Qualified To Death!!!

[weatherman85]

You folks that get to attend tracks up north should really count your blessings that DON't have to watch endless laps of qualifying. Attended the Ultimate Super Late Model race at Dixie last night forgetting how much they qualify now. For those who don’t know, they run the following classes and this was how they determined the line up for their features.

Ultimate Supers - Qualified
Steelhead/525s - Qualified
604 Crates - Qualified
602 Sportmans - Qualified
Economy Bombers - Qualified
Stingers - Draw and run

Thank God they ran two heats for the supers at least to determine starting spots 11th on back for the Ultimate feature. Stingers are FWD cars and I have no idea why they still call econo Bombers econo Bombers. They too look just like late models and are anything but Bomber cars. The Ultimate feature was a pretty good race at least. Aaron Ridley led the opening laps before being passed on the high side by Austin Horton. Casey Roberts ran him down in traffic and looked to be faster at the end but ran out of laps.

As much as the qualifying sucked seeing all the bad luck Michael Page encountered make it worth the $15 admission. Light at the scales after qualifying and he seemed to piss off Zach Mitchell in their heat race as he raced him very aggressively on the start. While I thought it was just hard racing, I’ve seen Michael get more angry for less when on the other end. He ended up getting caught in a turn 1 crash on the first start and never completed a lap in the feature.

Other than that though, WAY too much Qualifying and too many classes that overall look exactly alike. I’m sure the drivers would throw a tantrum if they tried to go back to heats I. The lower divisions so don’t know what they could do. At least change up the classes or something. Used to love this joint.

[weatherman85]

Meant to say folks up North that DON’T have to watch endless qualifying. Edit feature not working for me for some reason.

[GEAR_HEAD]

In Western PA pill draw shows are still the norm for regular shows. It only makes the racing better making guys have to RACE and PASS cars. I used to travel south for races somewhat often but it's just not worth it anymore. The south wouldn't know good racing if it slapped them in the face, and that won't change until people like Ray Cook stop taking advantage of the fans by intentionally trying to eliminate as much racing and passing as possible.

[jr29]

That's a big reason my days of traveling south for races are almost over.
I'd rather drive 4-8 hours and go to a track in the midwest than drive 1-3 and go to a track in my region. The shows are that much better in my opinion.

[foxfire2dirtracing]

I attended the Southern Nationals at 411 & Tazewell- same thing. 5 classes -all qualified-only super late models raced heat races. How do you attract new fans or even keep some existing ones using this format. The racing itself wasn’t great & all the qualifying was worse! 🏁🏁

[Hoosier_Dirt]

Why any track qualifies anything is beyond me!

[Hoosier]

A few years ago the pole qualifier won 8 of 9 Ray Cook races. He at least now has double file restarts.

[dirt crow]

I sure hope my fan club is reading all this. I ain’t the only one that feels this way. U guys are absolutely right. Endless hours of hot laps and time trials, burning up the track is ridiculous. And boring as he|l. Fans want to be entertained. Pill draw heats do that. And for Gods sake, one hot lap for each class is enough!! It’s works beautifully up north. It’s time it starts in the south. Beyond time.

[dirt crow]

The track owner / promoter needs to say lower classes, you gonna pill draw and run heats. Don’t like it, leave. The my way or the highway method works. Earl Baltes proved that.

[Clayton_Wetter]

You have to qualify to qualify!!

[tndirttrackin]

I absolutely love qualifying !!!! Its so much fun sitting there for 3 hours before seeing a race!!!

[dirt crow]

I absolutely love qualifying !!!! Its so much fun sitting there for 3 hours before seeing a race!!!

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL exactly

[ShawnStreet]

I would be curious to know how much food is sold at the concession stands in the south vs the north. Me personally, I always get bored at Bulls Gap, Wythe, 411, Taz, etc. during qualifying and go get a burger. But when I lived in the north, I can't recall ever getting a burger at the track.

[weatherman85]

The real sad thing is that not so long ago, Dixie wasn’t like this. They ran heats in Limited and in Crates. Supers were the only ones that qualified. They would then have the pole man spin a wheel that had a 0, 2, 4, and a 6 on it for an invert. All other classes were draw and run. Like I said, used to be one of the best joints in the south.

[Dirt Guy]

I say qualify supers, run heats with some type of inversion, and pill draw everybody else and run heats.

[B_K]

Ohio Valley can’t possibly do that. I’ve been told it’s exclusive to the south.

I actually agree with you on the qualifying DC as I’d qualify the nights top two divisions max.

I just think you’re a b!tch in general.

[dirt crow]

Lolololololololol!!!!!!!

[President Clinton]

In the southeast we qualify to see where we line up in the nightly parade!!!! The races are “entitled “ people that have the scared promoters afraid to make a race! So the fans have to endure a boring form of entertainment that leads to what is considered “bashing “ tracks! LOL. And we can’t figure out what is wrong??? Not to mention overpriced tickets! We went to a local track Friday night to watch/help friends, was changed 30$ for 11yr old to go to pits with us. Haha needless to say they need kids there way worse than the kids need them. Never going back, 4 tracks within 45 minutes of me

[GEAR_HEAD]

At least Tyler does group hotlaps/qualifying at the same time so it doesn't take too long. But it's still completely unnecessary. All the tracks have to do is work together and eliminate qualifying at every track, then the drivers will be forced to either deal with the pill draw and pass somebody or quit racing. If you're so afraid of passing somebody that you quit then you shouldn't have been racing anyhow.

[RoadtoPennsboro]

Dear God, this sounds awful. I had no idea tracks were qualifying all classes. I guess I'll stop bitching about having to watch Max Blair every week.