I wasn’t talking qualifying, I was referring to the main event.They've been doing that "heats" business since the mid-'90s, if not earlier. As I recall, they started that along with the points system to keep anyone from being able to clinch the championship until the very end of the season.
Shortly after Dale Earnhardt got killed I started losing interest. About then I had an eyes on view of how NASCAR lorded over the teams and played favorites with their top teams.
It’s only gotten worse since. It’s pretty coincidental but DE’s death is about the time when the snowball started gaining speed. I wasn’t a fan of restrictor plates but I can live with them. But then came package engines, “green” fuel because climate change, and now all manner of wokeness. It’s almost like they have no knowledge of their audience.