Make no mistake, qualifying impacts plenty

No big deal, right? Jimmie Johnson, one of the 13, wound up winning the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in spite of his 37th-place starting position.
 
Matt Kenseth, positioned 36th in the lineup, also failed to make it to pit road before the first round of qualifying ended. He finished fifth.
 
It was a big deal to those who did manage to make it through the inspection process in time, and it was likely a bigger deal to those who didn't.
 
Why not do away with it? Why not determine the lineup based on a blind draw or some other means that favors no one?
 
Because qualifying still matters. Regardless of issues that surfaced at Daytona and Atlanta, qualifying continues to play an important role in what takes place on race day.
 
The advantages of winning a pole or qualifying well don't end when qualifying has been completed. Actually, they've just begun.
 
For starters, the order for pit selection is determined based on qualifying results, with the fastest teams getting first choice of available pit stalls. That's why the pole-winning team usually claims the No. 1 stall, located closest to the exit off pit road.
 
With no cars pitting in front, it's a quick easy drive out of the box and onto the track.
 
Others near the front of the lineup quickly fill in those stalls located closest to openings in the pit wall (and provide access to and from the garage). Those stalls provide a clear entry or exit, depending on location, and are also highly sought after.
 
The positioning of timing lines on pit road, used to determine speed, are also a factor when it comes to picking a pit stall.
 
Pit road speeds are based on the amount of time that elapses as a car travels past two timing lines, or segments. A driver with a pit stall located just before one of the lines will typically speed up after passing the first line in the segment in which the team's pit stall is located. Because he or she is pitting before crossing the next line, the overall time is not in excess of that which is allowed.
 
How, then, was Johnson and the team able to overcome his poor pit stall location in Atlanta?
 
Early in the race, Johnson often lost positions on pit road even though his No. 48 team had no problems when servicing the car. It wasn't until the second half of the race that where the team was pitted became less of an issue.
 
Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, said the early problems were "a direct result of us not being able to qualify."
 
"Believe it or not, there are only a handful of pit boxes (available) ... we had to shoehorn in where we could," he said.
 
Johnson was pitted near the center of pit road; Carl Edwards had the spot behind him while Joe Nemechek was pitted in the box directly in front.
 
With 43 cars in the field, Johnson wasn't the only one hemmed in, but it was one more thing the team had to deal with as its driver sought to make up ground throughout the course of the race.
 
"The 19 (of Edwards) ... qualified well, ran well; we always had to come in behind them," Knaus said. "The 34 (of Nemechek) ... for the first half of the race was doing a good job of maintaining on the lead lap. We were shoehorned in the middle (during our stops)."
 
That slowed Johnson's entry into his pit box as well as his exit once the stop had been completed. Knaus said his driver often lost "six to eight spots" when on pit road in the first half of the race.
 
It wasn't until Johnson was running ahead of Edwards on the track that he was assured of a clean entry into his pit stall. At about the same time Nemechek went a lap down, meaning he was no longer allowed to pit with lead-lap cars.
 
"Once that all happened," Knaus said, "the guys were able to knock out some super pit stops."
 
While issues such as an engine change or a missed drivers' meeting will result in a driver having to drop to the rear of the field before the race starts, pit selection has already occurred and isn't affected.
 
Drivers starting inside the top five won 15 of last year's 36 points races, and 26 were won from a top-10 starting spot. Fast in qualifying doesn't always mean fast over the long run, but combined with other factors, it certainly doesn't hurt.
 
A better pit stall is a plus. It's not a guarantee. And it all starts with qualifying.
 
"It's a direct result of what happens on Friday," Knaus said. "That's why I've said time and time again, your race starts on Friday.
 
"How you qualify sets you up for the event, for your pit selection, (and) sets you up mentally. It does the whole thing."

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