Pole_1

[go4i...@yahoo.com]

Winning the pole has always been a big deal in both NASCAR and Indycar
but it seems to me that winning it never measures up to the hype. In
my opinion, winning the pole is more a matter of prestige than it is a
benefit that translates into a significant race advantage. The number
of races won from the pole seems to be about a handful each year,
maybe 5-6 or so but I admit to not having any figures to back that up.
There haven't been any NASCAR races won from the pole so far this
year.

On the other hand, there DO seem to be more races run from the pole in
Indycar, but again I don't have any figures to back that up. If that's
indeed true, I would think it may be because they run more road
courses where it's harder to pass for the lead.

To be sure, I would rather start on the pole in NASCAR than not start
on it, but the advantage of starting out front in clean air doesn't
seem to me to be that big a deal, especially in these days of frequent
lead changes (particularly in plate races) and frequent pit stops. In
my opinion, being able to select your pit box location first is the
biggest advantage of winning the pole, a bigger advantage than
starting out front.

I would be more impressed that winning the pole is truly a race
advantage if more races were won from the pole each year (say 11-12 or
more) but I wonder if anyone else agrees with me.