See Daytona 500 Qualifying Rules at the bottom of this page - click here

Determining Race Line-Ups - Top 35 Guarantee: At the start of the 2005 season, NASCAR instituted a new procedure for establishing the starting race field in the Sprint Cup Series [NSCS]. NASCAR revamped the system by simplifying the procedure with teams no longer accruing provisionals throughout the season to gain entry into the starting fields. While starting positions one through 42 in the NSCS still will be determined by qualifying speed, the new system will assure the highest-ranked 35 positions of the NSCS OWNER [not Driver] championship points that have entered the event prior to the entry deadline [usually 13 days before the day of the race] one of those starting positions in the field, providing they have made an attempt to qualify [which usually means the team at least practiced and made an effort to qualify].
The remaining seven positions [36-42] will be assigned to those drivers with the fastest qualifying speeds whose car owners are not among the top 35. The final starting position [43rd] – the champion’s provisional – can be utilized by a car owner whose driver is a current or past Nextel Cup champion who participated as a driver during the current of previous season and was entered in the event for that owner in that car prior to the entry deadline.
If there is more than one series champion vying for the position, it will be given to the most recent series champion. If the final provisional starting position – 43rd in the Nextel Cup – is not filled by a current or past series champion, it will be assigned to the next eligible car owner according to qualifying results.
Through the first five races of the season for the Nextel Cup, the top 35 in the NSCS of the previous owner championship points entered in the event prior to the entry deadline will be assured one of the 42 starting positions in the field, provided they have made an attempt to qualify. From the sixth race on, the current owner championship points will be used to determine the top 35 each race week. In the event that conditions prevent qualifying from being run, starting positions will be assigned according to the respective series’ current Rule Book.(NASCAR PR)
Simple: so the field is set by speed to where the 7th fastest non-top 35 driver is on speed. The any drivers in the top 35 of OWNERS [not drivers points] are placed to the 42nd spot. The 43rd spot is used for the most recent past Cup champion NOT already in the field from being in the top-35 in owners points or one of the seven no top-35. If their is not past champ for the 43rd spot, it goes to the next fastest [8th fastest driver]

What happens if qualifying gets rained out?
If it is the first five races of the season, the previous season OWNERS points are used:

#1) - Previous season Owner Points [position 1-35][top 35 teams do NOT need to attempt ALL the races]
#2) - Race winners from the previous and current season not already in the field
#3) - ALL Past Cup Champions not in by 1 or 2
#4) - Current season Owner Points [Top 35][not in by rules 1-3]
#5) - Current season race attempts ties broken by current owners points standings [not in by rules 1-4]

After the 5th race of the season, the current season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - First 35 by current Owner Points [position 1-35][top 35 teams do NOT need to attempt ALL the races]
#2) - Last Years Cup Champ or the Event Champion if not already in the field
#3) - Car Owners whose team has won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#4) - Drivers who have won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#5) - ALL Past Cup Champions not in by 1 thru 4 [is NOT charged against the 6 past champ provisionals]
#6) - Qualifying Attempts [not starts] with Owners points as the tie breaker
#7) - Qualifying Order Position
(all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race)

Past Champions Limited To 6 Provisional Berths in Cup: NASCAR announced an update to the past champion’s provisional rule in the Sprint Cup Series starting with the 2007 season. A past champion’s provisional may be used by an eligible driver a maximum of six times over the course of the season. In addition, a team with a past champion eligible driver may only use this provisional a maximum of six times during a season. Previously, there was no limit on usage of the past champion’s provisional over the course of the 36-race season. The provisional gives the eligible driver the 43rd and final starting position in the race field. "As NASCAR seeks to place more emphasis on competition, we have decided the time is right to limit the number of provisionals allowed,” said NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. “We believe this revision brings the provisional policy in line with the continued growth of the sport.”(NASCAR PR)
This is only for a team/driver OUTSIDE the top-35 in owners points, drivers whose team is in the top-35 in owners points, would already be guaranteed in the field and not need the Past Champions Provisional.(1-31-2007)
See my 2009 Past Champions Provisional Page for more.(2-8-2008)

How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph

How to break a tie during qualifying? (same speed/time) When drivers are tied for a starting spot during qualifying, it is broken by owners points standings(not drivers).

