NASCAR is kicking around the idea of qualifying the top 38 drivers on time and cutting the number of provisionals down to four plus one for former champions. With sponsors at a premium right now, it could be catastrophic to eliminate provisionals altogether, particularly when a driver missing a race could result in a benefactor pulling its support from the team.(Fox Sports)
This sounds similar to the old provisional system last used during the 2004 season, see how it worked and some notes about it on my 2004 Provisionals page. (7-24-2012)
