Nascar Race Today

LAS VEGAS -- NASCAR's new knockout qualifying format has been universally hailed as more exciting and interesting than the old single-car system.

But for the second week in a row, drivers also said it's extremely dangerous. Since the only legal way for teams to cool their cars is to drive slowly around the track, there's a dramatic speed difference between drivers making qualifying runs and those driving as if they're in a construction zone.

"Riding around the bottom - we've got to do it, it's the only way to keep the engine cool - but that has got to be the most dangerous thing I've ever done in racing," Brian Vickers said after Friday's session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "(Reed Sorenson) went by me at 170 mph faster than I was going. Had he slipped or hit me, I'd be done. It would be so bad."

Joey Logano won the pole and teammate Brad Keselowski completed the front row for Team Penske - the second consecutive week for a Penske sweep after Keselowski captured the top spot at Phoenix International Raceway.

But the talk after Friday's qualifying centered around a safety issue which NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said the sanctioning body is still evaluating.

Teams need to cool their engines between attempts at fast laps in order to keep their cars from overheating. ​

Teams are not allowed to cool their cars on pit road in between runs because it would require opening the hood to attach a cooling box. NASCAR does not want teams to make adjustments on pit road during the knockout sessions and since policing every open hood would be difficult, it is not permitted.

As a result, the disparity in speed created some dicey situations - several of which occurred again Friday.

Clint Bowyer, who qualified third, said he nearly collided with Dale Earnhardt Jr. during one run and called for a change due to the "dangerous" difference in speed.

"We've got to stop that," he said. "... I about smoked him. That's not the guy you want to hit at a 140 mph deficit. (A collision is) going to hurt me and it might hurt Dale Jr., and that would be bad for business."

Another quirk of the new qualifying format comes at the start of the session. Cars are all released at once, but they're parked nose-first against the wall on pit road. So while some cars are headed to the track, others are still trying to back out.

The knockout sessions work like this:

-- On tracks 1.25 miles or greater in length, drivers need to make it through three sessions to win the pole. All cars will run for the first 25 minutes, with the top 24 advancing to the next round. Those cars 25-43 have their positions set based on their lap times.

The top 24 cars then run for 10 minutes, with the 12 fastest advancing to the final round. Then a five-minute final round with those 12 cars determines the pole winner.

-- On tracks less than 1.25 miles, there arel only two sessions. The full field gets 30 minutes to attempt a fast lap, followed by a 10-minute final round with the top 12 cars.

The new rules also apply to the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series, but will not be implemented for the Truck race at Eldora Speedway or any non-points events.

Several drivers said the qualifying format was a positive, but just needed a few tweaks.

Keselowski said he expected the qualifying rules would evolve over time -- but perhaps not until an accident occurred on the track.

"So far, there hasn't been any one particular incident that would stand out and force that to happen," he said. "I would probably guess you won't see anything change until there is."

Jamie McMurray, who was among the drivers to raise the safety issue at Phoenix, said he texted NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton a few days ago and was told, "Let's give it a couple weeks and just see what plays out."

Tharp echoed that sentiment in a statement to USA TODAY Sports on Friday.

"We're only two race weekends in with the new qualifying format," he said. "It's something new and it's something that will take time to get used to. We will continue to look at it."

Logano said Team Penske suggested using a modification to the cool boxes that would allow teams to plug in without lifting the hood. Penske even brought the parts to the track this week in case NASCAR made a last-minute rule change before qualifying, Logano said.

"(A modification would be) a pretty cheap fix and we already have the technology to cool them down - we do it in practice every week," he said. "We all have the stuff. But we'll see what happens. We need to run through a couple qualifying sessions to see what we need to do to make sure we don't make a rule and regret it later."

It would also benefit the fans if teams could cool the cars on pit road, Logano said, because spectators would see more full-speed laps instead of slow circuits.

Next week could be even crazier. At the .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway, there is no apron where cars could get out of the way while running slow laps.

"You're going to have 50 cars out there," Logano said. "That's going to be tight."

Said Ryan Newman: "The racetrack is meant to be raced on, not to go out and cool your race car off and get in somebody else's way. To me, that's not cool."

SUNDAY'S LINEUP

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 193.278 mph.

2. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 193.099.

3. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 192.713.

4. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 192.678.

5. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 192.596.

6. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 192.596.

7. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 192.397.

8. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 192.335.

9. (55) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 192.26.

10. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 191.939.

11. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 191.591.

12. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 191.51.

13. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 191.659.

14. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 191.618.

15. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 191.618.

16. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 191.598.

17. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 191.496.

18. (47) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 191.489.

19. (66) Jeff Burton, Toyota, 191.435.

20. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 191.381.

21. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 190.934.

22. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 190.543.

23. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 190.503.

24. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 189.514.

25. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 190.396.

26. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 189.893.

27. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 189.767.

28. (26) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 189.647.

29. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 189.328.

30. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 189.261.

31. (98) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 188.851.

32. (30) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 188.838.

33. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 188.686.

34. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 188.429.

35. (95) Michael McDowell, Ford, 188.271.

36. (23) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 188.166.

37. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

38. (7) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

39. (83) Ryan Truex, Toyota, Owner Points.

40. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

41. (33) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

42. (32) Travis Kvapil, Ford, Owner Points.

43. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, Owner Points.

Failed to Qualify

44. (35) Blake Koch, Ford, 186.683.

45. (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 186.207.

46. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 186.143.