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)(7-24-2012)
UPDATE: NASCAR’s rule guaranteeing the top 35 teams in the Sprint Cup series a spot in each race may be going away in 2013. Vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said on Thursday that NASCAR is talking to teams about doing away with guaranteed starting spots in the Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series with the hope of putting more emphasis on qualifying. ‘People want to see it go back to where speed gets you in,’ Pemberton said from the infield at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pemberton did not discuss specifics of the new qualifying rules, but sources close to the situation told ESPN.com one plan is to have the top 38 cars get in on speed with one past champions provisional and four provisionals for the top four drivers in points that didn ‘t make it on speed. Under the current system in Cup, the top 35 teams are guaranteed a spot in the field regardless of whether they run a qualifying lap or not. That number is 30 for Nationwide and 25 for Trucks. The system was put in place in 2005 to assure full-time teams with big-name drivers and big sponsors did not miss the race. If the top-35 rule is eliminated, cars inside the top 35 at the end of 2012 won ‘t be guaranteed a spot in the first five races of 2013 as has been the case in the past. Pemberton said that won ‘t totally eliminate owners purchasing numbers for the Daytona 500, where points are used from the previous season, but the need won ‘t be as great.(ESPN)
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.(7-27-2012)