How was qualifying Handled before 2005? see my 2004 Provisional Rules page

Go or Go Home Drivers to Qualify Together: NASCAR announced in January that starting with the Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway [California], teams outside the top 35 in owners points will be allowed to qualify together at the end of the qualifying session. The Nationwide and Truck Series used this procedure at Daytona. Sprint Cup didn't use the new procedure at Daytona due to the unique/somewhat complicated qualifying session/races there. The thought is that nobody would have an advantage in track conditions.(2-19-2008)

Go or Go Home Drivers to Qualify Together; NASCAR to Provide Tires for Tests: Michael Waltrip suggested last season that drivers outside the top 35 in owners' points should be allowed to qualify together so nobody would have an advantage in track conditions. NASCAR officials must have listened. The governing body kicked off its annual media tour by announcing that those outside the top 35 in all three series -- Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series -- will qualify at the end of their respective session. It also was announced that teams will be provided tires for testing at non-sanctioned NASCAR tests. Sprint Cup teams will be given 200 tires, Nationwide teams 160 and Craftsman Truck Series teams 120.(ESPN.com)(1-21-2008)

NASCAR considering separate qualifying sessions in 2008: Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said Nov. 9 [2007] that the sanctioning body is still studying the possibility of having teams outside the top 35 in owner points qualify as a group, but that a final decision has not been made. Teams outside the top 35 must qualify each week based on their qualifying speed, while teams inside the top 35 are locked into the field. Because qualifying sessions often last more than two hours, track conditions can change dramatically during a single session. Some team owners have said that having drivers not guaranteed a starting spot make their qualifying attempts at about the same time - rather than based on their qualifying draw - would make the session more fair. "Right now, it's something that we've looked at and continue to look at," Darby said. "But any time you make a change, you have to look at how it affects everything. It's not as simple as just saying, 'Yeah, that would be better. It may make sense for one group, but it might not for another. You've got to take into consideration when you would have those teams make their qualifying attempts - are they the first ones on the track, or the last? There are a lot of things that would be affected by a move like that." Owner points for the first five races of each season are based on the final owner points of the previous year, meaning those teams are guaranteed starting spots for the first five races. Beginning with the sixth race, the current owner points are used.(SceneDaily.com)(11-15-2007)

Qualifying changes as soon as New Hampshire? UPDATE denied by NASCAR: NASCAR will make changes to the Sprint Cup qualifying format sooner rather than later. A source within NASCAR confirmed that they would indeed change the way teams qualify for Nextel Cup races, and the changes will take place this season instead of next. Currently, all race entries are placed in to a “lottery type” format to decide qualifying order and all entries must qualify against one another. But, not for long. Beginning with the first Chase race at New Hampshire, teams inside the top 35 in owner points will qualify separately from teams outside of the Top 35. Teams inside the Top 35 will qualify first with teams outside of the Top 35 qualifying later in the day. In the event of a rain out after Top 35 qualifying is over, the remaining eight spots will be decided by owner points and past champion’s provisional's. If qualifying is completely rained out, NASCAR will still revert back to owner points.(Captain Thunder Racing)(8-14-2007)
UPDATE: NASCAR Tuesday denied an Internet report that a new qualifying format would be announced this season. According to the report on an Internet fan site, the fan said an ‘inside source’ at NASCAR told them that the sanctioning body would be announcing a new qualifying format as soon as the New Hampshire race in September. While NASCAR has made no secret of the fact that they are exploring possible changes in the qualifying format, NASCAR spokesperson Ramsey Poston denied that an announcement would be made this year.(Cup Scene Daily)(8-14-2007)

Non Top-35 teams to qualify together? soon? UPDATE: All year long, teams outside the Top 35 in Nextel Cup owner points have complained about the difficulties they face in making the weekly starting lineup. Now, it looks like their voices are being heard. Sources tell Frontstretch.com that the NASCAR is preparing to make changes to its qualifying procedure by the end of August, setting up a system in which all teams ranked outside the Top 35 qualify together. Eliminating the advantage of the qualifying order, all teams not "locked in" to the field would make their attempts back-to-back at either the beginning or end of the session. The overall starting order would still be determined the same way it is now, but for teams in position to make the field on speed, the differences in track temperature and weather would now be minimized, leveling a playing field that can often be tilted towards certain teams due to qualifying draw. Currently, only eight spots ]actaully 7 with the 43rd going to a past champ if needed, THEN filled by the 8th fastest, that iw why they always start 43rd] are available in the 43-car field to teams not "locked in" to the Top 35, with twelve full-time teams attempting to secure one of those coveted positions each week. As for the Top 35 rule's future, there is no official word from NASCAR that changes are forthcoming next year [2008]...but sources say teams have been told to prepare for a possible adjustment in 2008, despite John Darby's public statements to the contrary.(Frontstretch Newsletter)(8-1-2007)
UPDATE: NASCAR is considering changes to its top-35 qualifying format but isn't likely to reduce the number of teams with guaranteed starting spots each week. "It's something we want to resolve shortly so everybody knows what they're up against for next year," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. Any change is likely to be announced before the end of the month but not in time to affect Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. The top 35 in the owners' points standings are assured of being in the 43-car field each race no matter how they qualify. On a typical weekend, that leaves 12-15 teams scrambling for eight starting spots. The most likely change is to have the teams outside the top 35 qualify in a group, either at the beginning or end of the regular session. That would eliminate luck of the draw as a major factor in determining who gets into the race. The teams that have to qualify on speed all would face similar track and weather conditions. "That idea has more merit to it than reducing the number to 25 or 20 or some of the other things we've heard," Helton said. "There's a lot of options out there, but I'm not sure there's a lot of energy to change (35 as the cutoff) at this point."(Indianapolis Star)(8-3-2007)

