Mint 400 UTV qualifying

[JoeyD23]

It's not so much the course as they do have it for trucks. It's the extra 4 or more hours needed to staff qualifying on the BITD side. Safety personnel is not cheap and not all of BITDs guys are volunteers. Many are paid. Plus that would mean UTV teams would all need to be in town on Thursday Am or Wednesday night. For Mint that may not be a big deal but for other races. Just the added cost and time to get to a race a day early is pretty hard on a team. Especially if you talk to guys like Team South!

 

[Altitude Racing]

We will be racing the whole series next year, we did the Henderson race as a sportsman team as not to interfere with the guys that have been there all year

that being said why wouldn't they take points from 2014 and start them in that order? The team that won goes first, we have zero points so we would definitely not benefit, after the first race of 2015 take points and go from there

 

[Brian B]

We will be racing the whole series next year, we did the Henderson race as a sportsman team as not to interfere with the guys that have been there all year

that being said why wouldn't they take points from 2014 and start them in that order? The team that won goes first, we have zero points so we would definitely not benefit, after the first race of 2015 take points and go from there

Points from the 2014 Mint 400, or the series?

Either way, would be too big of an advantage for the teams that already have proven that they have what it takes to place at any given race... I did 8th at the Mint last year and would love a guaranteed 8th place start, but again, I think we'd start to see advantage patterns. There are a handful of really strong teams that would always get top starts and run away every race. I'm all for those guys starting in the back from time to time.

 

[chill720]

yea JoeyD, a little bit harder for us on the East Coast to get out sooner. We already have to basically knock out 4 days, but I fly out, the guys driving equipment out are gone 5-6 days.
Name out of the hat works fine.

 

[BiggJim]

I personally think that's a horrible idea. Especially if you want to attract new racers. qualifying is a pretty simple solution and it gets the fastest guys up front. Unless you're a fast guy that had problems qualifying.

What Im trying to avoid is the guys that only show up to 1 race a year because its the exclusive race. Why should he get the same #1 draw chance when the rest the field has raced every race up until that point. I am not against qualifying but reality shows that BITD wont be in a hurry about adding UTV's to that program.

 

[racer570]

Why does everybody want to give the leaders a head start? What I mean, is that nobody would vote to give the leaders a 10-20 minute head start, and that is what you essentially would be doing by putting them in front at every race. I agree that it is not their fault that they have their acts together, but why handicap the teams that have been struggling. Stay with the draw

 

[facteryfmf]

Why does everybody want to give the leaders a head start? What I mean, is that nobody would vote to give the leaders a 10-20 minute head start, and that is what you essentially would be doing by putting them in front at every race. I agree that it is not their fault that they have their acts together, but why handicap the teams that have been struggling. Stay with the draw

That's why I said to invert the top 20 at UTV WC. ...

 

[Jug Bug]

Some teams like us come a long ways and time is limited. My vote is stay with the draw.

 

[Bajaxp]

Some teams like us come a long ways and time is limited. My vote is stay with the draw.

I agree. The cream always rises to the top both in an individual race and in the overall points championship. It is just another variable that the top teams have to deal with, and we have been dealing with it successfully for many years.

 

[baja specialist]

What Im trying to avoid is the guys that only show up to 1 race a year because its the exclusive race. Why should he get the same #1 draw chance when the rest the field has raced every race up until that point. I am not against qualifying but reality shows that BITD wont be in a hurry about adding UTV's to that program.

I would love to show up at every race but time does not allow for it. I do see your point and understand the concern. But you stated "Why should he get the same #1 draw chance". The way I see it the only thing left to chance is a draw, if it was based off of qualifying it would be based off of qualifying times not chance.

Why does everybody want to give the leaders a head start? What I mean, is that nobody would vote to give the leaders a 10-20 minute head start, and that is what you essentially would be doing by putting them in front at every race. I agree that it is not their fault that they have their acts together, but why handicap the teams that have been struggling. Stay with the draw

Just about every form of motor sports has qualifying. it is not a head start, it is were they belong in the field. You stated "I agree that it is not their fault that they have their acts together, but why handicap the teams that have been struggling". By qualifying you would be helping the teams that struggled at the last race not handicapping them. If you struggle at the UTVWC race then you are already handicapped going into the mint. But if you qualify then your last race is not held against you.

I agree. The cream always rises to the top both in an individual race and in the overall points championship. It is just another variable that the top teams have to deal with, and we have been dealing with it successfully for many years.

