Sometimes, ‘the right’ to be out there should be revoked
lapped traffic is a sudden discussion point. On Monday, NASCAR reacted by announcing they will be looking at increasing the minimum speed. Honestly, that’s nothing new to motorsports.
F1 has the 107% rule. They ran into similar issues with brand new teams that were well behind on the development to the front running teams. As a result, any driver that does not set a lap time within 107% of the fastest time, isn’t allowed to start the race.
View the qualifying differences below from first to last for all 3 series at Texas.
In NASCAR, the field fillers are the cars in question. Start and park is no longer allowed via the stock car racing series. As a result, these cars are remaining on the track, sometimes for the duration of the event. They’ve become jam cars, not racing cars.
Related: NASCAR will discuss minimum speed for 2018
On TV, in the case of a blink, you might have missed them. If you did see the field zoom by a car that appeared to be parked, those are the one’s we’re talking about. These machines aren’t damaged, they weren’t on the crash clock, they’re just in the way. There’s no other way of putting it.
If you’re 6 seconds per lap slower, you’re basically multiple laps down at the conclusion of the first stage. This is NASCAR, the premier form of motorsports in the United States. Therefore, it’s completely ridiculous to have cars or trucks on the track when they are this far off the pace. Especially but not limited to during the NASCAR playoffs.
‘They have every right to be out there’
Honestly, that’s not what we’re even talking about.
We’re talking about massive closing rates at high-speed ovals. We’re talking about cars and trucks that know they’re going to be in the way, before they ever leave the shop. We’re talking about an obstacle course as the field of race cars weaves it’s way around the cars that have dropped anchor.
I’m not a snowflake, I’m aware that danger is part of racing. I’m also aware that some fans are there to see crashes, not racing. But, there’s a difference between danger and borderline stupidity.
They aren’t racing. Hell, they aren’t even testing. They don’t even have the funds to be out there on the track to begin with. So, why are they out there?
These teams are basically taking advantage of the NASCAR starting pay. They are still start and park race cars. Even though NASCAR doesn’t allow it, that’s what they are. At the top level of oval racing, these things don’t belong.
Some of these cars don’t pull in for the duration of the event. There’s a race going on and these cars were never in it. Not no longer in it, they were never in it. Yet, they remain on the track and multiple times, they have effected to outcome of the actual race going on.
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Maybe you feel bad for these guys. I don’t. If you aren’t fast enough to compete as NASCAR’s highest levels, there’s alternative options. These teams should be racing where they’re competitive. They shouldn’t be allowed in a series just to milk the starting pay at the negative effect of the teams that are here to race.
It’s not 20th on back. We’re only talking about the last 4-5 teams on the time sheets. The lap time percentage for those teams, dramatically decreased at the bottom of the sheet. As shown below:
Qualifying Differences
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Texas Motor Speedway
Pole: 200.915 mph (Kurt Busch)
33rd: 181.794 mph (David Starr)
Difference in seconds: 2.827
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Texas Motor Speedway
Pole: 191.272 mph (Erik Jones)
40th: 169.199 mph (John Jackson)
Difference in seconds: 3.683
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Texas Motor Speedway
Pole: 186.181 mph (Justin Haley)
31st: 153.387 mph (Mike Senica)
Difference in seconds: 6.201
Get the obstacles off the track.
