IndyCar: Indianapolis 500 qualifying points change was the right move

IndyCar’s change to the Indianapolis 500 qualifying points system was one that was desperately needed, and it was the right move.

IndyCar announced a change to the Indianapolis 500 qualifying points system that had been used in three of the last four seasons. The total number of points awarded to drivers in qualifying will now be much lower than it was in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

The change, as confirmed by Racer.com, features a drastic reduction in points awarded across the board. It cuts all points awarded to the 10th through 33rd place qualifiers while also reducing the points awarded to the 1st through 9th place qualifying by significant amounts.

The polesitter will now receive nine points, with that point total decreasing by one point per position all the way down to the 9th place qualifier, who will receive one point.

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The old Indianapolis qualifying points system desperately needed a change, as many of the drivers were receiving more points for qualifying in a position than they would have for finishing in that same position in a regular race.

With the Indianapolis 500 being worth double points as it is, this essentially made the race itself worth more than three times the amount of a regular race with qualifying as a factor that accounted for over one-third of that humongous total.

From a previous Beyond the Flag article on this topic, here is a chart with a side-by-side comparison of the number of points awarded for a regular race finish in each position and the number of points awarded for Indianapolis 500 qualifying in each position under the old system.

Place	Regular race points	Indy 500 qualifying points
1st	50	42
2nd	40	40
3rd	35	38
4th	32	36
5th	30	34
6th	28	32
7th	26	30
8th	24	28
9th	22	26
10th	20	24
11th	19	23
12th	18	22
13th	17	21
14th	16	20
15th	15	19
16th	14	18
17th	13	17
18th	12	16
19th	11	15
20th	10	14
21st	9	13
22nd	8	12
23rd	7	11
24th	6	10
25th	5	9
26th	5	8
27th	5	7
28th	5	6
29th	5	5
30th	5	4
31st	5	3
32nd	5	2
33rd	5	1

There is no reason to hand out so many points simply for qualifying for a race, especially since qualifying for this particular race means nothing given how much passing takes place throughout the 500 miles of it. All in all, this change was a good one.

Plus, the race itself is already worth double points, which is fine given the fact that it is the Indianapolis 500, but the fact that over one-third of the total points awarded for the race came as a result of qualifying was something that desperately needed to be changed. Now, that change has been made.

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This change to the Indianapolis 500 qualifying points format was one that was desperately needed, especially given the fact that the old system had the potential to affect the outcome of the championship all because of a starting grid for one race. Will this system work out in the long run? We have to wait until May of 2018 before it will be used for the first time.