NASCAR: Martinsville will end an era that fans want to forget

Martinsville Speedway should mark the final time that NASCAR uses the starting lineup formula to set the starting lineup for a race.

After using random draws (with drivers split into groups based on the point standings) early on last year following the return to action during the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR made the decision to move to a formula to determine the starting lineups for races.

That formula debuted last August, and it continued throughout the rest of the 2020 season. It has since been used for much of the 2021 season, with only select races seeing actual on-track qualifying set the starting grid.

That formula takes into account four factors (three for most drivers), with a unique weight placed on each:

• 35% based on the team’s rank in owner standings
• 25% based on the driver’s finish in the most recent race
• 25% based on the car owner’s finish in the most recent race
• 15% based on the rank of the driver’s fastest lap in the most recent race

For most drivers, those two 25% categories are effectively combined into a 50% category of “finish in the most recent race”.

Here’s what the formula really looks like.

Let owner standings rank be A, driver’s previous finish be B, owner’s previous finish be C, and fastest lap rank be D.

(A * .35) + (B * .25) + (C * .25) + (D * .15)

Let’s look at a quick example.

Driver P won a race with the third fastest lap time, but his team sits in eighth place in the owner standings. Driver Q finished that same race in third place with the fifth fastest lap time, but his team leads the owner standings.

Here’s how that looks, based on this formula:

• Driver P: (8*.35) + (1*.25) + (1*.25) + (3*.15 ) = 3.75
• Driver Q: (1*.35) + (3*.25) + (3*.25) + (5*.15) = 2.60

Driver Q has the lower total, meaning that he would start the following race in a higher starting position than Driver P would.

It has irked many fans that NASCAR continues to use this formula to set starting lineups instead of actual qualifying sessions, as it is obvious that this has absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing physical effects of the pandemic, given that other major racing series are able to qualify their cars on a regular (literally every race weekend) basis.

And to the delight of those fans, this weekend should mark the final weekend during which this formula is used, or at least for which its usage is planned.

The starting lineups for this weekend’s Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway have all been set by the formula. But these three series are all set to qualify for their respective season finales at Phoenix Raceway next weekend.

And this formula is not slated for a 2022 return, with qualifying set to be back weekly starting with the season openers (which did actually see qualifying in 2021) at Daytona International Speedway in February.

However, there are slated to be some modifications to the typical race weekend qualifying format compared to past years. Those changes have not yet been confirmed.

But don’t rule out the formula returning in the future in some fashion, perhaps to set starting lineups in rare instances such as qualifying rain-outs.