FAST THOUGHTS & TAKES: Practice & Qualifying Returns in NASCAR

FONTANA, California (February 26, 2022) — After two seasons with little to zero practice and qualifying opportunities for NASCAR’s top divisions, the 2022 season has ushered in a new, fast-paced format. In California, that format made it’s full debut after a more lengthy format in Daytona last week. Rookie sensation Austin Cindric won the Cup Series Pole, but going beyond the headline, there were are few areas that really caught my eye. Here are my thoughts on what the new format has to offer so far. These takes are early, and anyone following along should be open to a myriad of adjustments in the coming weeks.

Format Vitals

The new format featured two groups of cars on track, splitting the field of 36 in half. Each group got 15 minutes of track time, and if a driver went to the garage, their practice time was over, and so was their attempt at qualifying. Teams could only make minor adjustments on pit road, as the cars had already gone through pre-qualifying inspection and were in a sense, impounded.

Qualifying was also broken into two groups. All drivers took an initial timed lap in their group, then the top five from each group took a second lap to determine the polesitter. All rounds of qualifying were single-car.

The Fast-Pace Format

Just based on the format, there isn’t much wiggle room for teams to dial in their cars. I guess that’s okay, but if a team is way off base after unloading, there isn’t much that can be done. If nothing else, this gives drivers an opportunity to shake down the cars and get a quick feel for the race track. Not much else.

Quick Turnaround

There was very little time between the practice session and qualifying. I enjoyed this from the fan perspective, as not only did it make the practice session watchable, being only 30 minutes (two 15 minute groups), but there were no reruns to watch, no lengthy analysis or other TV fill. It was straight to the point. Line them up and qualify. I liked that.

On the side, however, teams that had issues had little to no time to make any repairs to their cars, much less adjustments, which as mentioned earlier, were limited to pitstop type changes. In that regard, the format felt rushed and resulted in more than one driver not attempting to qualify.

Flat Tires, Backup Cars, Repairs

This day was full of issues. Two drivers were unable to qualify due to failing inspection more than three times. Multiple cars spun during practice, with several being damaged enough to have to either forgo qualifying, or have to go to a backup car.

The trend of spinning cars continued during the qualifying sessions as well.

The main point that I am focused on in this article is recovery of cars after they spin.

It’s quickly becoming a commonality to see cars get stuck on track very easily after spinning, and blowing the new low profile tires. With the cars so low to the ground, possibly bottoming out on the solid under-trays, cars are basically stuck, requiring a tow back to the pits to prevent further damage.

That’s fine. The problem is the time it takes to recover the cars, which is seemingly slow at present.

I have no doubt that NASCAR track crews will figure out how to speed this process up, but currently, it’s painful to watch and really slows the show down.

One possible solution, at least in some cases, could be to have the track crews be able to change tires on track. That would allow a stranded car to drive back to pitlane much faster. Then NASCAR could retrieve the borrowed tires to use again for the next stranded car.

All and all I did enjoy the new practice and qualifying format, but like everything else so far in NASCAR’s NextGen era, there have been, and will continue to be growing pains.

• By: Daniel Vining, Twitter: @danielvining
• Photo: Getty Images via NASCAR Media

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