CRL announces race formats for British Columbia, Mosport, and Manhattan

With the 2012 CRL season getting closer, the league has announced the race formats for three of the Modified Division's North American rounds for next year. The rounds in British Columbia, Mosport and Manhattan will undergo a different format.

The British Columbia Grand Prix will take on a Karjala Grand Prix-like format, in which no cars will be locked into the race. In addition to the 42 cars that will run the entire 2012 season full-time, a maximum of 58 one-off entries will be accepted for the race. Two qualifying sessions will be held, from which the five fastest in each will be locked into the main race. Pre-qualifying races and qualifying races will then be held to determine the rest of the 42-car field.

"This is our biggest race, by a mile," said CRL President Josh McCollum at a press conference held at the league's headquarters in Charlotte. "By not locking cars into the race, we give ourselves a chance to mix our biggest names with unknown drivers who could make a name for themselves by doing well on this weekend."

The round following British Columbia will be the short track at Mosport. This round will take on a very unique doubleheader format. The full-time field of 42 cars will be split into two. No one-off entries will be accepted. The two fields will be determined by their current positions in Owner's Points. Cars in odd-numbered positions will race against one another, with the other field being made up of even-numbered cars. Two 90-lap races will be held, with drivers competing for full points in each, and full bonus points will be awarded.

"We see this doubleheader format as a way to help teams that maybe didn't qualify for British Columbia, or didn't run well," said McCollum. "It also helps teams who haven't had a good year, because all cars will score points since there will only be 21 cars in each race."

The season finale in Manhattan will take on a British Columbia-like format, with a twist: the champion of the inaugural CRL Global Cup will be locked into the field, along with any drivers who have a shot at winning the championship. If the season-long title has been clinched coming into the round, then the champion will be locked into the race, as well. The rest of the 25-car field will be determined through pre-qualifying and qualifying races. The Red Robin Pole Qualifying session will not be held until the 25 cars that will run in the race are known.

"We decided that it's not fair for someone to lose a title because they didn't qualify for the final race of the season," McCollum said. "So, we decided that in order to have a fair fight for the title, all drivers who can win the championship will be locked into the race, whether it's two drivers or ten. And we will award the CRL Global Cup champion a spot in the race, because our fans want to see our first world champion."

Back to British Columbia for a moment, as McCollum confirmed that he and race organizers have discussed the possibility of one day adopting an endurance race-style format, as ARLA has done with its Elite Series race at Dwyer. McCollum said he would see how fans, drivers and teams would react to such a drastic change.