The top 35 teams in points being guaranteed a spot in a race has always irked me. The top tier of NASCAR--the Cup racers--are supposed to be the best in the business. That said, NASCAR's instituting the top 35 rule a few years ago has never made sense from the sporting standpoint or the fan's standpoint. The rule was put in to help 'guarantee' sponsors would have their cars in the race.
It's really very simple. The top 43 cars in qualifying should be the 43 cars in the race. No provisionals, no 'special rules.' The fans deserve to the the best/fastest cars race. If a team cannot make the race on time, then they should not be allowed to run. And, that includes if a car does not attempt qualification for whatever reason (wrecked in practice, etc.). We've seen a few cars race that did not qualify on time.
As they used to say--you can't win the race if you don't qualify. And, if you can't qualify on time, you shouldn't be in there anyway.
