Indy 500 Plot Twist: Pole Day on Sunday

Ed Carpenter wins the pole for the Indy 500. [Russ Lake Photo]

SPEEDWAY, IN: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is constantly searching for new and better ways to increase interest for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, the legendary Indy 500. Well…how’s this for a twist in tradition: Bump Day on Saturday, with Pole Day on Sunday? (!)

Obviously, the idea here is to make the “run for the Pole” the central focal point of the weekend. To accomplish this, the Speedway decided to qualify all entered cars on Saturday, with bumping taking place if there were more than 33 cars attempting to qualify. Either way, the field would be full and complete at the end of the day. Any cars that didn’t join the 33 fastest would be finished for the year, and could head for home.

On Sunday, the 10th thru 33rd fastest racers from Saturday would re-qualify, starting with the slowest, to finalize their Race Day starting positions, while the first three rows would be determined in the “Fast Nine Shootout”, an idea that has been used with great success previously. Thus, the Pole Winner would theoretically be determined at the last minute, obviously adding to the drama, making the run for the Pole the centerpiece of the weekend.

And…by golly…it worked!

With no weather issues to complicate the proceedings, the field was indeed filled on Saturday but, sadly, there was no 34th car to create any chance of traditional “bumping”. On Sunday, everything again went according to plan; after positions 10 thru 33 were locked-in, the fastest nine cars from Saturday, starting with the slowest of that group, rolled off to take their one and only shot at the Pole. And, in true storybook fashion, Indianapolis’s own Ed Carpenter, step-son of Indy Racing League founder Tony George, captured his second consecutive Indy 500 Pole Position, nosing out James Hinchcliffe on the last lap of the last run of the day!

Good stuff!

However, there just might be one final tweak needed.

During the Fast Nine Shootout, we decided to join the crowd in the grandstand to try to gage the level of enthusiasm that the new system produced. After Carpenter took the checkered flag, the comment that we heard more than once was something like, “That’s it? We just go home now?”

The Fast Nine Shootout was over in roughly 40 minutes, and it wasn’t even 3 PM yet. It seemed that some folks were confused as to what to do next.

Here’s an idea: with all due respect to the power of network TV coverage and their requirements, maybe a better twist on the Fast Nine concept would be to allow the nine teams to make as many runs as possible within a certain timeframe; say…90 minutes. That way, the teams would have options based on the time allowed. That would introduce the element of a “deadline” to further increase the tension and excitement. There’s something about the “final gun” being fired to officially end time trials that the spectators seemed to miss.

When all was said and done, perhaps the best part of Pole Day was the use of a recording of the late, great announcer Tom Carnegie’s world-famous line; “And…he’s…ON IT!” over the PA system at the start of each Fast Nine run.

I’m sure that, somewhere, Mr. Carneige was smiling as much as I was…

John Atlas

John Atlas is a native of Hammond, IN who has followed auto racing all his life. As a youngster, he has been attending the Indianapolis 500 since the mid-1950’s and still reveres the Speedway today. A fan of all types of motorsports, John has attended races from Watkins Glen (at the bog) to the old Ontario Motor Speedway, from Ascot to Pocono. He has a cat named Parnelli and loves the music of Frank Zappa, John gives us a unique view of racing.

racingnation.com

Related Posts

• 
  Sebring 2024
• 
  Giuseppe Victorious
• 
  Car or Driver