At Daytona, fans got an appetizer. At Phoenix International Raceway, they’ll get the full-course meal. The debut of NASCAR’s new knockout qualifying in Nationwide Series time trials at Daytona was truncated by rain. Drivers completed the first 25-minute session, but weather washed out the 10- and five-minute sessions that were to follow. Rain wiped out NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying completely. But fans got a big enough taste of the new format to whet their appetites for the first use of the knockout system in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Feb. 28 at Phoenix. What was clear from the abbreviated NNS qualifying at Daytona was the exponential increase in strategic elements both drivers and crew chiefs must consider. Is it best to go out early in the first session to give your tires the maximum time to cool, or do you go out late when you already know what the top qualifying speed might be? On a one-mile track, how do you pick an entry to the speedway that will give you a clean lap? If you’re impeded on your first qualifying attempt, is it really worth sustaining additional tire wear to record a better time? Even though qualifying was cut short at Daytona, drivers universally agreed that the Nationwide Series time trials packed enhanced entertainment value into a more compact time window. That should be doubly true at Phoenix when the full format rolls out for the first time. source – by Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
