It’s back. The guaranteed Indianapolis 500 starting spot monster has arisen from the depths of what I thought was a deep, deep grave. In a story by Nathan Brown of the IndyStar this morning, the idea is included with talk of a franchise system for Indycar.

In 2019, I wrote a piece called “The Soul of the Race,” in which I argued against the concept of guaranteed spots. Indulge me as I quote my own brilliant statement from that article-

“…guaranteed spots in my opinion does not fall in the category of tradition. It’s called qualifying. It means you have to meet a standard which in this case means being one of the fastest 33 drivers. That is one tradition that must stay. A chance to win the greatest race in the world should not just be handed to someone.”

I still stand by this statement.

Guaranteed spots would reduce qualifying days to a rather dull affair. If you don’t have speed for the pole, why go all out? Just post a time. How many one-offs will want to enter knowing there are only so many spots for them?

Brown’s article quotes team owners talking about how devastating missing the race has been for their teams sponsor wise. Brown points out that just six teams of the 16 that have been bumped in the last 15 years are still in Indycar.

Near the end of the article, Mark Miles said that there will still be bumping.

“I do believe that whatever happens in that regard, we’ll want to make sure there’s bumping. I think there’s a number of considerations on how that might end up, but at the end of the day, the tradition of bumping is important (at the 500), and we need to find a way to continue it,” Miles said.

I have a suggestion. If one of the teams that has a membership gets bumped, pay them what 33rd place finishing full time team would earn, and have a team in the race add the sponsor of the bumped car.

As far the franchise or membership concept, i have mixed feelings about it, which I will talk about later this week.