The Sim Marketing Solutions Super Series will be on track tomorrow night for the Race1.us Qualifying Night, in preparation for next week’s Copper World Summer Classic at Phoenix ’08. With the Summer Classic being a longer length race than we typically run on the one-mile tracks, Qualifying will take place this week, giving drivers a chance to qualify their way into the feature, will take place next Thursday night. Here’s all you need to know about the special format for the event:
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Race1.us Qualifying Night – June 7
Qualifying Night Weather Forecast (Late Afternoon Sessions): 85-89 degrees, 0-10% humidity, 5-7mph winds NW, Clear Skies
Session 1
– 9:30 PM ET – Practice Opens
– 9:50 PM ET – Time Trials Begin
Session 2
– 10:30 PM ET (approx.) – LCQ Warmup
– 10:45 PM ET (approx.) – Last Chance Qualifier – 75 Laps
Race1.us Copper World Summer Classic Race Night – June 14
Race Night Weather Forecast (Late Afternoon Session): TBA
– 9:30 PM ET – Practice Opens
– 9:45 PM ET – Summer Classic Race – 150 laps
QUALIFYING FORMAT
A special qualifying format will be used for the Summer Classic, giving drivers multiple opportunities to make the race. The Race1.us Qualifying Night will feature single car Time Trials, and a Last Chance Qualifier, to set the 30-car grid.
Single Car Time Trials – Top 20 locked in
All cars in the session will be placed into a random draw that will determine the qualifying order, and cars will be released one car at a time from pit road to complete their two laps. The first car will be released and will receive the green flag on their first time by the start/finish line, then the white flag, and checkered flag. After the first car passes the end of pit road on their white flag lap, the next car in line will be released to start their laps, and the same procedure will be used until all cars have qualified.
After Time Trials are complete, the top twenty cars based on lap times will be locked into the race, while everyone else will be forced to run the Last Chance Qualifier. As always, there will be a random invert of 6-10 cars at the front of the field for the feature.
Last Chance Qualifier – Top 6 advance
Once Time Trials are complete, any driver that has not yet locked into the field, will have to run a Last Chance Qualifier. The LCQ will take place in a different session that will go up directly after Time Trials and will be 75 laps in distance, to allow drivers plenty of time to race it out. At the completion of the LCQ, the top six cars that cross the finish line will also lock themselves onto the grid for the 150-lap feature.
Provisionals – 4 provisionals
The next two positions on the grid will be handed out based on the Provisional List on the SLM page of the website. In the event that there are not two people from this list that need provisionals, we will revert back to lap times to fill those provisionals.
The final two positions on the grid will be awarded to the winners of the Contender Series races next Wednesday night. In the event that a driver is already locked into the Summer Classic and then wins a Contender Series race, the provisional will be handed down to the next car in the finishing order of that driver’s Contender race.
*DRIVERS THAT QUALIFY THEIR WAY INTO THE SUMMER CLASSIC RACE ARE EXPECTED TO SHOW UP TO THE RACE. IF A DRIVER NEEDS TO BACK OUT, PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP SO WE CAN FILL THAT SPOT ON THE GRID. IF A DRIVER DOES NOT SHOW UP AND DOES NOT LET US KNOW AHEAD OF TIME, THEY MAY BE SUBJECT TO PENALTY*
RACE FORMAT
Tire Strategy
One extra set of tires will be allowed for this race, meaning a driver can come down pit road and change all four tires once. However, it will be up to the drivers’ discretion on when to take those tires. This puts the race strategy directly into the drivers hands, letting them decide when the right time might be to make or break their race with fresh rubber.