Changes to Top-35 Rule Analyzed: Amid growing unrest among team owners on the wrong side of NASCAR's rule guaranteeing the top 35 teams spots in each Nextel Cup field, a Charlotte Observer analysis of several potential alterations leads to the same conclusion. In the first 10 races this season, traditional qualifying was held eight times. The exceptions were the Daytona 500, which has its own procedure, and at Texas, where qualifying was rained out. For the eight races in which traditional qualifying was held, 8.1% of the cars making the fields would have changed if NASCAR had allowed in the fastest 43. Only 7.6% would have differed if the top 12 teams were exempt, and it would've been only 6.4% if the top 25 were exempt. If NASCAR were using its old format, with 36 cars qualifying on speed and seven provisionals, there would have been a 3.5% difference. If the rules had been different early this year, #55-Michael Waltrip would have had the most to gain under virtually any scenario. He missed all eight races analyzed would have made five of those with no exemptions, 12 exemptions or 25 exemptions. At the same time, those tweaks would have knocked Kyle Petty and Robby Gordon out of as many as four races they made, depending on which change had been employed.(Charlotte Observer)(7-23-2007)

Modifications Possible to Top-35 Qualifying Rule: Nextel Cup director John Darby -- saying he was speaking for himself, not NASCAR -- didn't mince words Friday when asked about speculated changes to NASCAR's Top-35 rule. "We ain't changing it," Darby said. That doesn't mean, however, that NASCAR isn't contemplating some alterations to the current rule. One possibility is grouping "go or go home" cars together during the qualifying session, so all are faced with similar track conditions during their laps. Darby likes that idea. "We're talking about that a lot," he said. "It makes it truly a head-to-head competition that way." Where would they be grouped? One possibility, according to Darby: Let the championship driver or crew chief decide where in the session that respective group would qualify.(ESPN.com)(7-14-2007)

Top-35 rule could be changed: NASCAR is considering changing the number of teams locked into each Nextel Cup race by virtue of owner points, an official source within the sanctioning body confirmed to SPEEDTV.com Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. Currently, the top 35 teams in NASCAR Nextel Cup owner points are guaranteed starting spots at each race, regardless of where they actually qualify in the field. Teams outside the top 35 must attempt to qualify for the remaining eight spots in each Cup event. When NASCAR first adopted the system of locking in the top 35 in owner points, it was when car counts were low at Cup races. The rationale of guaranteeing starting spots was to protect small, independent teams who showed up every week, but usually were not among the fastest in the field. With the advent of a host of new teams in 2007, including five from Toyota’s new Nextel Cup effort, fields have swelled this year, resulting in many fully sponsored teams going home on a weekly basis. That may be about to change, the NASCAR official confirmed in an exclusive interview with SPEEDTV.com. “We’ve had ongoing discussions about changing the number of teams we lock in,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The end result could be that the number of guaranteed starters would be reduced from 35 to perhaps 30 or 25. The NASCAR official stressed that no decision had been made yet, but the matter will continue to be a front-burner topic for the sanctioning body.(SPEEDtv.com)(7-7-2007)

LMS Prez suggests putting more than one car on track during qualifying: Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler is calling for NASCAR to add greater entertainment value to its qualifying format by placing more than one car on the racetrack at once. Wheeler told ESPN.com Saturday that attendance for LMS pole day has steadily declined since 2001, and anticipates NASCAR will make some sort of alteration for 2008. "It needs more drama," Wheeler said. "I understand why they do it, but the fact that you've already got 35 people [guaranteed] qualified takes a lot of that [drama] out. I think [NASCAR realizes] something needs to be done. It remains to be seen what, but I think something will be done next year." Wheeler is alluding to NASCAR's Top-35 rule, which guarantees a starting position in each race to every car ranked among the top-35 in car owner points. Therefore, even if they're slower than some other cars attempting to qualify they still make the show. NASCAR officials are aware of this concern, and said they will evaluate qualifying procedures following the season. But he thinks the best option is placing multiple cars on the track at once. He said he's thrown out ideas to NASCAR "for a couple years." One of which, he said, is to host four, 15-minute sessions, each including 25 percent of the cars in the field. Whoever is fastest overall wins the pole.(ESPN.com)(5-27-2007)

