Trouble in Turn2

How two rules combined to create a qualifying quagmire

It began as two simple rules to protect certain teams and at the same time ensure fans would see the biggest stars. NASCAR didn’t intend to create a monster, but it has and it is only getting worse. With some drivers losing their guaranteed spot in the top 35, teams are faced with devising a way to return their cars to the safety zone. Now some teams are exploring ways to take a loophole and turn it into a crater big enough to drive the CoT through. Petty Enterprises and Roush-Fenway Racing have cars featuring past champions (Bobby Labonte and Matt Kenseth) that are currently inside the top 35, while other cars are outside the safe zone. There is talk of the teams transferring drivers points in the middle of the season and thus take advantage of their past champion’s provisionals. How did it get to this?

Birth of the Top 35 Rule

In 2004 two drivers that attempted every race, Scott Riggs, Bobby Hamilton and Kyle Petty missed races because they ran out of provisionals and failed to qualify. Their spots were taken by part-time cars. In an effort to protect the teams and sponsors that showed up every week to race, NASCAR created the top 35 rule beginning in 2005. The top 35 teams in the previous year’s owner points were assured a starting spot for the first five races. After the fifth race it would be set on that season’s owner points. At the time the plan made sense because there were less than 43 full time teams. Occasionally a team like Robby Gordon Motorsports would miss a race to a part time field filler, but for the most part the plan worked.

Then in 2006 Michael Waltrip bought Doug Bawel’s 2005 owners points to ensure a starting spot in the first five races. Waltrip quickly squandered the points, but the trend was set. Owner points could be acquired. Waltrip began 2007 by purchasing Cal Wells’ points. Then Morgan-McClure and DEI took it a step further by paying for points after the season had started. Morgan-McClure bought Phoenix Racing’s points in an effort to get the #4 car in the show. In the summer DEI and Ginn Racing merged resulting in sufficient owner for Paul Menard to crack the top 35.

With the introduction of a fourth manufacturer, Toyota, and other teams expanding, there were suddenly 49 teams with intentions of entering every race at the start of 2007. Teams with big money sponsors and faster cars were sent home in favor of the protected teams inside the top 35 that were often less ambitious or just plain slow.

Past Champion Provisional Gets Abused

The past champion’s provisional was a way to allow a former champion an exemption to make a race. The theory was to protect a star driver from missing a race, like Richard Petty or Darrell Waltrip. In theory it too was a fine rule. At the end of his career Darrell Waltrip often used the rule to make races, and while viewed it as pathetic, he was a popular name that surely added fan interest to any given race. In recent years this rule has been abused. Instead of acting as a parachute for a former champion, it’s now being used for brand new teams to gain a foothold or for a floundering team to re-enter the top 35.

In 2005 Joe Gibbs Racing formed a third team with high profile sponsor Fedex. After Jason Leffler struggled to qualify for races, the team hired former champion Terry Labonte to restore the team to the top 35. Taking advantage of the fact that Labonte could make every race with his provisional the #11 car was able to salvage a nightmare season and pave the way for future success of 2006 and 2007.

The following year Labonte was again tapped for his provisional, this time by Hall of Fame Racing’s #96 car. It’s now gone from trend to part of an almost necessary business model for a new Cup team. A model since followed by Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip Racing’s #44 car, Bill Elliott and Wood Brothers Racing #21 car and Labonte and Michael Waltrip’s #55 car. The only restriction NASCAR invoked was a 6 race limit per season.

The Current State of Qualifying

Prior to 2008, Penske Racing switched the owners points on their cars. The new #77 car inherited Kurt Busch’s points in order to stretch one car’s guaranteed spot into two. As of race 5, the plan worked. I didn’t agree with the decision to allow the points to be transferred, but at least it was prior to the season.

Now teams are considering shuffling their owner’s points in midseason. Technically there is nothing wrong with this, it’s not breaking any rules, but it is not in the spirit of the rules. It’s something only NASCAR can stop, but they didn’t address the problem prior to 2008 and now it would be inappropriate to do so midstream. The door is already open and NASCAR has essentially invited teams to exploit the two rules as far as possible. It’s not fair to a lot of teams.

Picture this scenario: A smaller team expands to a 2-car outfit, and successfully qualifies both cars into the top 35 without the aid of owner points or past champion provisionals. Although the car is in the top 35, it is unsponsored and has a precarious grip on its top 35 spot. Along comes a bigger team with a car outside the top 35. The big team simply hires a past champion or transfers owners points to the fledging car and voila, big team eclipses small team in the top 35. It’s not a made up scenario. It’s exactly what faces the #70 Haas-CNC car.