If there’s one major change that obviously needs to be made after five Sprint Cup races this season, it’s in qualifying. More specifically, it’s the scheduling of qualifying that needs to change.
With some teams present and future lying squarely with their qualifying efforts, it makes no sense why NASCAR and its tracks are allowing qualifying to be scheduled so late in the day. Two sessions have been rained out and a third, in Atlanta, easily could have been. There is no reason a qualifying session should be scheduled after 6 p.m. Ever.
Yes, teams need to practice, so let them have one session in the morning and another at noon. Schedule qualifying for 2 p.m.; if rain is an issue, at least you have the rest of the day to get it in. And here’s another novel ideal: If it gets rained out, reschedule it for Saturday morning.
Qualifying is just too important right now to let television, track sponsorships or whatever keep some teams from getting a chance to make the race. Think qualifying is overrated? Ask the Wood Brothers if they would like for NASCAR to be a little more flexible with qualifying.
Lindsey Young is a sports writer at the Chattanooga Times Free Press who started work at the Chattanooga News-Free Press 24 years ago. He covers the Northwest Georgia prep beat and NASCAR. Lindsey’s hometown is Ringgold, Ga., and he graduated from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School. He received an associate’s degree from Dalton Junior College (now Dalton State) and a bachelor’s degree in communications from UTC. He has won several writing awards, including two Tennessee Sports ...
