Cap the field — now is the time
IndyCar commentary — By Steph Wallcraft on January 23, 2012 9:07 amThere has not been a better time in many years — nor will there be another for many more to come — to cap the starting field at IZOD IndyCar Series races.
A discussion of this same idea took place during last year’s off-season, but conditions weren’t ideal at that time. The hierarchy within the field was well-established, and it was clear which teams were likely to be battling against such a rule all season long. Capping the field then would have made it difficult for those teams to attract sponsorship to appear at all 17 race weekends, and it drew their ability to earn their TEAM money into question. It didn’t make economic sense for the teams or the Series.
Right now, though, as we sit on the cusp of reintroducing engine competition to the series for the first time since 2005, it’s not at all clear which teams would stand to benefit from such a rule and which would be at risk on any given weekend. This next month or so is a rare opportunity for a cap to be made official with absolutely no risk of bias whatsoever.
Such a rule would give observers a very good reason to watch the back of the field in qualifying if one engine manufacturer winds up being highly dominant or one lags far behind the other two. Watching which teams are able to squeak by time and again — and which are consistently being sent home — would add an immense amount of interest to a segment of qualifying that has up until now held next to none.
The primary argument against capping the field up until now has been the difficulty that smaller teams may have with finding sponsorship. But during this brief window of opportunity, it’s not clear which teams might struggle, and so the idea of not making a race is a more nebulous concept that should be a much easier sell to sponsors. Also, one could easily argue that the sponsor on the car that just barely makes the final spot — and likely even the sponsors on the cars that get sent home — could garner more attention than that of the car that qualifies 17th if things are done right.
Also, there’s a quiet culture shift going on in INDYCAR at the moment. Changes are being made to the TEAM program to substantially increase the competition for the final spots among the back of the field. INDYCAR clearly wants to see all of its teams working to improve themselves for the betterment of the sport rather than showing up and running in circles week in and week out. Why not take that a step further?
This is particularly true since capping the field at certain events will be necessary anyway if the number of anticipated full-time entries pans out as predicted. Going into 2012 with thirty engine leases in play would have been considered pipe dreaming six months ago, but today it appears to be reality. Some tracks simply don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate that number of cars. (Mid-Ohio is an excellent example — its pit lane can hold 26 INDYCAR stalls, 27 at a stretch). If this will need to happen at a few tracks anyway, why not enact it across the board and turn it into an integral element of the competition?
There are many strong reasons to consider capping the field at IZOD IndyCar Series events. It’s a race lover’s dream: increased competition with no preconceived bias that can only be of financial benefit to the sport.
But the rule needs to be brought into play before the season opener at St. Petersburg — and possibly even before the open test at Sebring at the beginning of March — or many of these benefits instantly melt away.
Tags: Verizon IndyCar Series - Administration
While I agree that the field should be capped to say there is no risk is ludicrous. Sponsors have already been signed and I bet the wording in the contract states starting each race. So if a car misses a race they are likely to have to pay at lease some of their sponsorship money back or lose the sponsor altogether. The best time for this to be done would have been right at the beginning of the off season when it was not thought it would be needed. Go ahead and put it on the books then, then no one could complain when it was put into play because it was already on the books. Anyway in summery, now is not the time, that past was but, the latter it goes the worse it will be so now is the best option left. As for the where the cap should be I think (unlike what was stated in the Dan Weldon investigation) that it should be uniform through out the season (excluding Indy of coarse) and 28 seems to be a good place to set the cap.
Never occurred to me to be honest other than for safety reasons at a given track. Curious if there is any (recent – 30 years) historical precedent for it outside the Indy 500.
I hate all the “provisionals” in Nascar which sucks all the drama from qualifying. I love the drama at the 500 each year when they battle to be the 33rd car. I understand why sponsors may not like it as much, but chances are the few bumped cars could be given some air time as non-qualifiers. If Will Power failed to qualify the Verizon car, the story garner a ton of publicity. It’s competitive, it’s logical (number of pit stalls) and it’s safer.
I think the only natural cap on the season should be by number of natural sized pit stalls, Mid-O has been shrinking those stalls to make it work, but IndyCar should set a standard size and each tracks limit is the # of those they can fit of that size.
you can’t cap a field at a straight number. Mid Ohio should be 26 until they improve/add to the pit lane, you cap at 28 and suddenly the Indy 500 looks silly as the only standout at 33, and also doesn’t allow bigger tracks the amount of cars they can handle.
It would also add some hype to Mid-O and the like. “Remember folks Mid-O is coming up and that’s the track where only 26 cars get in” just like Talladega has “the big one” storyline there’d be a story every year on who was the car left out of Mid-Ohio and it’d be based on speed more than likely since IndyCar only has 2 provisionals last I checked.
It would also add to the points race because right now finishing last still nets 10-12 points where not qualifying only nets 1-5 or something like that
We all know what opinions are worth, especially mine so please take this with a grain of salt. Because racing today is more a business than a sport and particularly because IndyCar is still skating on pretty thin ice, anything that would disuade even one sponsor is probably a bad idea. And with the new race director we are likely to have many fewer stupid yellows so pit limitations are far less likely to raise havoc so if they have an engine and sponsors they should be racing, not debating if this is the best place to spend their money.
I am not sure this is the time to cap the field. You have three new engines with no track record. It is possible that one of the engines will lag behind the others. Is is fair to those teams that they would not be able to start a race because they are stuck with a bad engine manufacturer?
I think it is easier to put a cap on the field at an oval course then the road/street circuits. On ovals, there is only one car on the track at a time during qualifying…if you don’t get a good lap it is on you. On the road/street courses, there are 13 to 14 cars on the circuit for round one. There is a greater chance that another car could accidently or intentionally interfer with your qualifying laps and you become a non-starter.
Another down side is that you will see an increase in car buying or seat swapping if one of the top sponsor’s car is bumped out….ie RHR at the Indy 500. We have to remember that it is the car that qualifies not the driver. I will use Redcar’s example of Will Power failing to qualify. If Will failed to qualify, there is a big possibility that Helio or Ryan Briscoe would get yanked from their car so Will can start the race…especially if he is in championship contention.
While I think capping the field is a good thing, it needs to be done for the season. Indycar will determine the car count for the season and once the spots are filled….then that is it. Cars should be required to run a full season…none of this one race only…with the exception of Indy 500. It is not fair to a team that runs a full season that they get bumped out during qualifying by a part-time car.
Nah, I don’t really see any reason to do it, outside of the pit stall thing. I agree totally with what Allen said (and not just because he’s one of my co-bloggers). If a track can handle all the cars that show up, and none of them are a Milka-barrassment, let ’em all run. Sending cars home gives the nerds (that’s all of us, just to be clear) something to talk about, but doesn’t necessarily add to the overall show.
It’s too late to set a cap for 2012. These kind of decisions should be announced with 8 or 12 months in advance.
How about a heat race for the final spot on the grid? If, for example, there are 26 pit stalls and 30 cars at the track that weekend, the 25 fastest cars qualify on time and other five have a race for the 26th slot. It would at least allow some face time for the sponsors of the cars that don’t make the main race. TV could show highlights of the heat race before the main race to appease sponsors also.