It wasn’t easy, but Danica Patrick has a guaranteed starting spot in this year’s Daytona 500 before Speedweeks even begin.
Patrick’s owner, Tony Stewart, worked out a complicated deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing that will allow Patrick’s #10 car to use last year’s owner’s points for Baldwin’s #36 car.
But, Patrick will technically share her ride for the length of the season with David Reutimann. Since Patrick will only compete in 10 Sprint Cup Series races in 2012, the deal between Stewart and Baldwin allows Reutimann to run the other 26 races.
This is a great deal for Patrick and her Stewart-Haas Racing team. Patrick is guaranteed to race in the 500 and won’t have to put up with the incredible spotlight she would’ve been under during Speedweeks as she tried to qualify for the race.
The situation also works out pretty well for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Patrick will run under the TBR name, so that organization will receive the owner points for all 36 races the #10 car runs. Since this is almost certainly a one-year deal, TBR will have a guaranteed spot if it wants to bring back the #36 car in 2013.
Although everything appears to have worked out for those two organizations, this deal did little to help Ruetimann or his teammate Dave Blaney, who will now have to race his way into the 500 field.
Unfortunately, NASCAR’s rules facilitate these problems.
Those who hate the top-35 rule will only scream louder in the wake of this announcement, and they have a legitimate reason.
The top 35 cars in owner points from the previous season are guaranteed starting spots for the first five races of the following season. The rule is designed to protect big-time teams from missing a race if they don’t qualify well.
However, the consequences of that goal reverberate in strange directions each offseason. Too many teams shut down and too many new ones are born each year for the top-35 rule to be effective.
In the past, teams have purchased owners points from teams that shut down. Well, NASCAR outlawed that and in turn created a system where teams have to be really creative, as Stewart was in this instance, to find a way to assure their new teams will have a guaranteed spot in the first five races of the season.
Many people will say NASCAR should abolish the top-35 rule. That’s fine, but it’s not going to happen. There is way too much money invested into the top teams in the sport to risk having one of them miss a race.
There isn’t an easy answer for this problem, but it is something NASCAR needs to seriously review. The sanctioning body has responded to issues in the sport very well in the past few years, but this one might be more difficult.
First, most people will only care about this issue during Speedweeks and then forget about it until the season starts again next year. Others will maybe care for the first five races, but as the season goes on the top-35 rule usually only affects the small, minimally sponsored teams that don’t factor into the finish of a race anyway.
Maybe this is just a necessary evil in the sport, but there is something wrong when a former race winner has to share his ride with a rookie just because of sponsorship dollars.
Showing posts with label Dave Blaney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dave Blaney. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Rating the Aaron's 499: 5 Stars *****
As the drivers get more comfortable with the two-car draft at restrictor-plate tracks, the finishes keep getting closer and closer, and Sunday’s was as close as they have ever been. A race that ties the closest finish ever with the most lead changes ever certainly deserves a 5 Star Rating.
Was this the best race ever? People will have differing opinions on which style of racing they prefer, rather its restrictor-plate racing vs. unrestricted racing or pack racing vs. two-car bump drafting racing. However, people would have to be nearly unconscious to think that finish wasn’t exciting. Heck, it might seem exciting even if they are unconscious.
The numbers say there was as much action as any race ever run, but it was really a clean race. After the Nationwide race had a record-setting 11 cautions in 312 miles, many people expected a bunch of cautions in the 499-mile Cup race. Instead, there were only six cautions and two were for debris.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t wrecks, however. Sure, there wasn’t the typical huge wreck, but there were plenty of times throughout the race that had all of the ingredients for a major wreck, but the drivers instead made incredible saves, namely Ryan Newman.
The man who has the worst restrictor-plate racing luck of any driver in the field was once again in the top 10 late in the race when he was turned sideways by Denny Hamlin in turns 3 and 4. Had he not hit Juan Pablo Montoya, the #39 car probably would have caused a big mess, but Newman did a great job of holding the car down and not even bringing out the caution. He did bring out the yellow flag a few laps later but still made a great save to keep the car off the wall. He got a 25th-place finish for his efforts.
Races at Daytona and Talladega usually bring out a range of emotions, and Sunday was no different. The incredible joy and adrenaline rush felt by those who were part of the eight-car pack at the finish was countered by the disappointment of Dave Blaney.
