While making my morning rounds on IndianaOpenWheel.com this morning I noticed some fans debating whether or not ALL of the cars present for last night's USAC/MSCS Spring Showdown at Tri-State Speedway should have started the 30 lap feature event. For those unaware there were 24 cars in attendance in Haubstadt for a race that allowed for 22 starters. Therefore two cars were forced to load it up early following the B-Main.
The question: On a night like this should all 24 cars be allowed to start the feature although the rules specified only 22 cars were to start? My opinion: No.
Rules and regulations are in place for a reason. As a fan I pay my hard-earned money to go watch a great race, much like the one provided by Brady Bacon and Robert Ballou at TSS on Saturday night. What I'm not paying for is to see cars on track and in the way for a feature event that they probably don't deserve to be in. That being said I have no problem with the two drivers that did not go to the feature last night. However, both cars did qualify in the final two positions on Saturday, they both finished last in their respective heats and in the final two spots in the B-Main. Why would a fan believe they deserved to start the feature event?
I understand the thought process of some that believe racers need the experience and sending them home early is not a way to do that. My problem with the people that say that is this: Last night there were 4 tracks in action, (TSS, LPS, Lawrenceburg, and Twin Cities) if a driver is looking for experience I would hardly recommend going to the track that's going to have the stiffest competition. (Not saying the other tracks did not feature talented drivers. Meseraull, Cottle, Boespflug, Coons Jr, etc all raced somewhere other than TSS last night, but I would hope you understand where I'm going with that.)
Additionally what is the advantage of having much slower cars in the field that will not be competitive? I can recall watching Kyle Larson leading a World of Outlaws race a few years ago at Kokomo. Larson was long gone in his 1K when he clipped a much slower car as he navigated lapped traffic. Larson spun, did a 360, and managed to keep the car going but Tim Kaeding got by and ultimately won the race. When slower cars are virtually handed a free pass to the feature that's what can happen. Now, that's not what happened in that World of Outlaws race that night at Kokomo but I'm almost certain that type of incident is more likely to happen when we allow undeserving cars to start a feature.
People seem to forget we feature B-Mains, C-Mains, and so on for a reason. If a driver can't hang in one of those races why on earth would you believe they deserve to be in the feature?
My conclusion is this: If an event says they are starting a certain number of cars than that is the number that should start, it should make no difference whether there is only 1 more car than that specified number or 100 cars more. You don't see IndyCar starting 34 cars in the Indy 500 or NASCAR starting 44 cars in the Daytona 500, why should USAC (which is much better racing by the way) be any different?
Opinions are my own, I'll address various topics during the course of the season.
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