Pennzoil 250 - Qualifying Rules Nascar O'Reilly Auto Parts Series
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Nascar Cup BRICKYARD 400 Qualifying Procedures 2024
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INDYCAR QUALIFYING (Not IMS) 2026
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IndyCar Grand Prix Current Qualifying Rules 2012 - Present
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INDY 500 Qualifying Rules & Procedures 2022 - Present
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1st Day of Qualifying - Saturday
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2nd Day of Qualifying - Sunday
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- Qualifying takes place over the Saturday and Sunday before race weekend.
- The boost to the turbochargers is turned up for Indy 500 Qualifying, providing more horsepower
and faster speeds. The cars are allowed to practice the day before (Fast Friday) with the
increased boost pressure.
- Unike other car races, the Indy 500 starting grid is three cars wide, instead of two wide.
Only 33 cars are allowed to make the race, which results in 11 rows on the grid.
- Qualifying consists of four laps around the 2 1/2-mile track. The average speed of those four
laps determines driver's starting position for the race.
- Cars qualify one at a time, meaning they have the track to themselves for each qualifying
attempt.
- At the start of qualifying on Saturday, the order that the cars go is determined by a blind draw.
In general, it is helpful to be one of the early qualifiers whose cars will run faster before the
day heats up.
- Before a car completes the four laps, the team may choose to wave it off, indicating they
were not setting the pace desired. They can then qualify later.
- If no teams wish to qualify during a period, due to conditions, the track will open for practice.
- Each car is permitted two warm-up laps prior to the timed qualification laps.
- At the end of the day, the 30-fastest race cars are now qualified for the race.
- The 12-fastest cars move on to compete in the "Shootout" tomorrow to determine the order
- Positions 13-30 are now set for the race.
- All slower cars outside the 30 fastest, will compete tomorrow for a spot on the last row.
- Unqualified cars from yesterday will have a shoot-out to qualify for the last row.
The same as Nascar Cup rules above.
- Qualifying is held on Friday, the day before the race.
- The grid is two cars wide and they run clockwise.
- Qualifying is broken down into three segments:
- Segment 1 - The field is split in half and each half gets to run 10 minutes. The fastest six
from each group moves on to Segment 2, while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13+.
Group One drivers occupy the odd-numbered positions (13, 15, 17...) while Group Two drivers
occupy the even-numbered positions (14, 16, 18...) based on their fastest lap times during the
segment.
- Segment 2 - Twelve cars get to run for 10 minutes. The fastest six move on to Segment 3,
while the remaining six cars are ranked in positions 7-12 based on their fastest laps during the
segment.
- Segment 3 - The six advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time, with a guarantee of
five minutes of green flag time. Each car receives one additional set of Firestone Firehawk tires
for use during this final segment. At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-6 based on
their fastest laps during the segment.
Cautions - If a qualifying car causes a red or full course yellow condition in any segment. or
otherwise interferes with qualifications as determined by the Race Director, the car’s best two
timed laps of the segment will be disallowed. An interfering car will not be allowed to advance
to the next segment. If a car causes two red or full course yellow conditions in any segment,
all segment times shall be voided and the car shall not be permitted to participate in the
remainder of qualifying.
Once every car has been presented with at least once chance to qualify, teams must
choose from two lanes for subsequent attempts -
- Lane 1 is the Priority Lane. Cars in this lane get priority access to the track ahead of
Lane 2. However, cars in this lane must withdraw their qualified time.
- Lane 2 is for cars that have already qualified, but wish to try and improve their position
without sacraficing their original time.
Fast Six Qualifying runs from 5:10-5:40 pm
- The order in which they qualify is determined by their speed from Top 12 qualifying.
- Each entry is guaranteed one attempt.
- The fastest driver wins the Pole Position and a cash reward.
The Sonsio Grand Prix is ran on the road course a few weeks before the Indy 500.
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I. The field is divided into 2 groups for qualifying, Group A and Group B.
A calculation is used to determine the qualifying order of the drivers.
A percentage of four numbers are added up for each driver:
1. 25% The driver's finishing position in the last race
2. 25% The car owner's finishing position in the last race
3. 35% The car owner's rank in the standings
4. 15% The rank of the driver's fastest lap in the last race.
The lowest result is considered the best while the highest is considered the worst.
The drivers line up based on those numbers.
II. Qualifying Session 1
All of the drivers in Group A go out one at a time.
They get one warmup lap, then one lap to get a qualifying speed.
Then all the drivers in Group B go out to make their qualifying run.
The FIVE FASTEST DRIVERS from each group, move on to the second qualifying
session.
The five drivers from Group A go out first, in reverse order of their round one speeds.
Then, the five drivers from Group B go out, also in reverse order of their round one
speeds.
The fastest driver overall takes the pole position and gets lane choice.
The fastest driver in the other group lines up on the opposite side of the front row.
The remaining eight drivers fill out rows 2-5 on the grid.
They are arranged by their shootout speeds, alternating by what group they were in -
Group A drivers line up on the outside lane and the Group B drivers line up on the
inside lane.
III. Qualifying Session 2
All the drivers who did not move on to the second round of qualifying, are sorted by
their round one speed and their group.
They will be positioned behind the ten drivers at the front of the grid.
Drivers from Group A line up on the outside lane.
Drivers from Group B line up on the inside lane.
Last Chance Qualifying runs from 2-3 pm.
- Each unqualified car is guaranteed one attempt.
- If more than 33 cars are entered for the race, bumping can occur.
- They can make multiple qualifying attempts until time runs out.
- Then the fastest 12 cars from yesterday qualify again. Positions 7-12 are set.
- Then the 6 fastest cars qualify to determine positions 1-6 on the grid.
Top 12 Qualifying runs from 4-4:45 pm
- The order in which they qualify is determined by their speed from yesterday.
- Each entry is guaranteed one attempt.
- The fastest 6 advance to the Fast Six.
- IndyCar Series Points are awarded to each driver. The slowest gets 1 point
and increases by a point up through the qualifying speed order, with the fastest
driver getting 12 points.
OVAL TRACK PROCEDURES
- Qualifying order is determined by Entrant points, with the highest in points qualifying last.
- Each car gets two warm-up laps and then makes two qualifying laps on track by themselves.
- Their time over the two laps determines there starting position.
- At double-header events, the time of the first qualifying lap determines the starting grid for the
first race, and the second lap determines the starting grid for the second race.
ROAD/STREET COURSE PROCEDURES
The field is first divided into two Groups before qualifying.
Qualifying is divided into 3 Segments.
Segment 1 determines positions 13-24.
- Each Group gets a 10 minutes session.
- The fastest 6 drivers from each Group, proceed to Segment 2.
- The remaining drivers from each Group are merged together.
Segment 2 determines positions 7-12.
- This session lasts 10 minutes.
- The fastest 6 drivers proceed to Segment 3.
- The slowest 6 drivers fill positions 7-12.
Segment 3 determines positions 1-6
- At road courses, the drivers get 6 minutes of qualifying time.
- At street courses, it is single lap qualifying.