be included in the initial phase of the agreement, the subject will come up repeatedly in the near future. It will be inescapable every May until either it happens or there is such a financial boon for the series and teams that they can live with this being the one race they can fail to make.
Anyone watching the situation and who is semi-competent knows a day could come and rather soon where guaranteed spots will exist for 25 full-time teams in IndyCar's biggest race. Many think it is sacrilegious. It might not be that serious but it is a significant shift from it being a meritocracy where anyone can make the race and anyone can miss it. It takes away from the drama of watching someone thought to be a lock for the race sweat out what could be the worst day of his or her career.
Even with guaranteed spots, drama would still exist, it would only be limited to smaller number of cars. Eight spots would be available. If nine cars show up, someone will be on the outside looking in when it is all said and done. It will still be the worst day for somebody. There will be heroics trying to get into the field. The drama will not be entirely removed from the event but it will be isolated to a fraction of the field and reserved for mostly lesser known names while the big shots get to sit easy and watch.
If there is anything that could be learned from the 25/8 Rule that existed during the early years of the Indy Racing League it is to segment qualifying from the start and not allow it to be an all-skate from the first car on track. That is how we ended up with 35 cars in 1997 when the fastest 33 wasn't going to make the race. If IndyCar is going to reintroduced locked in spots for the "500," it should at least prevent a situation where three or four cars are missing the race despite being faster than the last few entries.
Qualifying is already segmented. Saturday locks in 30 cars. The positions are set for 13th through 30th. The top 12 will start no worse than 12th. Any car outside the top 30 cannot start better than 31st. We have been living with this format for a number of years now, and we are fine with it. Guaranteed spots should add a different wrinkle to it.
"Open" qualifying should happen on its own. The field of 33 should be set before the run for pole position happens. We know 25 cars will be in the race. Instead of having them qualifying with all the open cars, qualifying should take place separately to decide which eight cars make the race. That should open the qualifying weekend.
Saturday qualifying should begin with a three-hour session for the "Open" teams. Start at 10:00 am and allow each three attempts to make the race. When the gun sounds at 1:00 p.m., the top eight cars are in the race and advance to "Field of 33" qualifying.
This way it is a different session. We know who is in the race. We aren't going to see a full-time team coast through qualifying and potentially every team that failed to qualify out of the "Open" session run quicker than one chartered team but end up going home. It is held in different conditions from the "Field of 33" qualifying. Though times may be slower in the second session, it would not be an accurate comparison. It squelches the "fastest 33" debate before it can come up.
With guaranteed spots, it does make some of the current format excessive. If 25 cars are locked in, there is really no need for multiple qualifying attempts. Besides the "Open" teams, qualifying isn't qualifying in the sense of making the race for about 75% of the entries. It is determining grid position. There is no point in having cars go out multiple times. What would be greater drama is if every team got one attempt to make the Fast 12.
We did this in 2017 when there were only 33 entries. After an extended delay for rain, when qualifying began on Saturday, each car got one attempt. It was great. One run to make what was then the Fast Nine. I think it would be a suitable way to do it.
"Field of 33" qualifying begins at 3:00 p.m. and everyone gets one run. If you are worried about teams still taking it easy, we could go back to awarding points for every position in Indianapolis 500 qualifying. Again, something you might not like, but an incentive for teams not to ride around. Once through the line, the top 12 advance to the Fast 12 on Sunday afternoon.
With no last chance qualifying, the Fast 12 can evolve as well. It doesn't needs to be two rounds. We don't have to go from 12 to six. The two-round system exists at the present to allow last chance qualifying to run in the middle and allow the teams to cool their cars to get the most possible speed out in the final run for pole position. Make it a two-hour session on Sunday. Everyone gets one run and then there will be about an hour minutes for additional attempts if someone believes they can improve and take the top spot.
Indianapolis 500 qualifying has changed over the years. For the most part, we have lived. We no longer have four qualifying days over two weekends. It is no longer noon to 6:00 p.m. Cars can re-qualify and there hasn't been a three-attempt limit for a handful of years. The Fast Nine was first used to determine pole position in 2010. With guaranteed spots, change would be necessary, but suspense will still be there, if done right.
It is not necessarily going to happen next year or the year after that or before the decade is out. It may never happen, but the conversation over guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500 is not going away anytime soon. As much as we disdain the idea, the Indianapolis 500 would continue onward either way. It is a matter of how does setting the grid adapt to new procedures and how does it keep you on the edge of your seat. Once you swallow the medicine and look at it through a different light, you could see how different can still be rather compelling.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott McLaughlin, but did you know...
Max Verstappen won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, his fifth victory of the season.
Franco Colapinto (sprint) and Isack Hadar (main) split the Formula Two races from Imola. Oliver Goethe (sprint) and Sami Meguetounif (main) split the Formula Three races.
Joey Logano won the NASCAR All-Star Race from North Wilkesboro, leading 199 of 200 laps in the process. Corey Heim won the Truck race, his third victory of the season.
Tadasuke Makino won the Super Formula race from Autopolis, his first career victory.
Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters split the Supercars races from Perth.
The #63 DXDT Racing Corvette of Tommy Milner and Alec Udell swept the GT World Challenge America races from Austin. The #97 CrowdSrike Racing by Random Vandals BMW of Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm won the three-hour GT4 America race. Jason Daskalos and George Kurtz split the GT America races.
The #46 Team WRT BMW of Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi and the #32 Team WRT BMW of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races from Misano.
Coming Up This Weekend
108th Indianapolis 500
81st Monaco Grand Prix
65th Coca-Cola 600
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters will race for the 35th and 36th time around the Lausitzring.
MotoGP visits Barcelona for the 33rd time.
Formula E makes its first visit to the Shanghai International Circuit.
There will also be some racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
