NASCAR's Rainout Qualifying Procedure Needs Tweaking

NASCAR has made a host of rules changes to benefit the fans in the last year.

Now it's time to make an obvious one that benefits those who make the sport what it is: The drivers.

On Friday, 13 hopefuls who arrived in Daytona with the dream of a new season and the biggest race of the year went home after being denied the chance to qualify for Saturday's Nationwide Series race.

Eight of those teams left with nothing; five likely had some money from Paul Menard's team in their pockets as they drove back to North Carolina.

Nine drivers literally qualified on the luck of the draw (plus Menard, who made it by buying his way in).

How did this happen? Here's a quick review:

The top 30 in owner points from last year were locked into the field. So was anyone who won a race last year (two drivers) plus any past champions (one driver), which left 10 remaining spots for 23 hopefuls.

And how were those 10 spots filled?

Lottery balls.

NASCAR's procedure called for the highest cars in the qualifying order draw - which is conducted with lottery balls pinging around in a machine - to get into the field. That meant the cars that drew 35^th-44^th got in, plus Menard, who was 49^th but apparently bought out five teams in front of him to make the show (five teams who would have made it suddenly "withdrew" from the race).

That's racin? Hardly.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston was careful to point out that the situation is "unfortunate, but not unfair." And after all, NASCAR can't control the weather.

But NASCAR can control its rainout qualifying procedures, which are long overdue for a tune-up. There's got to be a better way than to send people home based on a random draw.

For example: There will be some time Saturday morning before Sprint Cup practice, which begins at 10:30 a.m. Why couldn't NASCAR just hold a special qualifying session for those go-or-go-home cars to at least give them a fighting chance after coming down to Florida and spending money on tires, crew salaries and travel expenses such as a three-night hotel stay for crew members?

NASCAR's explanation is that it would be inconsistent to allow such a thing; there are some races during the season where there would be no "tomorrow" situation due to a schedule conflict or simply because it's a one-day event.

Poston said in that case, fans and media would be asking why NASCAR made an exception for Daytona (or wherever this may occur in the future) but not for other races. NASCAR would rather do the same thing every time, even if it is "unfortunate."

What about relying on practice speeds? In the IndyCar Series, officials use practice speeds as a fallback in the event of a qualifying rainout.

That would have been a good solution at Daytona, where Shelby Howard was second-fastest of the go-or-go-home cars in the final practice.

Instead, Howard will not participate in the highest-paying race of the year, thanks to a bad bounce.

Using practice speeds would be fairer than lottery balls; at least it would provide some backup for faster, more deserving cars.

But Poston said NASCAR's view is that relying on practice speeds in the event of a qualifying rainout would alter the purpose of practice. Teams would be trying to lay down fast qualifying-type laps instead of working on their cars for the race, he said, which is the real reason for such sessions.

Still, I'd rather leave that up to the teams than NASCAR discretion. The teams' fates should be put in their own hands by letting them decide how much to focus on putting a fast practice lap together, rather than leaving something to chance that could affect people's livelihoods.

Jason Keller, who has made the most starts in Nationwide Series history, joined a new team this year - TriStar Motorsports. But its No. 35 car didn't have owner points, and so despite the team wanting to be a part of the series and become regular competitors, NASCAR was forced to send it home when its qualifying draw didn't make the cut.

Unfortunate, but not unfair? It appears to be some of both.