Boris Said has ended up with a ride for Sunday's Sprint Cup event at Watkins Glen thanks to Kyle Petty and his No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge.By offering their equipment to the road racing ace, Petty's team hopes to learn something for the future.
But for Said, he's just happy to actually be in the race because of what looks like an unfair system for drivers not inside the Top-35 in owner points.
And for Brian Simo -- who also didn't qualify and doesn't have the luxury of another ride -- the method NASCAR used on Friday at Watkins Glen after rain came was even more unfair.
NASCAR canceled the Sprint Cup series' first practice and the qualifying session thanks to the rain, but still had time to get a full practice in for the Nationwide Series, in addition to a Grand Am series race.
I'll let Boris explain why that isn't exactly fair:
Now I understand that there are days at the track that are completely dominated by rain and there's nothing anyone can do about it, but Watkins Glen on Friday wasn't one of those days.
Said had previously stated that a rainout would cost his team about $250,000 as he failed to make the show with his No Fear Racing group.
Said needed to get in Sunday's race via qualifying and spoke of his situation prior to NASCAR's decision to cancel the session.
That's the risk part-time teams like Said's take when trying to make Sprint Cup races. [...]
"We put so much money into coming up here and not even to get a chance to qualify is a little disappointing."
Can't NASCAR have at least a little more flexibility when it comes to the weekend schedule?
Or at least, can't they have a little more flexibility in trying to help out the teams outside the guaranteed Top-35 in owner points?
I understand that Friday turned into a time-packed schedule thanks to the rain and that two things needed to definitely happen -- Nationwide Series practice and the Grand Am race.
But what if NASCAR took the stand to say that the Top-35 positions in the Sprint Cup series will not qualify and will be set by points, but all the teams outside the Top-35 will get a chance to qualify Friday afternoon or Saturday morning?
That at least should be a thought for the sake of teams like Said and Simo who put up a ton of money to just go to the race, only to be snubbed by what on the outside looks like a sanctioning body that doesn't want to pull the audible trigger.
It seems simple to me -- give the 9 cars who were at Watkins Glen and weren't guaranteed a spot 20-30 minutes of practice, and then run a quick qualifying session for them. All told, the amount of time involved for Sprint Cup with a Nationwide Series practice in between would be about an hour.
And to think, this system seems even more logical when there was actually on-track activity on Friday that didn't involve rain tires for a few hours, rather than a complete washout of a day.
I say if they are willing to show up at the track without a guaranteed spot, give 'em a chance to make it in. If nothing else, it's more drama and more "show" -- something that NASCAR has become increasingly more about.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-09-2008 @ 1:57AM
Don Emerson said...
Good point Geoff. This top 35 cars being locked really sucks for teams and fans alike. Oh the teams locked in for the race are happy, I mean all you have to do is show up and you're in. it doesn't matter if your car is 10 miles an hour slower than any of those waiting to qualify. Bullhockey. A true race should be made up of the fastest cars available to race in the event. end of story. Granted Nascar has to try and keep sponsors happy, but not at the expense of watering down the sport. The fans get cheated, the teams locked in can coast by with a half hearted effort, while the teams putting it all on the line to make the race often go home deprived of the opportunity to even try to make the race. I suggest locking in only the top 25 cars based on points. That would add some drama and give the best teams at the track a fair chance to make the race. In the event of a rainout, put the numbers in a hat and let lady luck have the final say. In case Nascar hasn't noticed, the number of cars trying to make the races has fallen off heavily in the past few years. if they keep the current set up, they may find themselves short a few cars of making up a full field in the near future. Works for me..........
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8-09-2008 @ 5:45AM
anna seitter said...
SINCE WHEN NASCAR HAS CARED ABOUT WHO MAKES the
race and who doesn't? I been saying since last year that this top 35 lock in rule should go and so the provisional points and privileges. I 'M SURPRISED THAT ENOUGH TEAMS still show up for the races when at times some of them waiste a pile of $$$ for nothing. In regard to BORIS SADD, I'm sure running for whoever, he can get a better finish than KYLE PRETTY.
works for me.....
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8-09-2008 @ 12:19PM
Brad said...
Excellent idea Geoff,
But if it rains most of Fri. and Sat. we're still left with the same scenario, drivers going home without a chance to qualify.
There is not much you can do when mother nature won't cooperate but I like the idea of just having those outside the top 35 get a chance. And Don, I agree with most of what you said but I don't think those locked in are giving a half hearted effort when track position is so important, the chase cutline equally important and staying in the top 35 of equal importance.
What I would like to see is Nascar changing the top 35 to the top 30 being locked in (I mentioned this last year). It seems that when they do get to qualify there is always 1 or 2 cars outside the top 35 that have faster times than a few inside the top 35, but since there are only 8 spots available and some of those being taken by past champions there are a few drivers going home that shouldn't be based on qualifying times, having the extra 5 spots fixes that problem, but not the Rainouts. JMO
Aloha, Brad
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8-09-2008 @ 1:40PM
Mike LeVan said...
From what I have noticed lately it is all drifting towards being a moot point anyways. There used to be 48 cars or so trying to field a car in each race. Now there are generally 45. It is not going to surprise me to one day see only 42 show up. Then it is not going to be a problem. Then the problem Nascar is going to have is, who are they going to call to ask to come fill the field os it does not look like the owners and drivers are loosing interest in Nascar any more?
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