Qualifying in FD

[Justin Banner]

Originally, I wanted to ask this in the Atlanta discussion, but I felt better doing this. After hearing how Rhys had to qualify for the event and him still making and winning it, why not make all drivers "unseeded" and have all of them qualify each and every event? Could add more excitement to each event (think of how many fans and drivers hate the Top 35 rule in NASCAR) because now each driver has to work for his/her spot to compete. It's mostly a question on why have seeded drivers, what's the reason or philosophy on it?

[Livewithpassion]

i can see your point, im interested to hear the conversation on this

-cameron

[Ycagel]

Well seeded drivers still have to qualify for the top 16 on the day of the event...

[Justin Banner]

Well seeded drivers still have to qualify for the top 16 on the day of the event...

I understand, but I don't mean just for placement. I mean for the entire event, you not only qualify for your spot but for your right to be in the show.

[Livewithpassion]

i think it would definetely do wonders for making the event that much more interesting; shake things up a bit. It would prove who the truely consistent really are and throw a few more of the lesser knowns into the mix every once in awhile.

-cameron

[Justin Banner]

Like I said, the two reasons I bring it up is because of how well Rhys still did and how many fans and drivers alike hate the Top 35 rule in NASCAR. Personally, I'd rather see every driver qualify for their right to enter a race or drift. If I ever made it ( ) I know I would be under the same scrutiny, but I also feel that I would also know that I made it in with the "best of the best" and of those who didn't need to be pre-seeded.

[Slapshotnerd]

Because it takes too long, and it's really really boring to watch. in '05, the 2 California events had more then 50 cars qualifying, and "unseeded" qualifying (there were 20 seeded cars back then, and only 12 from unseeded moved on) would often take 3 or 4 hours.

With the way it happens now, Qualifying on Saturday takes around 2 to 2.5 hours. It also means more time for the fans to be walking the pits, purchasing things from vendors, and interacting with the drivers.

I think the system works very well now as it is.

[Hach1r0k1d03]

yeah im a lil confused cus i just skimmed the thread quickly. i dunnoe if you mean let everybody drive on saturday or you mean let everybody battle it out for saturday.

but either way if you think about it, i think everybody that attended road atlanta got to drive it. there were 34 drivers on saturday and i think there were only that many on the tentative list in attendance.

so if you mean let everybody drive on saturday then you would have the exact same thing and if you meant let everybody battle it out for saturday then you would have like 4 less people to see driving on saturday.

[brainfood]

Also think about the fact that those drivers are seeded for a reason. They have earned the spot. Most likely they would qualify top 32 easily in the event so why waste the time running them if they are going to qualify anyway. Its just a waste of time and takes away practice from the other drivers.

[Justin Banner]

Well, as far as time goes, couldn't qualifying be done on Friday and the eliminations be done on Saturday? I think it would also be great to see a Friday Night qualifier or even a LCQ. Again, I'm not trying to stir up any controversy or step on any toes, but it was just something I thought of after seeing what Rhys did.

EDIT:
Also think of how the NHRA (or even any drag racing series) conducts it's events. They don't have seeded drivers and qualifying takes place over 3 days. It's still exciting to watch and in our category, could make for not only more time to get a sponsor out (in a big series, you do have to think of them) but can allow the drivers to show off more.

[GreekDrifter]

Its a very simple answer. MONEY

Its about sponsorship dollars. If you are seeded, it means you are guaranteed running time on saturday. That definite exposure on saturday translates into sponsorship dollars for the seeded driver. If you are not seeded, there is a chance you may not drive on saturday and so the sponsor is really taking a chance working with you.

Dennis

[Justin Banner]

Its a very simple answer. MONEY

Its about sponsorship dollars. If you are seeded, it means you are guaranteed running time on saturday. That definite exposure on saturday translates into sponsorship dollars for the seeded driver. If you are not seeded, there is a chance you may not drive on saturday and so the sponsor is really taking a chance working with you.

Dennis

But shouldn't that be the reason there shouldn't be a seeding? Sponsorship should be more than just the car being guaranteed in, it should be the sell-ability of the driver and car. The driver should be able to be the spokesperson of a the sponsor, the car should be media that the sponsor's logo is on. Performance on the track is important, but if you're guaranteed in, how does the sponsor know if they are getting the best of the business?

[Hach1r0k1d03]

yeah this is confusing. having seeded drivers or not having seeded drivers wont really change anything. cus then you would just have everybody being judged on friday which would practically give you almost the same running order on saturday cept rhys would probably have had to wait a lil longer to do his first run.

[Justin Banner]

Like I said, it was just a thought after some observation from what Rhys did yesterday, how most of fans of racing and drivers hate guaranteed positions.

[Tracy]

I wish all the qualifying was tandem.