Comparing All of the Sprint Car Formats

With High Limit Racing finally announcing their race format for the 2024 season, I was curious how it stacked up against the other 410 sprint car series. Some of this information was not easy to locate, so now it is all in once place. Check out all of the different race formats below.

High Limit Racing

• Drivers will draw for their qualifying spot
• Heat Race Lineups are determined by overall qualifying – will not be split into groups
• The fastest qualifier in each heat will start 4th
• The rest of the lineup will be determined straight up (If there are 4 heats, the 5th fastest qualifier will start P1 in heat 1)
• The heat winner and the fastest transfer will go to the dash
• If the fastest qualifier wins the heat, they will automatically be awarded the best position in the dash. The next position car will go to the redraw.
• The rest of the A-Main and the B-Main will be decided straight up by heat race finish.
• If there are over 32 cars, the field will be split into A and B groups. Split qualifying will be conducted (Heat 1 & 2 = Group A, Heat 3 & 4 = Group B)
• For two day shows, depending on car counts, the top 3 or 4 finishers from the first night will be locked into heat races on night two. They will be considered the top qualifiers but do not have to make a lap.
• Only A-Main events award championship points.
• A-Main Points – 1. 77 PTS; 2. 72 PTS; 3. 68 PTS; 4. 65 PTS; 5. 63 PTS; 6. 61 PTS; 7. 59 PTS; 8. 57 PTS; 9. 55 PTS; 10. 53 PTS; 11. 51 PTS; 12. 49 PTS; 13. 47 PTS; 14. 45 PTS; 15. 43 PTS; 16. 41 PTS; 17. 39 PTS; 18. 37 PTS; 19. 35 PTS; 20. 33 PTS; 21. 31 PTS; 22. 29 PTS; 23. 27 PTS; 24. 25 PTS. All Non-Qualifiers receive 20 PTS.

World of Outlaws

• Drivers will draw for their qualifying spot.
• Qualifying may be split into two or more separate qualifying groups based on car count.
• Heat races are lined up by time. No inverts. Top 5 from each heat race go to the feature.
• The top 2 finishers from each heat go to the dash.
• Dash drivers will draw for their starting positions.
• The dash determines the first 3 or 4 rows of the feature depending on car count.
• The rest of the A-Main is lined up by heat race finish.
• The two fastest non-transfers line up on the front row of the B-Main. The rest will be lined up based on heat race finish.
• A-Main Points – 1. 150 PTS; 2. 146 PTS; 3. 144 PTS; 4. 142 PTS; 5. 140 PTS; 6. 138 PTS; 7. 136 PTS; 8. 134 PTS; 9. 132 PTS; 10. 130 PTS; 11. 128 PTS; 12. 126 PTS; 13. 124 PTS; 14. 122 PTS; 15. 120 PTS; 16. 118 PTS; 17. 116 PTS; 18. 114 PTS; 19. 112 PTS; 20. 110 PTS; 21. 108 PTS; 22. 106 PTS; 23. 104 PTS; 24. 102 PTS. All Non-Qualifiers receive 90 PTS.

IRA Sprints

• All cars are to take their qualifying laps in order of pill draw.
• Cars that miss their assigned qualifying order by more than 3 cars will be penalized and receive one lap at the end.
• In a 4 heat program, IRA will split the field at 32 cars or more, with the first half of the draw cars going to Group A which will make up heats 1 & 2, with the second half of draw cars going to group B and heats 3 & 4.
• Heats are lined up based on qualifying times, inverting four. Fastest qualifier outside the invert will start 3rd row inside, etc.
• IRA will run two, 5 car, 4 lap dashes. Dash cars consist of Heat winners and the next fastest qualifiers who transferred thru their heat, depending upon number of heats and car count.
• The finish of the dashes will comprise the first 5 rows of the A-main.
• In the A-Main, all cars 1 lap down when a yellow, or red comes out will be allowed to move to the tail of the field and get their lap back, Unless within last 5 laps of the race.
• Show Up: 60 (pts will be awarded on a rain-out if all teams have signed in) – Qualifying: 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (pts will be awarded to top 8) same per A & B Groups. – Note, the 8 who accumulate the most heat points in a passing point formula utilized in a nonqualifying format event will be awarded qualifying points. – Heats: 15, 13, 12, 11, (if 4 transfer), 10 for 5th if 5 transfer, 9 for 6th if 6 transfer. – B-Main Transfer: 10, 8, 7 (and down 1 point for every B-Main transfer position) – B-Main Non-Transfer: 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – A-main: 65-1st, 60-2nd, 56-3rd, 52-4th, 48-5th, 45-6th, 42-7th, 39-8th, 36-9th, 33-10th, 31-11th, 29-12th, 27-13th, 25-14th, 23-15th, 22-16th, 21-17th, 20-18th, 19-19th, 18-20th, 17-21st on back. PASSING: 1 point will be awarded for each finishing position advanced from starting position in Heat and A-main competition. Starting position is determined on the original pace lap (not board line-up).

POWRi 410

• Depending on car count, two different formats may be utilized.
• Option 1: Passing Points Format – Passing points will be based on finishing position and cars passed. No passing points are awarded if the driver does not partake in pill draw. The driver will only receive finishing points from the heat race.
• The top 16 in passing points from the heat races will automatically transfer to the A-main. The number of cars that automatically transfer to the A-main from the heat races may be adjusted by the Director of Competition.
• Depending on car count, the rest of the cars are placed at the back of the A-Main or into the B-Main based on passing points.
• Option 2: Qualifying Format – Qualifying order will be determined by pill draw.
• Qualifying is based on two consecutive laps, the fastest counted as the official time. Heat races are then to be lined up according to the official times in an inverted, staggered manner.
• A-Main Points – 1. 300 PTS; 2. 290 PTS; 3. 280 PTS; 4. 270 PTS; 5. 260 PTS; 6. 250 PTS; 7. 240 PTS; 8. 230 PTS; 9. 220 PTS; 10. 210 PTS; 11. 200 PTS; 12. 190 PTS; 13. 180 PTS; 14. 170 PTS; 15. 160 PTS; 16. 150 PTS; 17. 140 PTS; 18. 130 PTS; 19. 120 PTS; 20. 110 PTS; 21. 100 PTS; 22. 100 PTS; 23. 100 PTS; 24. 100 PTS. All Non-Qualifiers receive 50 PTS. Points are awarded to POWRi Members only.

FAST Series

• Race teams must be signed in and registered with FAST prior to the driver meeting – they will be assigned a qualifying position from there.
• Up to 30 cars, the format will be for 3 heat races.  31+ will warrant 4 heats.
• Qualifying is against your group only and sets the lineup for the heat races.
• The fastest 4 qualifiers will be inverted in heat races.
• Heat races will be 8 laps.  Number of cars transferring to the main event will depend on the number of heat races.  (3 heats = top 5)  (4 heats = top 4)
• The top 2 finishers in the heat races will be eligible for the redraw for the front 6 or 8 starting spots
• The balance of the transfer cars from heats will be lined straight up from heat finishes
• Points breakdown is unavailable online. I will update if I can locate one.