The cream usually does rise to the top in a points championship. But in a race with 50-60 other cars it is hard to rise if your in the back. They started doing this with the trophy trucks because the numbers they had. You can ask any of the top drivers how they would feel about pulling off a win if they had to start back in 50th. I would bet you no one would tell you they could pull that off, and I doubt it has been done before with a class this large.


It looks like the qualifying idea is not popular in this class at all. I thought with the level of competition in the class people would be all over it. When SCORE did it for the quads at the 1000 it was awesome. We loved being able to start based on our ability and not luck of the draw. And no I did not qualify first, Went off the road hit a tree got a flat. We started second but it was were our time said we belonged not some guy pulling names out of a hat.
My car will not be done until the Mint 400 so it looks the best that I can hope for even with lady luck on my side is the 21st starting position. Still I can't wait to get out there and mix it up with you guys, I'm very excited about next year.

 

[ironworks]

Some teams like us come a long ways and time is limited. My vote is stay with the draw.

I agree also.

 

[mearsman]

The people who don't like the idea of qualifying are probably not confident in their car or their abilities. I think that is should be a race by race decision as to qualify or not. There would have been no need to qualify for the 1000 because there was 19 cars and 1275 miles for the cream to rise to the top.

But in a loop format with over 50 cars there, if you draw a 47 you're chances of winning are diminished greatly.

 

[baja specialist]

The people who don't like the idea of qualifying are probably not confident in their car or their abilities. I think that is should be a race by race decision as to qualify or not. There would have been no need to qualify for the 1000 because there was 19 cars and 1275 miles for the cream to rise to the top.

But in a loop format with over 50 cars there, if you draw a 47 you're chances of winning are diminished greatly.

I don't want to get into speculating on why people don't want to qualify, nothing good will come of that.
I was only talking about the Mint 400 for qualifying not every race. Like you said the Baja 1000 no need to at all, long race with 20 cars. But this race is a hole nether story, short sprint race with a tun of cars.

 

[racer570]

I don't mind the qualifying, but I don't want it determined by a previous race.

 

[Bajaxp]

The people who don't like the idea of qualifying are probably not confident in their car or their abilities. I think that is should be a race by race decision as to qualify or not. There would have been no need to qualify for the 1000 because there was 19 cars and 1275 miles for the cream to rise to the top.

But in a loop format with over 50 cars there, if you draw a 47 you're chances of winning are diminished greatly.

I don't think anyone is scared of qualifying or 'not confident' of their abilities. I just don't think our class is ready for this yet, nor is Casey ready for it. And a draw would be more fair than finishing results at previous race in my opinion. Robby raced the Geiser truggy from nearly dead last to being on the box and Tavo raced did the same at the SF250 2013. If my teammate started the Mint dead last I would still put my money on him for the 'W.' Would it be hard, sure but it would make things interesting. IMO...Trophy Truck racing has become boring and processional since they implemented qualifying. My 2 pesos.

 

[mearsman]

I can see that point of perspective

 

[mearsman]

I think it's really gonna be fun to watch that's for sure Matt.
And I thought it was really classy of you to give Marc accolades at the banquet on Saturday night.

 

[facteryfmf]

Matt I think you have a point there about SF but I also think SF is a little different being a one lap race compared to three laps

 

[baja specialist]

I don't think anyone is scared of qualifying or 'not confident' of their abilities. I just don't think our class is ready for this yet, nor is Casey ready for it. And a draw would be more fair than finishing results at previous race in my opinion. Robby raced the Geiser truggy from nearly dead last to being on the box and Tavo raced did the same at the SF250 2013. If my teammate started the Mint dead last I would still put my money on him for the 'W.' Would it be hard, sure but it would make things interesting. IMO...Trophy Truck racing has become boring and processional since they implemented qualifying. My 2 pesos.

Totally agree with you. The draw is the fairest way to do it without qualifying. Going off the previous races results not only makes it hard if you had a bad race. But for guys like me that don't have the time to race the hole series it makes it tough when you know your starting with a disadvantage right out of the gate.

 

[baja specialist]

Matt I think you have a point there about SF but I also think SF is a little different being a one lap race compared to three laps

SF is definitely a different race altogether. I have taken rear starts in that race on purpose because it is mainly sand and dust is less of a factor. Also there are so many lines in that race and tuns of places to make a pass.