Qualifying Will Return In 2017

This season in the Sony Cup Series, the officials usually mandate a count of 42 cars every weekend. No more than that, however, this year the officials have allowed more cars than 42 come to the track and compete. That doesn't mean more than 42 cars will race... We have to have Qualifying to determine who will race. We still only have 42 race but we have 48 cars full time competing to make the races. The Officials this year made a new qualifying system format where we split the field in half by Owner Points. They try to make it as even as possible with as many good cars as underfunded cars in Session 1 that there is in Session 2.

The Qualifying format has worked well to bring in new teams and has been a good solution of sending people home and also showing everyone where everyone will be starting. Never in SCS history have we had this good of a way of showing the fans where their favorite drivers will be starting. Now you get to see who will miss the races, and where everyone starts and who gets the Sony Pole Award!

This exact format will be ran for the rest of the season in 2016 and also in 2017. Top 18 in Session 1, lines up in the order they qualified on the inside line. Top 18 in Session 2, lines up in the order they qualified on the outside line. Top 18 in each sessions make the race on time trial speeds. While positions 37th-41st are settled by owner points and 42nd is given to a PCP if needed if not, that goes to the next guy in owner points.

So Qualifying will continue to be a factor for the rest of the year and also in 2017.

Dodd: "While it makes it harder on us to have to make each race, it's a 10000x better system and allows some of those underdog teams and drivers(like myself) the chance to make each race... Something that with the 42-car cap probably wouldn't have happened."

You're right. If we didn't allow more than 42 cars to attempt the races your team wouldn't of even made it to the Silly Season talk. So allowing more cars to attempt to come to the races and qualify in helped kick start your team. It's been bumpy but making the races and building your team is what I think you're biggest goal is! It's not going to be automatically successful but mainly for you the biggest goal is to just get in the races.

From a racer's perspective yeah I love the fact that you're doing a new qualifying system. From a Team owner's perspective it's extremely tense, those 20 or 10 minutes are, if you're fighting to make it in the race. As a series owner, however, I can't help but feel for ya and how much work it must be but I have an extreme extra (not that i never had any to begin with) amount of respect for you for doing this from race to race

This year's Qualifying has been a lot better than I thought in my opinion