How single-car Fast Six qualifying will shake things up in Arlington

It sounds simple. The final stage of qualifying for the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington will make use of oval-style single-car qualifying runs for those who make it all the way through IndyCar’s knockout grid-setting process and vie for pole in the Firestone Fast Six.

Those six, who transfer out of the Firestone Fast 12, will make solo blasts around the long 2.7-mile, 14-turn street course in descending order with the fastest from the Fast 12 going last. The hope is to build drama while setting pole position for the inaugural event, and as IndyCar’s most successful street racer in recent years says, there’s plenty to consider before the final stage is run.

“I thought a lot more about it because I already went to the track and looked at everything,” Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood told RACER on Wednesday. “So it's an interesting concept on paper. It sounds great. If everything is controlled, well, it'll be a great idea. It creates some excitement. It’s a little bit more pressure on the drivers, and you're followed around the entire lap. It's kind of like Super Pole, which is one of the biggest things that Bathurst has. So I think it's cool. But there's also a couple of wrinkles in it, right?

“The wrinkles are you come out of Q2, and if you're the first driver to go, you're going to be the driver with the most heat in the car, the most heat in the tires that you're going to use, because your brakes are the warmest. Everything is just going to be a little bit easier, a little bit more fluid for the first person to go, and then from there it trickles down and it’s less optimal for each driver.

“And then also you have a little bit of shade possibilities with the way the two-sided pit lane is set up – one side is on the right side, one side's on the left side. It's possible everyone on the left side will be in the shade based on where the sun is, and if that's the case, then your tires are going to be 20 to 50 degrees colder than the guys on the right side. So that is another major wrinkle to look at.”

How fast your tires get up to optimum temperature will be key, and so could be whether you've been sitting in the sun before your run... Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

Another interesting factor to consider is the rate at which Firestone’s softer and faster alternate compounds reach peak performing temperature. With the solo qualifying runs, drivers are expected to leave pit lane, spend the lap warming the tires to the best of their ability, and to start their flying timed lap. Kirkwood expects the single-lap flyers to require some extra effort due to the tires possibly being below ideal operating temperature.

“Based on the quali sims we did at Sebring, it did take a couple laps for tires to come in,” the driver of the No. 27 Honda said. “Guys were doing it lap two to four. And you'd assume, if that's the case, it's likely going to be lap two to three in Arlington, but you aren’t getting a bunch of extra laps like you normally do in the Fast Six. So that first lap is is going to be very hard, especially if you're one of the last cars to go, and your tires are cooler and your brakes are cooler.

“There might be an advantage to not being the fastest of the six coming out of the Fast 12. So there's a couple wrinkles to consider that don’t make this super straightforward from the team side, but I think it's a good idea in general. I think it will create excitement. And we're an entertainment business, right? So we need to try and make things entertaining. This is one way to do it.”

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay likes an aerodynamic wrinkle in the single-car Fast Six routine and is determined to take part in his No. 76 Chevy.

“It saves much of the issue I was worried about with it being such a long straightaway – it's not going to be a tow-fest of six cars waiting to go out and not trying to give each other tows, much like go-karts in the past, so that gets rid of that, for sure,” VeeKay said. "But you could see teams trying to do that with their drivers before the Fast Six.

“But I really like it. It's just a cool concept to get people a bit more engaged throughout Fast Six qualifying. And I would say (single-car runs) is one thing that makes oval qualifying so cool, because you've got that one shot. So I've never done anything like it, other than on ovals, but I'm planning to be in there. It's going to be very cool, and it's great for sponsor recognition to give them the whole time to themselves when you’re out there in this session.”