DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Even if it hadn't rained a drop Friday at Daytona International Speedway, Pepsi 400 qualifying was going to be a mess. Then, the inevitable summer afternoon thunderstorm absolutely fouled things up.
When the rain started about 6:40 p.m., 39 cars had made their two-lap runs around the 2.5-mile track. But there were 14 left, and unless all cars run everything is wiped out and the race lineup is set according to the NASCAR rule book.
For Boris Said, that stunk. He ran a fast lap at 185.605mph, but instead of starting from the pole tonight he'll be sitting this one out.
"We put so much work into this car, and now we have the most expensive show car ever built," said Said, speaking of his No.60 Ford that he'll never use again. Beginning with Talladega, Ala., on Oct.7, the car of tomorrow will be employed at restrictor-plate tracks. "I'm disappointed but it was beyond our control."
Jeremy Mayfield, who has struggled to get his Bill Davis Racing team off the mat since missing the Daytona 500, also won't race. Mayfield ran 184.680mph, the third fastest lap, but the rain wiped that out. Michael Waltrip was also in good shape to make this race, but he's gone, too.
When qualifying was washed out, the top seven speeds had been posted by cars that had to make Saturday night's race on speed.
Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, was 30th fastest. But now, because he is leading the points, Gordon is on the pole alongside Denny Hamlin. The rest of the top 35 will start in the order they stand in owner points.
Brian Vickers, who wouldn't have made the show on his qualifying lap, will run because he won a Cup race last year. So will past series champions Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott.
Scott Riggs, Dave Blaney, Paul Menard, David Reutimann and Kenny Wallace are in because they're highest in points among those credited for trying to qualify for every race so far.
"It's hard to be overjoyed," Gordon said. "But the rules are what they are. It's kind of a unique situation. I don't know how we work around it."
Well, for starters, you don't wait until 4p.m. to start qualifying in Florida in July.
Busch Series qualifying started at 1p.m., but could have been pushed back to 10a.m. That would at least provide room to wiggle under circumstances like these.
You also have to think about suspending qualifying and resuming it this morning, even if that is race day. You might not be able to do that all of the time, but the primary effort in all cases ought to be giving everyone a fair shot to compete whenever possible.
Rain happens, though, and it's never a good thing at a race track.
Even if the weather had been perfect, NASCAR had itself painted into an odd corner at Daytona.
Five more go-or-go-home cars were left to run, and at least one likely would have gone faster than anybody who's in the top 35, since the non-exempt cars all had qualifying set-ups while those in the top 35 were in race trim.
That would have meant the eighth-fastest car overall would have gone home, and under no circumstance is that the right way to run a railroad.
Ward Burton, one of those who didn't make tonight's race, said something the other day that made a lot of sense. The top 35 rule, he said, was originally implemented as a way to protect smaller, lower-funded teams who try to make every race and have full-time sponsors. Now, that rule is killing those teams.
Despite the fans who believe the fastest 43 cars should make the race every week, NASCAR needs some provisionals to make sure the drivers the fans are coming to see are in the show. Putting the fastest 43 in also would mean everybody would spend more money on qualifying, and the teams with the most money would benefit from that, too.
Still, what happened Friday points out that the rule as it's set up just doesn't work the way it should.
It's hard to go backward, but wasn't the old system of 36 qualifiers with six provisionals (plus a champion's provisional) better than this?
It's hard to imagine how it could be worse.
Print This Story
Email This Story