Blaney hooked up with Kevin Harvick early on and ran a fantastic race, leading 21 laps, the second-most of anybody in the field. Unfortunately, the surprise run of the race came to an end just three laps from the finish. Instead of being the Trevor Bayne of Talladega, Blaney finished 27th, the last car on the lead lap.
Overall, the race at Talladega delivered as promised and even exceeded expectations, if that was possible. The finish to this race was like watching a Hail Mary be completed to win a football game. It happens so fast and is so unexpected that it’s hard to believe you actually saw it happen. It’s easy to say this is a once-in-a-decade type finish, but the way the finishes have been at Daytona and Talladega lately, we could see something like this happen all over again in July at Daytona. Is it too early to get excited for that race?
Anyway, the second off-week of the season comes up next before the series moves on to Richmond, which is a great racetrack for totally different reasons than Talladega. For those who don’t like restrictor-plate racing, this will be 400 miles of “real racing.”
Overall, this has been a great start to the season. It reminds me a bit of the early 2000s. The big-time drivers have shown their strength, but the wealth has been shared between seven drivers in eight races. We had a wonderful surprise winner at Daytona and different unexpected drivers have had good runs in almost every race.
Surprisingly, Talladega probably had the most regular suspects at the front of any race this season, as the top eight finishers were from power teams before David Gilliland came across in ninth.
Have a blessed Easter everybody.
Was this the best race ever? People will have differing opinions on which style of racing they prefer, rather its restrictor-plate racing vs. unrestricted racing or pack racing vs. two-car bump drafting racing. However, people would have to be nearly unconscious to think that finish wasn’t exciting. Heck, it might seem exciting even if they are unconscious.
The numbers say there was as much action as any race ever run, but it was really a clean race. After the Nationwide race had a record-setting 11 cautions in 312 miles, many people expected a bunch of cautions in the 499-mile Cup race. Instead, there were only six cautions and two were for debris.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t wrecks, however. Sure, there wasn’t the typical huge wreck, but there were plenty of times throughout the race that had all of the ingredients for a major wreck, but the drivers instead made incredible saves, namely Ryan Newman.
The man who has the worst restrictor-plate racing luck of any driver in the field was once again in the top 10 late in the race when he was turned sideways by Denny Hamlin in turns 3 and 4. Had he not hit Juan Pablo Montoya, the #39 car probably would have caused a big mess, but Newman did a great job of holding the car down and not even bringing out the caution. He did bring out the yellow flag a few laps later but still made a great save to keep the car off the wall. He got a 25th-place finish for his efforts.
Races at Daytona and Talladega usually bring out a range of emotions, and Sunday was no different. The incredible joy and adrenaline rush felt by those who were part of the eight-car pack at the finish was countered by the disappointment of Dave Blaney.
Blaney hooked up with Kevin Harvick early on and ran a fantastic race, leading 21 laps, the second-most of anybody in the field. Unfortunately, the surprise run of the race came to an end just three laps from the finish. Instead of being the Trevor Bayne of Talladega, Blaney finished 27th, the last car on the lead lap.
Overall, the race at Talladega delivered as promised and even exceeded expectations, if that was possible. The finish to this race was like watching a Hail Mary be completed to win a football game. It happens so fast and is so unexpected that it’s hard to believe you actually saw it happen. It’s easy to say this is a once-in-a-decade type finish, but the way the finishes have been at Daytona and Talladega lately, we could see something like this happen all over again in July at Daytona. Is it too early to get excited for that race?
Anyway, the second off-week of the season comes up next before the series moves on to Richmond, which is a great racetrack for totally different reasons than Talladega. For those who don’t like restrictor-plate racing, this will be 400 miles of “real racing.”
Overall, this has been a great start to the season. It reminds me a bit of the early 2000s. The big-time drivers have shown their strength, but the wealth has been shared between seven drivers in eight races. We had a wonderful surprise winner at Daytona and different unexpected drivers have had good runs in almost every race.
Surprisingly, Talladega probably had the most regular suspects at the front of any race this season, as the top eight finishers were from power teams before David Gilliland came across in ninth.
Have a blessed Easter everybody.
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