Kevin Harvick has a simple suggestion for how to fix Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying in the aftermath of a series of controversial outcomes this spring that has resulted from the new rules package.
The most important assertion from the 2014 Cup Series champion is that he did not want to engage in a zero-sum argument with NASCAR officials using the media as a microphone.
And yet, that’s exactly what has happened.
NASCAR has successfully utilized group qualifying since the 2015 season, but it has only become an issue in 2019 as a result of the new competition package’s reliance on drafting. That means the leading car is at a disadvantage compared to a trailing car, making the results of qualifying largely based on position in a pack of cars, rather than on pure speed.
Thus, drivers engage in a series of mind games in the hopes to be the last car out in the final round each week, at one point leading to all 12 finalists failing to make a timed lap last month at Auto Club Speedway.
NASCAR has expressed hesitation to return to single car time trials and have even placed the blame on the drivers in public.
The following is from NASCAR vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell on Monday during his weekly appearance on SiriusXM Radio.
"I think it’s ridiculous, candidly," he said. "I know the drivers did not like this qualifying before the season. Part of you says, 'Are we doing this on purpose to get rid of it?' I know it can be done. I know we have the best drivers in the world and crew chiefs to figure it out. We seem to want to outdo each other, and that results in sitting on pit road."
That has drawn the ire of Harvick, who responded to that assertion during his own SiriusXM Radio Show, Happy Hours, on Wednesday afternoon.
"Well, one way is not to air your dirty laundry on the radio," Harvick said. "I feel like calling the drivers out and saying that they’re sitting at the end of pit road on purpose is probably not something that you should publicly say even if you think it.
"I wouldn’t flatter yourself with that thinking because of the fact is, we’re all sitting down there trying to figure out how to be first. And, I don’t want to be fourth. I want to be first. The best way to be first with this particular rules package is to be last.
"Qualifying is a drafting game and you have to wait. Nobody wants to go out first. Daniel Suarez went out and made a lap by himself and he was good with being fourth.
"I think as I look at that side of it, our job is, if it’s coming down to NASCAR and the teams trying to outdo themselves, that’s bad for everybody …
"We all like group qualifying. Group qualifying is great. You’ve got multiple cars on the race track, you’ve got a lot of things happening, but it doesn’t work when you can draft because you wind up in these situations."
As has been a popular stance from drivers all spring, Harvick says the only logical fix for qualifying is to return to single-car time trials.
"The only way to fix qualifying with cars that draft is to have single-car qualifying on the superspeedways and the mile-and-a-half race tracks. That’s the only way to fix it," Harvick stated.
"Any time that you have a draft, the guy in second is going to be faster than the guy in first as long as he’s close enough. That’s one of the unforeseen consequences that have come with this rules package that have impeded qualifying sessions that we’ve had this year at Texas, at (Auto Club) Speedway, at Las Vegas."
Following the incident at Auto Club Speedway, NASCAR increased the penalties for failing to turn a lap in any round of qualifying, mandating that drivers who commit the deed would have their times disallowed and must start at the rear of the field.
Harvick says that doesn’t address the fundamental problem: That the drafting package does not mesh with group qualifying.
"Now we’re kind of getting the finger pointed at us from a driver’s standpoint and referred to as trying to sit at the end of pit road and do this on purposes so it will go away," Harvick said. "That’s not the case.
"We’re all sitting down there and trying to figure out how we can somehow manage ourselves in a hole to be first. That’s really what it’s about.
"Whatever the rules are, however you want to manage everything, it’s about being first at the end of the day and trying to be the pole-sitter. The best way to do that is to wait until you get in position behind the most amount of cars to be last."
NASCAR has a month to make a decision on the future of qualifying at the Cup Series level. The race weekend at Kansas on May 11 is the next 1.5-mile intermediate rae weekend following events at Bristol, Richmond, Talladega and Dover.
O'Donnell has conceded that single-car time trials may be the sanctioning body's last resort.
"We’re going to look at every option, including the possibility of going to single-car qualifying," O’Donnell said on the air. "The reason we haven’t is that’s on the teams. That’s parts and pieces. We’ve tried to be as efficient as possible trying this method of (group) qualifying.
"But we’re definitely going to look at it and see what we can do. We’ve got a couple of weeks to do that. We’ll make adjustments as needed."
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