Too often, this season in NASCAR, we've seen the faster cars not make the field because of the political rule that NASCAR's brass put in a few years ago locking the 'top 35' cars into the field. This rule was purportedly to protect the big name sponsors, but basically all it has done is muddy the waters and allow some Cup teams who are fairly mediocre to make the race regardless.
Now NASCAR is toying with an idea to let the teams NOT locked in qualify in a separate group. This does not solve nor resolve anything. It's still a matter of disallowing some cars which may well be faster than some of the 'locked in' cars from racing.
If a Cup team -- regardless of WHO they are -- cannot make the show on speed, well then, So What??? The fastest 43 cars qualifying should race. Even the 'Champion's Provisional' which has notoriously been used this year to get Toyota into 6 races with Dale Jarrett, and is now available to Bill Elliott, among other past champions, is still an uneasy way to get into a race. Among this year's tinkering with the rules for qualifying past champions are now limited to using the provisional 6 times per year. This is something that should be either unlimited--or eliminated. Do one or the other.
It's frustrating to see a team which would have otherwise made the field go home because a driver in the lower 35 in team owner's points is guaranteed a spot.
With the multi-million dollar teams out there competing--if they can't make the race on time, they SHOULD go home. The bottom line is, once again, the fans are being cheated of the best event because of another inane NASCAR rule.
Come on everyone at NASCAR -- think about it. The fans want to see the fastest cars race. What's wrong with that?
