Should drivers be allowed to get into the Daytona 500 without earning their spot?
Jan 31, 2012 - Ah, the Daytona 500 – the "Great American Race."
It's a fitting nickname, isn't it? After all, the Great American Race embodies so many of the values Americans love.
There are the underdog stories, where the little guy comes out of nowhere to stun the establishment. There are the stories of greatness, where legendary drivers write their name in the history books. And there are stories of redemption, where once-dead careers are revived.
Add hot dogs and beer and Chevrolets to those storylines, and it really is the Great American Race.
Well, except for one thing: How drivers actually get into the Daytona 500 is decidedly un-American.
NASCAR qualifying is not a merit-based system in general – typically, 35 of the 43 drivers are determined before the weekend even starts – but rules get particularly twisted at the start of the season.
Under NASCAR rules, owner points can be bought and sold as long as the seller gets a minority interest in the buyer's team.
This "merger" is virtually in name only, however, and the entities remain otherwise separate.
This long-standing rule will reportedly be employed by Stewart-Haas Racing for the upcoming Daytona 500, thus giving Danica Patrick a pass into NASCAR's Super Bowl.
No matter how she does in Daytona 500 qualifying and the ensuing qualifying races – good or bad – the GoDaddy Girl will make her first-ever Sprint Cup Series start on the sport's biggest stage.
The proposed deal, first reported by Sirius-Speedway.com, is complicated. But the gist of it is this: Patrick would get Dave Blaney's owner points from Tommy Baldwin Racing and therefore gain a locked-in position to the Daytona 500.
TBR, a small independent team, would likely get a nice financial boost plus other support from Stewart-Haas. TBR driver David Reutimann would even run a No. 10 car – like Patrick's, except with the lesser TBR equipment – for the majority of the season in order to keep the car in the top 35.
That way, Patrick could potentially be locked in for all 10 of the Sprint Cup races she plans to attempt this season.
That's wrong. No amount of money could buy a spot on a Super Bowl team this weekend; nor could being rich and famous allow you to make a Major League Baseball roster (right, Garth Brooks?).
The ability to purchase a starting spot from another team devalues the competition on the track. If you thought NASCAR's practice of secretly fining drivers for their comments was a no-brainer candidate for change, this is even more glaring.
But the blame here cannot be placed on Patrick or Stewart-Haas Racing. They're just playing the system like anyone would if presented with the opportunity.
I'd do it if I could. So would you. And the reality is, if either of us won the lottery, there's a real chance we could find our way into the Daytona 500.
This has been done before. Steve Wallace won the genetic lottery – his dad is NASCAR legend Rusty – and had a Daytona 500 starting spot purchased for him just last year.
He did just fine, finishing 20th in his Cup debut. So just because a driver gets into the field based on a deal and not on merit doesn't mean he (or she) will have a disastrous race.
Still, it doesn't make it right. And the onus falls on NASCAR to remedy the situation.
In that case, NASCAR needs to step up and end this practice once and for all. When it comes to stock car racing, NASCAR has often made it clear that it regulates the ball, the court and the game itself.
If officials wanted to change they rules, they easily could. It's NASCAR's world, and everyone else just lives in it.
This topic comes up every year, but the hype around Patrick's Cup debut means the practice of buying points will get an extra close look this time around.
Let's hope Patrick's free pass into the Daytona 500 is the last one NASCAR ever allows.
7 comments
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Comments
This happens literally every year. It doesn’t seem to be a big deal for the media any other time that it happens. The top 35 rule is bogus altogether. Forget being locked in, forget a provisional system, just go top 43 qualifiers get in the race. Last time I checked the go or go homers are dedicating all practice to qualifying sets and still not in position to bump out the guys who focus on race trim, so the entire point of the top 35 is gone with that.
by Robbie Burns on Jan 31, 2012 3:55 PM EST reply actions
I love Steven Wallace cheapshots. Completely uncalled for and yet always warranted. =)
I don’t mind the top-35 rule, especially over the course of a full season. But perhaps it’s best if the top-35 rule is amended for the Daytona 500.
Speedweeks is the only time the rule is brought up as a negative and it makes understanding the Gatorade Duels near impossible.
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by MattWeaver on Jan 31, 2012 4:15 PM EST reply actions
Buying points
I thoroughly agree with this article. Buying points is shady and unworthy of NASCAR. The top 35 drivers have EARNED their way into the race. The rest of the field should earn the right to race. DP/SHR has stolen a place in the field from someone who would have qualified their way into it. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
Now let’s talk about the start and parks.
by factfinder on Jan 31, 2012 4:19 PM EST reply actions
I think...
Dave Moody posted another article shortly after the one about points swapping on www.sirius-speedway.com about how he would get rid of the top 35. I think THAT is the best solution I have seen and the points sales would go away as a byproduct of the qualifying change.
BTW Jeff, Nice Nate Ryan word there with “onus.” lol I’m sure Nate would be proud
by alan8385 on Jan 31, 2012 4:22 PM EST reply actions
Disgusting situation
Thanks for another great article, Jeff.
The top 35 rule and the buying and selling of qualifying positions has completely destroyed the qualifying process. There’s no pressure to show what you have if you’re in the top 35 and/or if you’ve got deep enough pockets.
I think Dave Moody’s idea is great. It allows a limited safety net but only for top performers.
I am totally disgusted at NASCAR for creating this situation and at Tony and SHR for playing this card…
by TomInRal on Jan 31, 2012 5:00 PM EST reply actions
Amazing how this is such a big deal 'every' year
I ‘remember’ how everyone was outraged last year that the Wood Brothers merged with RPM creating a shell company – & listing Richard Petty as an owner of the #21 car, allowing RPM to transfer the #19 points to the #21 to guarantee Trevor Bayne would be in the Daytona 500.
Does anyone else ‘remember’ how outraged the entire NASCAR fandom was when Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 because he shouldn’t have been in the race in the first place because his team bought his starting position instead of racing their way in? – Must’ve dreamt that -
Give me a break. So many people are so quick to jump on the hate Danica bandwagon because they think she’s been given everything because of her looks and believes she hasn’t earned anything.
Danica took advantage of her love of motorsports, her available talent & used her good looks to gain opportunity. It is no differnent than any one else would have done if presented with that unique opportunity. Danica isn’t the only attractive woman in NASCAR, or in motorsports and she isn’t the only one who leverages her looks to get opportunity (I’m looking at you Cope twins!) What she does have that some of the other attractive women in the sport lack is the talent & the drive to further the opportunites that she has earned.
Danica can drive a race car. Good for her for taking advantage of available opportunities to get where she is. Thats business, and thats life. I hope she wins Daytona.
Common sense is the most evenly distributed quality in all the world.
Everyone thinks they have enough.
by havey03 on Feb 1, 2012 11:41 AM EST reply actions
I personally don't like it
The Patrick situation is nothing new however as this has been going on for a long time in NASCAR – long before Patrick was born for that matter.
I’ve never liked it and never will, but I will not knock any driver or team who does it either because there are no rules against it. If NASCAR is willing to put up with it then I am too, even if I don’t think its right.
I’m also against the top 35 rule too, but I digress.
Founder and site manager of SBN's NASCAR Ranting & Raving (www.4ever3blog.com) - "Filling up your rearview and headed to the front."
by 4ever3 on Feb 1, 2012 10:32 PM EST reply actions
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