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Boris Said's pole-leading qualifying run at Daytona was washed away by a combination of rain and NASCAR regulations. AP |
By Tom Bowles
Boris Said looked at the scoreboard in dismay last Friday night as the rain poured down at Daytona. The statistics showed he had the fastest speed in qualifying that day& but the reality of a rainout left him staring at the word DNQ.
"We put so much work in this car, and now we have the most expensive show car ever built," said a disgusted Said before leaving the track that night.
Said's got every right to be ticked off ... and not just at Mother Nature. Rainouts are just one of many ways in which the top 35 teams in owner points are unfairly protected, making qualifying more about weekly attendance rather than who's got the fastest speed.
Since the rule was first invented in 2005, it's made a habit of kicking out part-time teams who have speeds fast enough to make the race at the expense of teams who "get credit" simply because they're showing up every week.
Hey, if I knew attendance would get me an automatic A in college, I would never have done any work. That's exactly how the "locked in" teams are approaching qualifying now. There's no need to worry about putting a pole-winning setup in the car when they don't need to be concerned about making the race; instead, they're busy trying to win it.
That can cause unique situations like the one at Daytona. At the time qualifying was rained out, the top seven qualifiers were all teams who were outside the top 35 and needing to qualify on speed. Had qualifying been completed, there was a strong possibility that the eighth-fastest car in the field would have gone home ... simply to make way for another "locked in" organization that simply wasn't fast enough.
That's the problem with this rule -- you're not racing to be one of the fastest 43, you're racing to be the fastest of a handful of teams that are left unprotected by the rules. That's completely unfair.
Last time I checked, racing was built on speed, not favors. You need to either protect everyone or no one at all to generate equality for each team. Right now, NASCAR's doing something in between, and that's the heart of the problem.
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By rewarding the top 35 drivers, NASCAR helps ensure the sport's biggest names, such as Kasey Kahne, are racing each weekend. Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR |
By Mark Zeske
NASCAR should ignore the whiners. The currently qualifying system, where the top 35 in points and past Cup champions are guaranteed spots, is a good one. NASCAR needs to protect its top names and biggest sponsors.
The question is a simple one -- who do we want in the race? Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne or Boris Said and Kenny Wallce?
Let's face it, for the most part, nobody worse than 35th in the points is significant. Said, Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Bliss, Scott Riggs, Ward Burton and John Andretti are never going to win a Nextel Cup title. Michael Waltrip, for all his celebrity status, is not one of NASCAR's top drivers. Kyle Petty and Ken Schrader are among the most successful drivers out of the top 35, but they are career journeymen with modest success past their primes.
Youngsters Paul Menard, Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger might well be future Hall-of-Famers and Cup champions. And if that is the case, they will work through this system to the top. They just won't do it this season, but that's no reason to change the rules.
Toyota has created the controversy, and fans of Toyota teams have kept it alive by complaining. Make the Toyota teams and fans earn their spot. The top-35 rule is only a couple of years old, born when NASCAR faced dwindling fields. Now Toyota jumps in and suddenly car counts are up, creating a qualifying squeeze. Unfortunately for fans of Waltrip and Vickers, the Toyota teams were the ones being squeezed out.
True, the current system makes it difficult for new teams. So what? That's the way of the world. The new mom-and-pop restaurant down the street faces an uphill battle against Burger King and Domino's, but now those sponsors need a little help with their NASCAR competition. Ask any minor-leaguer what kind of odds he faces to reach the majors. Pay your dues and earn your spot.
Sure, the system isn't perfect. Yet no system will ever be perfect, and that's when NASCAR has gotten in trouble in the past - chasing its tail with rule changes. You can tinker with the rules all you want, but they will still be unfair to somebody. Stick with one system, let everybody play by the same rules, and let's race.
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