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Indy 500 Qualifying needs an overhaul

Mon 19th, May 2008

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Indianapolis 500 qualifying schedule is antiquated, archaic, outdated and, frankly, just plain boring for much of the time. It needs to be modified before it puts any open-wheel racing fans who are still left to sleep.

There are some good things about the four days and 24 hours of qualifying time, but it is overshadowed by the boredom of watching an empty track for about 18 of the 24 hours in which the track is available for qualifying attempts.

Actual qualifying for the pole on Day One is interesting, although of the 30+ teams, only about half-a-dozen have a realistic shot at the pole. But still, the interest is there to see who can put up the fastest four laps.

This year, the winner was Scott Dixon, who posted a four-lap average of 226.366 m.p.h. He edged out his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon and Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe for the spot.

However, even with the excitement of pole qualifying, there were long hours of boredom mixed in with a few minutes of entertainment.

Because Indy Car racing is so competitive, teams will go to any length for the smallest edge. Unfortunately, one of the primary advantages a team can gain is getting a better race track than the opposition.

A cooler track has more grip and therefore allows a driver to go faster. So teams either get out at the start of the session or wait until the sun sinks behind the grandstands. What this means is during the six-hour open qualifying period between 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., cars either go out in the first hour or wait until after five o'clock to qualify. What happens between those periods is nothing...and more nothing...and more nothing.

This "nothing" happens on all four days of qualifying. I'd rather watch grass grow or paint dry.

This year we did get a reprieve from some of the monotony when Day Two was washed out by rain. The weather forced 22 drivers to qualify on Saturday. Still, between 2:15 p.m., when Jeff Simmons qualified, and 5:46 p.m., when A.J. Foyt IV made an abortive attempt, there was no real action on the track.

Bump Day was not much better. Many of the drivers, at least the stars, weren't even in Indianapolis, but were headed to New York for some promotional work. The six hours consisted of around five hours of waiting until the last 30 minutes when there was some actual excitement and drama.

In the first five minutes on Sunday we saw Foyt race his way into the field with a four-lap average of 219.184 m.p.h. At 1:15 p.m. Marty Roth bumped Buddy Lazier temporarily out of the race with a 218.965 m.p.h. effort. Then nothing until the final few minutes.

In the final frantic minutes Mario Dominguez was in and out of the race, Max Papis could never get his car on the track to attempt a qualifying run and Lazier fought his way into the race with a great last-minute run.

Dominguez got in line for one last attempt at qualifying with two minutes remaining. It would be between Dominguez and Marty Roth for the 33rd and last spot in the race. Dominguez's first lap was 219.780 m.p.h., enough to make the race. But on the second lap he spun and hit the outside wall to end his chance and the qualifying session.

The question is: How many people had already turned off their televisions, changed to another channel or fallen asleep and missed the final frantic, drama-filled minutes?

There must be a better way.

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