[vincesanity82]

NASCAR put a stop to that by announcing that starting with the 2007 Daytona 500 a champion could only use that provisional six times throughout the season. After Jarrett used up his lot, teams such as the Wood Brothers started hiring guys like Bill Elliott or Terry Labonte to drive so they could get those six free passes. On his Tradin' Paint show, Kyle Petty said it was wrong but it's clearly within the rules and if he had to, he'd put Bobby Labonte in the 45 car so he could use his provisionals if Petty fell out of the top 35. He said NASCAR needs to change the rule but as long as it was legal he wasn't going to fall on the sword and not use it. Waltrip has taken the absurdity needle up another notch. Dale Jarrett has announced his retirement but he didn't quit at the end of 2007. He is going to run the first six races of 2008 so he can be sure the 44 makes all the races and perhaps get into the top 35. At race No. 7, David Reutimann will take over the car. Is that abuse or what? But it gets worse. The other day one of the most respected men in racing redlined the absurdity needle. Roger Penske has transferred owner's points from Kurt Busch's No. 2 car to the 77 driven by Sam Hornish. Hornish, who DNQ'd almost every time he attempted a race in ‘07, will start each of the first six races, while teammate Busch has to qualify for them. That may seem like a sure thing to some but what if Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson have a bad qualifying run the same day Busch does? They would get that spot and Busch would load up and go home while Hornish gets in the show with a past champion's provisional that he did not earn. That's more absurd than DEI buying Ginn Racing, then transferring points from the 14 car to the 15. Petty was right: the rules are there so they can be exploited, but it isn't right. NASCAR needs to change it fast. -- Truro Daily News

The Truro Daily News, Nova Scotia : Sports | Back Stretch

[LSC9901]

The only thing NASCAR does fast is remove money from wallets.

[The Dude]

I don't think the rule needs to be abolished, it just needs to be altered a bit so that it's fair.

Perhaps if they only gave previous champions 1 provisional whereas the most current champion gets 2. That would make sure that a champ can have a bad run and still make the show, but not so much that it becomes the case every race.

now as for the Top 35 Rule, I think it needs to shink. The way I see it, Teams and NASCAR itself are all about drawing sponsors to the sport, so getting rid of the bar completely would be a terrible hit to sponsorship money. These guys pay good money to make sure they get advertised, so if they don't have a gurantee to get what they pay for, they'll be a lot more hesitiant to spend good money. I think that having the top 20 would be a much more fair number. That leaves more than enough room for lower teams to make the show and have a chance at winning whereas the high end HMS and Roush teams still get to keep their spots as top dogs since their racers will probably be top 20.

This not only makes it more competitve, but also easier to get sponsors involved with smaller teams since they'd have a much high chance of getting into the race which means theres a higher chance that the company will get something in return for their money.

[Racer Duck]

I like your idea about the provisionals, Dude.

However, I don't care for your modification of the Chosen rule. Here's why:

Sometime in the past someone (both we have identified, but will not go into here) decided that NASCAR was not about racing, but about sponsors. To accomodate the sponsors meant they had to insure the biggest sponsors had TV time, which meant the sponsor's cars had to be in the race whether they deserved to be or not.

Gone is the time-held custom of racing pitting the fastest against the fastest. Now it is the biggest wallets against the biggest wallets. The fact that sometimes one or more of the small wallet cars may be the fastest is immaterial as it's considered "a fluke" and not worth worrying about - in fact it shows the "little guy" can still run with the "big dogs". At least that's what the "someone" would have you believe.

And then a Daytona 400 2007-style pops up and focuses the spotlight on how absurd the rule really is: most of the top 10 qualifiers go home because part of qualifying is rained out - 7 or 8 cars, some "Chosen," had yet to qualify - the perfect opportunity to show the sponsors how "someone" was protecting their interests! And so this race was tainted because not only did not the fastest car not get to run, but most of the 10 fastest. No amount of schmoozing by "someone" will convince ardent race fans that the race wasn't "fixed" in that it paved the way for all big wallets to start and finish in the top 10.

And they might have been able to get away with the whole thing, but the cursed weatherman did them in again 4 races later at Watkins Glen. Again, the pole sitter (same driver as at Daytona) was again sent home. Were it not for the kindness of a special driver who gave up his seat so this driver could compete, this small wallet driver would have missed 2 big races in 2007.

So, I don't share your feelings for the sponsors. Yes, they are a necessary evil to race. And more so in the "premier stock car" series. But when the sponsors are more important than the reason for the race (pitting the fastest cars against each other to see who is fastest that day), then it has little to do with racing.

Today we have race breaks during the commercials on TV and ticket prices at the tracks are astronomical. It's obvious it's a rich man's sport, both to compete and to watch. Unless something changes, expect more and more fans to depart this madness in favor of places where RACING is more important than WALLET.

[NASCAR Gnome]

From what I've heard, the "Champion's Provisional" rule was originally instituted for Richard Petty to ensure that he could show up at ANY track and race whenever he wanted to without having to risk the humiliation of not qualifying the conventional way. Why was this done? Well, again based on what I heard, King Richard put fans into the seats wherever he went so it made sense to the track owners to have him show up and of course, it was good for the bottom line!

[Bob Tanner]

ANY provisional rule is a rule made affecting the competition that is based on the desires of the teams, sponsors, track owners, or NA__AR's bottom line.

I say do COMPLETELY away with any provisional rule. neither past performance, sponsor involvement nor ability to sell tee-shirts should determine who starts a race and who goes home.

But, NA__AR will NEVER, repeat: N-E-V-E-R, do that. So, since it a given they're going to give some a free pass, then why not go back to the way they did it prior to...? 1999?
First Everyone team gets three provisionals...then
Days days of qualifications (more $ for the tracks)
First day the top 20 are locked in
2nd day those who did not make the top 20 have a chance to re qualify, if they chose. If they requal their first qualifying attempt is thrown out. After qualifying is over, the fastest 20 make the field.
The remaining three spots are filled by the teams highest on the owners points list. The rest: better luck next week. Each team can use three provisionals, then they either qualify or go home. No free ride.
With the current playoff my suggestion is that since we have a 26 week season until the playoff, after the 14th week, start at zero and give everyone three provisionals again. During the playoffs, automatically lock in the top twelve, start at zero again and give the remaining teams one provisional to use in the last ten races.

This was basically how it worked during the late 80's until 1999 (I think). I hated it and thought it was a rotten deal but, in hindsight, it was head and shoulders above this piece of crap-ola NA__AR has foisted on us now.