New Qualifying for Road Courses

All cars will take part in on the first Friday practice session, with the fastest getting the decision to run either first or last for a single lap, one driver at a time, Saturday qualifying session, which will be similar to a current Formula One qualifying session.

The fast six drivers in this session will then compete in a head to head, unlimited lap ten minute session, with the first three rows decided by this shoot out, which will be reminiscent of 1990s style Formula One qualifying.

"I think it's a neat format in that it balances the entertainment aspect and it's great for the fans," IRL president Brian Barnhart noted in a release. "They like to see the multi-car, multi-lap qualifying format, but if you do that too much, you have to be careful about the costs involved.

"By just doing single-car qualifying, locking in everybody but six, then doing multi-car for only 10 minutes, we're not going to be going through three sets of brakes a weekend."

The format will be also be used during the Sonoma (August 28) and Watkins Glen (September 25) rounds of the championship.