When looking at the point totals in NASCAR 99% of the people look at the driver points, but what about the owner points? The owner points are the ones that determine if a driver can start a race or not after a poor qualifying run, just ask Waltrip about that. If you aren't in the top 35 of the owner points you aren't guaranteed a starting position in the race if you have a poor qualifying effort and you can be on the outside looking in as was the case for Mikey Waltrip last weekend.
Most people don't know that there is a Race For The Chase for the car owners as well and that an owner can win that championship no matter how many drivers he has driving for him. The last time a car owner won the Owner's Championship with multiple drivers was in 1963 when the Wood Brothers won with a Ford driven by several drivers while Joe Weatherly won the Driver's Championship driving a Mercury for a different car owner. I guess the closest any car owner has come to winning the Owner's Championship in recent years with more than one driver was Richard Childress in 2001 when he had Dale Earnhardt and then Kevin Harvic after Dale died drive the Goodwrench car that year. In the official Owner Standings Richard Childress is listed one position higher than Kevin Harvic in the Driver's Standings.
Bear with me for a minute and picture this: all the car owners going for the Owners Championship instead of the Drivers Championship - they can put anyone in the car for any race. The drivers would be free agents for each race with no long term contracts. Aside from the mechanical aspect of this (i.e. mounting of specific car seats etc.) it would be interesting to watch. I think it would get rid of this egocentric attitude that has been developing within the drivers these past few years because it forces the drivers to be on their best behavior at all times with no temper tantrums, or else they won't have a ride for the next week or the following week, etc. If you don't make a good impression with the owners you'll never drive again and we would see the end of the spoiled brat attitudes of some of these "Young Gun" drivers (i.e. the Busch Brothers) over the last few years.
Most people don't know that there is a Race For The Chase for the car owners as well and that an owner can win that championship no matter how many drivers he has driving for him. The last time a car owner won the Owner's Championship with multiple drivers was in 1963 when the Wood Brothers won with a Ford driven by several drivers while Joe Weatherly won the Driver's Championship driving a Mercury for a different car owner. I guess the closest any car owner has come to winning the Owner's Championship in recent years with more than one driver was Richard Childress in 2001 when he had Dale Earnhardt and then Kevin Harvic after Dale died drive the Goodwrench car that year. In the official Owner Standings Richard Childress is listed one position higher than Kevin Harvic in the Driver's Standings.
Bear with me for a minute and picture this: all the car owners going for the Owners Championship instead of the Drivers Championship - they can put anyone in the car for any race. The drivers would be free agents for each race with no long term contracts. Aside from the mechanical aspect of this (i.e. mounting of specific car seats etc.) it would be interesting to watch. I think it would get rid of this egocentric attitude that has been developing within the drivers these past few years because it forces the drivers to be on their best behavior at all times with no temper tantrums, or else they won't have a ride for the next week or the following week, etc. If you don't make a good impression with the owners you'll never drive again and we would see the end of the spoiled brat attitudes of some of these "Young Gun" drivers (i.e. the Busch Brothers) over the last few years.