Hopw does Indy bump day work?

[punkinpuss]

No flames please -- I haven't seen Indy before. How does the bump day work? Can the drivers alrerady qualified be bumped out, like Billy Boat? Can someone bump Junky down off pole? Is there a url with ifo explaining this? Ta. punkinpuss

[SevenGrain]

From the rulebook...

1. The qualifying draw for positions is conducted in first-come, first-serve order.



2. The fastest 33 qualifiers start the race, regardless of when or on which day they qualify.



3. The pole position is decided by the fastest qualifier on the first day, or the fastest qualifier after one trip through the original qualifying line, whichever comes LAST.



4. Each car can make three qualification attempts. When a car completes a four-lap, 10-mile qualification attempt, its speed becomes official. The car may not re-qualify. The driver, if the car is bumped or withdrawn, may qualify in another car.



5. When the field is full at 33 cars, the slowest qualifier, regardless of its position in the provisional lineup, is always "on the bubble" and may be bumped by a faster qualifier. A successful qualifier is always inserted into the field according to its speed ranking within the day on which it posted its official time and speed. This process continues until the allotted time for qualifications expires.



6. Each car must take two warm-up laps. The decision to take the green to start the attempt or wave off must be made the second time past the flagstand.



7. The team owner or designated representative must raise the green flag to signify the start of a qualification attempt or the yellow flag will be thrown, aborting the attempt.

[DNQ]

Thanks SevenGrain - I've followed racing for a fair time, but I've never really understood the hoo-hah surrounding bump day in Indy, mainly due to the mega lousy coverage we get in Australia.

[macdaddy]

...But once you've won the pole on 1st-or-2nd day qualifying, that's yours to keep.

[punkinpuss]

Thanks SevenGrain. I tired to download the rules but only got a very condensed version. The info you posted is much appreciated.

[SevenGrain]

It is the oddest qualifying procedure that I know of where a car can qualify faster than the polesitter but start at the back or middle of the field (and it has happened in the past) because they qualified on a different day. But it is these oddities make Indy unique.

[paul-collins]

Doesn't CART have that rule, also? Friday qualifying for pole (this year they call it SuperPole IIRC), and you get a point for it...

[SevenGrain]

CART's new procedure guarantees the fastest Friday qualifier one point and a front row starting spot.

So, if you were quickest Friday and rubbish Saturday, you'd start second Sunday with one bonus point. (provided that someone else bested your Friday time and took pole)

If your quickest both Friday and Saturday, you'd start first Sunday with two bonus points.

[macdaddy]

...Behind the front row, everybody lines up according to their fastest qualifying lap of the weekend, regardless of what session they did it in.

But this format is only used for road and street courses. There is only one qualifying session for the ovals, and only one bonus point is awarded.

[SevenGrain]

That's right, only on road courses is the extra point up for grabs.