18 replies to this topic

[Eddie Fleming]

On an FSCS rules thread I saw mention of random lane selection for qualifying. 

 

I like the idea. Cut up a set of lane stickers and put them in a hat then just before qualifying draw a color and that is the lane everybody uses.

 

I don't see a problem with that. What do you think?

[Racer36]

It will definitely force guys to practice more in the gutters , just in case they are chosen. There really isn’t a downside to it that I can think of.

 

On tracks with Lapmaster, we sometimes make it drivers choice, but blue, orange, and green are the lanes chosen.

[mreibman]

We implemented this in our NENASRA series (wing) races at PJ Raceway.

 

we use an online randomizer set with 8 lane colors, and spin before the race.

 

The reason was that one day, after morning practice prior to the first race, Orange lane had about 1700 laps on it. Blue, yellow, purple, green had less than 100 each.

 

It keeps you on your toes, and you get the idea of how fast it will be... so when you qualify on black, the A main is the best drivers. If you qualify on orange, maybe it's who has 1% more horsepower.

[Wizard Of Iz]

It does keep people on their toes.

 

So far, Marcus at P1 has been the only track in the FSCS to add this wrinkle to qualifying.  To me, it's just that .... a wrinkle.  Not bad.  Not good.  Just different.

 

I think the only downside is that qualifying on Red, White, Purple, or Black gives the locals a distinct advantage.  Most racers can get somewhat comfortable on Green, Orange, Blue and Yellow fairly quickly.  The locals have far more experience with the nuances of the less-forgiving lanes.

[slotcarone]

We did that at Hudson Valley Raceway for a while. Every lane except orange was in the hat. I like the idea.

[Jay Guard]

Throwing my $.02 in the ring here... I don't like the idea of random pick/assignment of qualifying lanes.  This would be especially unfair on tracks that have unequal lane lengths, like an oval or other tracks without a cross-over.  I don't really care which lane we qualify on just so it's the same lane.  Yes, the locals, as well as some gutter lane specialists, might have an advantage on the gutters, but otherwise white through purple would be fine with me.

 

To slightly change this topic up a bit what I've always thought was not the best idea was using just one "hot lap" to be the basis for your qualifying time.  I've proposed taking the average of your best three (or even two) laps as a true measure of a racers actual race performance.  Got to say that idea seems to have gone over about as well as a lead ballon.

 

Of course this also brings up qualifying for distance, but I see the biggest problem with that is if you do come off you are totally at the mercy of how good the turn marshall was.  Sure just don't come off, but even the best guys do so I've never been a fan of this type of qualifying.

[Eddie Fleming]

Throwing my $.02 in the ring here... I don't like the idea of random pick/assignment of qualifying lanes.  This would be especially unfair on tracks that have unequal lane lengths, like an oval or other tracks without a cross-over.  I don't really care which lane we qualify on just so it's the same lane.  Yes, the locals, as well as some gutter lane specialists, might have an advantage on the gutters, but otherwise white through purple would be fine with me.

Jay under the preposed format I started the thread with everyone would qualify on the same lane. The thing would be that nobody would know what lane that would be until time to qualify.  

[MSwiss]

Jay,

Why do you think unequal lap lengths would make a difference?

 

It's the same for everyone.

 

FWIW, a crossover doesn't make for equal lap lengths. Just more equal.

 

My King is 154',11" on Red and 156',1 1/2" on Black.

[Rob Voska]

Random lane pick is fine.  Qualifying is about grouping like skilled racers together. In scale racing qualifying should be by distance. Not who can pull off a single hair lap and fall off the rest of the time.

 

In real car racing if you crash in qualifying you are out but in slot cars you get your body and braid fixed and another chance.  Many races have been destroyed by drivers not properly grouped and if people worried about distance instead of speed there would be less track calls.

 

Everyone gets an equal amount of qualifying time.  It's up to the racer to decide if they want to stay on the track or end up in the marshals hand. 

[Jay Guard]

Eddie:

Yes, as I said that would be just fine.  Dennis mentioned people picking different lanes and I think I did misunderstood thinking that you would be assigned a lane, my bad.

 

Mike:

My first comment was more aimed at what Dennis said in post #2 about being able to pick different lanes and as I said I misunderstood his intent. 

