Hey Nascar Fans A couple of questions about Nascar.

[Mich 0]

1. OK, just a quick question about Nascar start and restart lineups. The "Post Position" is earned in qualifying by driver with the fastest qualifying time. This prized position is at the head of the inside row on race startup. However, when there is a restart, the inside row consists of the drivers who are down a lap or more. This places the driver who is the first one down a lap in the prized "Post Position'. Why is this?

 

2. How is the date for Daytona Week determined? I have noticed that it is usually over or around Valentines Day, but am curious how the schedule of the Daytona 500 is determined. Like, is the race a certain Sunday of the year? And therefore the week is the week leading up to the race.

 

Are there any fans here that know the answers?

[midnightvamp 1]

I'm not really sure of the answers, and I'm just giving it a really big guess here, so don't quote me on this or anything, but...1. I always thought that the lapped cars are given the inside lane following a caution so that they can have a chance to race hard to earn their lap back. If they had to start at the back of the field in the position they were currently running in, it would be next to impossible to pass the leaders to get back on 2. Now, sometimes it seems like a real pain having all these lapped cars getting in the way of the leaders. This is because they can add extra cars that need to be passed for those up front, but they do revert back to single file restarts when there is less than 10 to go, so during those crucial laps, those lapped cars aren't going to be starting from there and "getting in the way" so to speak.As for the Daytona Week... Well, the NASCAR portion of that, the Daytona 500, is the end of Speedweeks. Speedweeks is (I believe) three or four weeks long and starts off with the running of the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona - the first stop on the Grand-Am Rolex Series schedule. Since the regular drivers in this series usually take on an extra driver or two during this long race, it is common to see other big name drivers from other racing series' also joining in for this race. This typically includes ALMS, IRL, NASCAR, etc drivers.I'm not sure how they come up with the date that kicks off Speedweeks, but the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona always falls on either the last weekend of January or the first weekend of February. I'm not sure how they decide which to use but, as for the Daytona 500, I'm pretty sure that it's always on the third Sunday of February.

[Mich 0]

I always thought that the lapped cars are given the inside lane following a caution so that they can have a chance to race hard to earn their lap back. If they had to start at the back of the field in the position they were currently running in, it would be next to impossible to pass the leaders to get back on 2.

Oh, I understand the problem lapped drivers would have if they were placed at the end of the pack, but why are they given the inside row. If the "Pole Position" is so prized, shouldn't the lapped cars get the outside row?

 

as for the Daytona 500, I'm pretty sure that it's always on the third Sunday of February.

Judging from past Dartona 500s, your calculation of the third Sunday in February sounds about right.

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer.