Well, you listen to me now, about this NASCAR qualifying thing. It’s like pickin’ the fastest horse in the barn, only it’s with them loud, fancy cars. They go zoom zoom around the track, and the one that goes the quickest, well, that’s the one that gets the best spot. It ain’t too hard to understand, really.
Now, they used to do it one way, now they do it another. They call it single-lap time trials at most tracks. That means each car gets one lap, one chance to go as fast as they can. And the fastest one wins the pole position. That’s just a fancy word for the best startin’ spot. They wanna make sure they can get in front of everyone else right from the start. I guess it is important to be first.
But at them short tracks, it’s a little different. They get two laps there, like givin’ ’em a second chance. And they take the best time out of the two. So, even if they mess up the first lap, they got another shot to do better. Makes sense to me. Otherwise, they might get mad. A fast driver is no good when they are angry, and they will probably not qualify if they are angry.
- Short tracks: two laps, best time counts.
- Most other tracks: one lap, that’s your time.
- Road courses: that’s a whole different story…
And then there’s them road courses. Oh boy, that’s a mess. They got a bunch of cars out there all at once, like a whole herd of cattle, runnin’ around for 20 minutes. I guess it’s exciting to watch, but it sounds mighty confusing to me. All them cars, all that noise… how do they keep track of who’s fastest? That is a good question, maybe they have a special way to keep track. They have to be careful too, with so many of them going so fast.
They say these drivers, they can race on all kinds of tracks. Short ones, long ones, even them twisty road courses. And get this, they can have up to 40 cars in a single race! 40! Can you imagine that? That’s a lot of cars. And every one of them drivers thinks they’re the best. It’s quite a sight, I tell ya. That many cars going so fast is just amazing to see. I wonder how long it takes to set them all up?
Now, they changed the rules again, they always do that. Some folks say it’s too confusing now. They say there’s inconsistency. That’s a big word, it just means things ain’t the same across the board. Apparently, the way they do it for the big-league cars, the Cup Series, is different from how they do it for the other races. It ain’t consistent.
People don’t like it when things ain’t clear. They get confused, and then they get grumpy. And nobody likes a grumpy race fan. Or a grumpy driver, for that matter. They need to keep people happy if they want them to keep coming back. It is just good business. They need to make money if they want to keep going, just like everyone else.
So, they got these different series, you see. There’s the Cup Series, that’s the big one. Then there’s the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series. It’s like different levels, I guess. Like, the Cup Series is the big leagues, and the others are, well, not quite as big. Like little league baseball, I guess.
And these changes they made, they say they’re for the 2025 season. So, we gotta wait a whole year to see how it all shakes out. I reckon they’re tryin’ to make things better, but who knows if it’ll work. Sometimes, the more you try to fix things, the more you mess ’em up. But we will see I guess. Maybe they know what they are doing after all. They have been doing it for a long time.
They say 17 drivers, 17 of ’em, are already locked into the main event. That means they don’t have to worry about this whole qualifying mess. They already proved they’re good enough, by winnin’ races last year or this year. It is a good reward for all their hard work I guess. And good for them, they do not have to worry about this mess.
So, they made these changes to the practice and qualifying procedures. Practice is just what it sounds like, it’s when the drivers get to try out the track before the race. They go around and around, tryin’ to figure out the best way to go fast. I guess you need to practice if you want to be good, just like anything else.
And qualifying, that’s the main thing, that’s how they decide who starts where. It’s important, that’s for sure. You wanna start up front, you got a better chance of winnin’. It is just common sense, isn’t it? If you are behind everyone, you have to go around them. That can take up a lot of time, and you might not win.
They announced these changes on a Thursday, I heard. Thursday mornin’, to be exact. They like to do things on Thursdays, I guess. It’s like a little tradition they got. Like havin’ pie on Sundays. I like pie. Especially with ice cream. It is a good thing to have after a race I bet.
So, there you have it. That’s the gist of this whole NASCAR qualifying thing. It’s a bit complicated, I’ll admit. But it all comes down to who’s the fastest. And who gets the best startin’ spot. And who’s already got their spot locked in. And who’s gonna be confused by all the changes. It’s a lot to keep track of, I tell ya. But it is fun to watch, that is for sure. Them cars are fast.
