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July 13 2009 Just What Is A Feature
Inversion?
Before I get to the Feature Inversion, a few
notes about this coming weekend.
There will be no Sprint racing this weekend
for Jessie Morrison.
Friday night Jessie will be at
Trail Way Speedway
in the 01 All American Outlaw
car for Trail Way’s all Stock Car Night.
Saturday morning Jessie and her
20|20 Power 358 Sprint Car will
be at Aspers Volunteer Fire Dept
Car Show at 1555 Center Mills Rd.,
Aspers, PA. So come on out and say hi.
Now back to the Inversion.
Friday night at
Trail Way Speedway
Jessie just missed the feature inversion, finishing 5th in her
heat. So what does that mean? For those of you that are not familiar with
358 Sprint Car handicapping in Pennsylvania, a little explanation is due.
The Feature Inversion.
Each of the four tracks that run a regular
358 Sprint show use an inversion for their heats and features. In some
racing areas of the country that feature inversion might be four cars or
even six cars. It is 12 cars in the PA 358 car world. That means that the
top twelve heat finishers will be the front twelve cars in the feature but
not in the order they finish the heats.
The Heat Inversion.
The other inversion is in the heats. Each
car is handicapped by where they stand in the points, adjusted by races
attempted. So if all cars have been to each race it will work this way.
The first place car will start last in the first heat and the second place
car in points will be first in the second heat and so on. Now the fifth
place car will be second to last in the first heat. This car sort will
continue until all the cars in the pits before the drivers meeting are
handicapped.
Part Time Drivers.
Cars that do not run regularly will start at
the back. That’s why it is tough to run a part-time schedule. Just think
on a thirty or forty car night how many cars you have to pass to make the
feature and you are starting behind the top cars in points. Think of the
driver first in points. Every week he or she starts at the back every week
hoping to finish say fifth to make the feature or third to make the
inversion in ten laps from maybe 12th on a big car count night.
At worst that driver hopes to finish so they start first in the consi, their
last chance to make the feature.
Now For the Feature.
Now if you finish in the top twelve in the
heats you have made the Feature Inversion. Once again the leader in points
(if he made the inversion) is handicapped and starts 12th. Now
you know why when you see our local driver in the top four or five in points
winning it’s a big deal. They have to come from a minimum of 10th
or 12th each week. The car farthest down in points making the
feature inversion will start on the pole.
So the Race Within the Race.
So, there is a race within a heat race. We
had some friends come to a race for the first time the other night at Trail
Way and Dad was able to help them see the big race within the race that
night was for fourth and six in each of the three heats. The drivers were
racing for fourth to make the top twelve and sixth to make the feature
without going through the consi (the last chance to make the feature race).
Additionally, at Trail Way they are also racing for heat finishing points.
Lincoln does not use heat finishing position for points.
Friday Night For Jessie.
Now why was that important this past Friday
night? When you race on dirt it is a challenge to get things just right
every week and keep up with how much moisture is in the track as the night
goes on. You might have a bunch of cars in the middle of the running order
that are about the same speed. Maybe they just missed the setup and now
it’s tough to pass. Making the inversion in Jessie’s case might be the
difference between starting 6th or 13th which it was
on this night. If you have missed the setup just a little you might not
pass many cars that night. A 6th place car missing the setup may
finish 8th and a 13th place car with the same setup
may finish 12th. And that’s just what happened Friday night.
So remember to watch the race within the heat race.
Third or fourth for the inversion.
Forth or fifth to make the feature without
going through the consi.
And racing for the first spot out to start up
front in the Consi.
A Big Wave Before Warm Ups
This weekend.
No Sprint racing this weekend for Jessie.
This Friday night Jessie will be at
Trail Way Speedway in the 01 All American Outlaw car for Trail Way’s all
Stock Car Night.
Saturday morning
she and her 20|20 Power 358 Sprint Car will be at Aspers Volunteer Fire Dept
Car Show at 1555 Center Mills Rd., Aspers, PA. So come on out and say hi. Be sure and bring your
camera.
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