NASCAR considering tweaking qualifying: NASCAR is considering changing its qualifying procedures in response to complaints about the restrictive system. With at least 50 drivers vying for 43 spots in the field, seven or more cars fail to make the race each week. Because NASCAR assures a spot to the top 35 drivers in points, only eight positions are actually up for grabs. The policy has crippled several drivers this season, particularly #55-Michael Waltrip, who missed his eighth consecutive race Sunday. Waltrip spent the past week lobbying for a variety of changes that could help him get into the field. NASCAR is apparently listening. "We're looking at a lot of different scenarios," competition director Robin Pemberton said. "There's things that we're looking at and we're listening to the competitors. If we were to make a change we'd have to put our own twist on it, to make it fair for all competitors."(Alabama Live)(4-30-2007)

Past Champions Limited To 6 Provisional Berths in Cup: NASCAR announced today an update to the past champion’s provisional rule in the Nextel Cup Series for 2007. Beginning this season, a past champion’s provisional may be used by an eligible driver a maximum of six times over the course of the season. In addition, a team with a past champion eligible driver may only use this provisional a maximum of six times during a season. Previously, there was no limit on usage of the past champion’s provisional over the course of the 36-race season. The provisional gives the eligible driver the 43rd and final starting position in the race field. "As NASCAR seeks to place more emphasis on competition, we have decided the time is right to limit the number of provisionals allowed,” said NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. “We believe this revision brings the provisional policy in line with the continued growth of the sport.”(NASCAR PR)(1-31-2007)

Past Champ Provisional rules to stay the same UPDATE 2 limited at 6? NASCAR sources indicated that the sanctioning body would not alter its past championship provisional rule for the Nextel Cup Series in 2007. For two decades, NASCAR has allotted a spot in the race -- if needed -- for Cup champions that otherwise failed to qualify for the field. NASCAR's decision to leave the rule alone is significant for Dale Jarrett, who is the only full-time former champion without a guaranteed starting spot in 2007. Jarrett is driving for Michael Waltrip Racing's brand-new #44 Toyota, which enters the season without any owner points. NASCAR awards guaranteed starting spots to the top-35 teams in the owner standings from 2006. Because every former champion from 2000 to 2006 finished in the top 35, the past championship provisional will be available to Jarrett, who won the Cup title in 1999. There is a good possibility Jarrett will not need to use his past championship provisional in many races. Because he is essentially guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races, his chances of remaining in the top 35 in 2007 owner standings are high. If Jarrett is in the top 35 in owner points after the season's fifth race, the past championship provisional is available to Bill Elliott [he could also use the provisional spot if Jarrett qualifies for the races in the first 5], who won the title in 1988. Elliott is the only active former champion -- besides Jarrett -- without a guaranteed starting spot. Beginning with the sixth race of the season, NASCAR awards guaranteed starting spots to the teams in the top 35 in points. NASCAR considered altering the rule for 2007 but opted to leave it alone. The past championship provisional rule is different in the Busch Series -- a past championship provisional can only be used once every eight races.(NASCAR.com)(1-22-2007)
UPDATE: NASCAR officials say the past champion's provisional will be altered in 2007. That's news to past champion #44-Dale Jarrett, who on Monday night said he had not been told of any changes to the program. Jarrett could end up needing a past champion's provisional because his new #44 team lacks owner points. Since he moved to the new Michael Waltrip Racing team to start this season, Jarrett has no points for the first five races. He must qualify for each of those based on speed - or by using the past champion's provisional. The driver, who won the 1999 Cup championship, would be locked into the final position in the field if he failed to post a fast enough time to make the race. Jarrett said that he understood the concerns surrounding possible abuse of the provisional system, but that those weren't applicable in his case. NASCAR officials said Tuesday that the change would not be in the rule book, but would appear on entry blanks sent out prior to each race. Vice President Steve O'Donnell said that limiting use of the provision to six races per year was what the sanctioning body had been looking into. "That is still being talked about. I think what we're looking at is six for the driver and owner," he said during the NASCAR Nextel Cup Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway. "The one change [from the Nationwide Series] is maybe that you can use six concurrently. ...That's what it looks like it's going to be."(SceneDaily.com)(1-23-2007)
UPDATE 2: NASCAR plans to announce before next month's Daytona 500 a cap on the number of provisionals a former champion can use in a season, vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said on Tuesday. That number likely will fall around six, sources said.(David Newton/ESPN.com)(1-24-2007)

43 requirement...a myth: NASCAR chief operating officer George Pyne denies that NASCAR recruited drivers to race at Rockingham, where several field fillers completed the advertised 43-car field. Pyne says it's a myth that the TV contracts require 43 drivers to be in a Cup race. "I asked the question point blank to our group, and they reported that we're not recruiting people to show up," Pyne says. "That's my understanding." Pyne says decreasing the field in the future is not out of the question.(Yahoo Sports/Sporting News)(3-1-2004)