And yes, I understand the lap lengths may not be perfect on a track with a crossover but a whole lot closer than a track without a crossover.  For example, at the recent Can-Am race at Marcus' P1 raceway the difference between Red and Black was a full .5 second, as you know that's huge.  I suspect it's not that big of a time difference on your King with just over a one foot difference.

[Joe Maxey]

I liked it when I raced at Capital City Slots and they did a 30 second qual(it might have been a minute. I can't remember exactly). Run as many laps as you can and who went the furtherest is TQ. It makes you drive more like your racing than a one lap miracle run.

I now race at Magnatech and we just let the computer select our starting order.

[Dominator]

Depending on the track it may not make a difference between fast lap or laps and sections on how the mains are seeded.  On more driver type tracks I would prefer laps and sections.  Gives the guys that may not turn a hair lap the chance to drive their way into a higher main.  

[Larry Labounty]

Depending on the track it may not make a difference between fast lap or laps and sections on how the mains are seeded.  On more driver type tracks I would prefer laps and sections.  Gives the guys that may not turn a hair lap the chance to drive their way into a higher main.  

The cream will always raise to the top

[glueside]

[mreibman]

Since we're using computers for lap counters anyway, this is easy enough,

https://wheelofnames.com/

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[jimht]

Qualifying, especially for fastest lap, can be just as much an event as the race is, except it's more boring, especially for those watching who are mainly waiting to have a good time racing.

 

OTOH, some people can't drive, no matter how fast their car is, so it's a way of throwing them a bone and getting their participation.

 

Time permitting, it might be a fun thing to do, but usually it's just a time waster, especially for best time, mainly because, as has been noted, it doesn't represent driving ability, so it really shouldn't be used for lane choice...just for the glory.

 

Laps and sections does represent driver ability, but again, it's just as much a time waster as fastest lap and equally useless, especially with a small number of entries.

 

8 or less racers, just don't bother, let people pick lanes as they sign up/pass tech or do a random lane choice.

 

 With larger numbers of entries, random sorting into consies and just seeing what happens is probably the fairest way to do it...sink or swim. 

 

 

 

[Phil Hackett]

I agree with Jim H.....

 

a short story: When Chequered Flag was running I took a friend from the 1969/1973 era to see a SoCal USRA race. He was all pumped up and excited to see what, then, modern slot cars were doing. We get there just as G7 qualifying started and it seemed to take for ever.... and once it was done the G7 drivers elected to run another qualifying session. This caused my friend to completely lose interest in reviving his slot car habit. On the way back home he said he couldn't justify the time sitting around to sort out the driver's skill levels.... I assume there have been many more that have felt this way over the years.

[Mike Patterson]

Personally, I liked the way Mike McMasters ran the first R4. Everybody pulled a number out of a hat, and then were grouped in numerical order. No qualifying. Numbers 1 through 8 made up the first heat, 2 through 16 the second, and so on. Skill and ability were not considered. However, the fast guys bitched about having to drive through all of us slow guys, so changes were made in the following years to alleviate that problem (qualifying, consies, semis, etc.). It became just like any other slot car race, to its detriment, IMO.

[Phil Hackett]

It's been mentioned a few times in this thread but I have a story about racing in the early 1970s in the SoCal USRA: back then the top 4 qualifiers were automatically seeded into the main event and the top 4 finishers of the semi-main would move up. There's so much wrong with this system as you will see in this one example.

 

There was a racer whose "name" was Bruce The Noose (he ran the Pro class). This guy could hair-lap qualifying on any track the USRA went to. He always ended up in the main event. His name was the result of him not making it beyond the 1st or 2nd heat of the main, i.e. he choked, consistantly, race after race.

 

There was a mild revolt by the USRA pro-class membership who was getting very weary of this because not only was Bruce keeping out other drivers from making the main, who should have been there, but he was a wall-to-wall obstacle while he destroyed he car (usually beyond repair) during the main.

 

From this revolt the SoCal USRA adopted the 2 semi-main system and that was the end of Bruce's participation in slot car racing. The only thing the 2 semi-main system did was to punish one of the 2 semis with Bruce's driving until he gave it up and disappeared. It was always a concern which semi Bruce was in because of the chaos that would occur in his event....