Why IndyCar should adopt the NASCAR qualifying system on oval tracks

By Asher Fair | Nov 14, 2017

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Scott Dixon, driver of the #9 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, qualifies for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

IndyCar, in need of an oval qualifying format overhaul, should adopt the qualifying format used by NASCAR. Here is why that would be a good choice.

Two former IndyCar champions, this past season’s champion Josef Newgarden and the 2014 champion Will Power, recently called for the series to create a new system to improve the oval qualifying order.

This would not be a bad idea. But neither would completely overhauling the oval qualifying format, which if done probably, would take care of the issues with the qualifying order, which stem from the fact that the current orders are drawn from a hat.

The series current qualifying system on all oval tracks aside of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway involves each driver getting one chance at doing two laps at full speed around the track, and the lap speed averages determine the starting order of the race.

For the Indianapolis 500, the names are also drawn randomly, but when the qualifying session is not affected by weather, all drivers have the opportunity to take multiple runs to improve their speed, and there is a lot of strategy that comes into play, which is one of the key reasons why so many points are offered for qualifying for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

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But as far as the qualifying system for the other oval tracks go, it really isn’t that great. There is constantly just one car driving on the track for close to if not more than an hour on most tracks, and the track conditions typically benefit the drivers who qualify toward the back of the order.

In fact, in the final three non-Indianapolis 500 oval races of the season, the final qualifier took the pole position. Will Power did it at Iowa Speedway, Takuma Sato did it at Pocono Raceway and Power did it again at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Here’s why NASCAR‘s qualifying system would not be a bad idea for IndyCar.

NASCAR’s qualifying system is similar to IndyCar’s road and street course knock-out qualifying, which can be very exciting like we saw this past season at Watkins Glen, when Alexander Rossi stormed to the pole position with final lap of the session, the last lap completed by anyone in the session.

In NASCAR, the qualifying system has three rounds. A total of 24 drivers advance to the second round, and 12 battle it out for the pole position in the third and final round. Anyone can go onto the track at any time, but tire strategy can be a factor. In IndyCar, these numbers would likely be reduced to 16 and 8 simply because the NASCAR field is bigger than the IndyCar field.

The grid would then be set from 1st through 8th, 9th through 16th and then 17th place and lower based on the speeds from each of the rounds, much like the road and street course knock-out qualifying.

This would effectively be like having another IndyCar practice session, but with the stakes much higher obviously. The only issue that would be encountered by using NASCAR’s qualifying system for IndyCar is drivers being in the drafts of other drivers, which is not an issue with the current oval qualifying system. However, that could just be a part of the new system, or only non-tow laps could be counted. It could as strategic or as non-strategic as the series wanted to make it.

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Would IndyCar be smart to adopt NASCAR’s qualifying system for their oval races, or would they be better off either thinking of something completely new or perhaps even sticking to the current oval qualifying system? Will they end up making a change in the near future as a result of the comments by Josef Newgarden and Will Power?