This is getting ridiculous. NASCAR continues to allow underfunded, underpowered, underprepared cars into the lineup of its premier series ... to the detriment of other drivers and, possibly, to the series.
Joe Ruttman, Andy Hillenberg, Kirk Shelmerdine, Derrick Cope, Carl Long and Morgan Shepherd have been showing up each race weekend, getting into the field, running a few laps in slow motion, then heading to the garage and collecting several thousand dollars in appearance money.
B. Duane Cross, who writes for SI.com, has presented a interesting statistic on the matter. Cross writes that, for the first four races of the season, the average finishing position of cars starting from positions 36-43 is 31.75. He points out that even that figure is optimistic because Jeff Gordon started 39th and finished eighth at the Daytona 500.
He points out that nothing is getting better, either. The average finishing position of the back eight starters was 25.75 at Daytona, 32.75 at Rockingham and Las Vegas and 35.75 at Atlanta.
The problem is that NASCAR has for a long time had 43 cars in its starting lineup. Officials apparently feel that that figure, 43, is important. Without 43 viable teams, everybody who shows up with something that can pass tech inspection gets to start. As a result, they are allowing teams to enter cars which are little more than moving chicanes ... something for competitive drivers to get around.
Sort of like bumper pool.
Tight financial times for many corporations has led to fewer sponsors. There just aren't 43 organizations out there with the funds and inclination to sponsor a NASCAR team, despite the sport's insane growth in recent years.
Cross calls on NASCAR to give up trying to fill a 43 car field. If there aren't 43 adequately funded teams, don't expect to fill 43 starting spots. He suggests a 35 car starting field, with no provisionals.
Provisionals are starts a team can earn and use later to get into the field on those occasions when they run into problems and can't go fast enough to qualify.
It detracts from the show NASCAR wants to offer its fans, the best Stock Car drivers in the world.
These perennial Back Eight teams do have a right to get into the Big Show, but they need to earn their way in, not just show up with the entry fee. That's what the Busch Series, the Truck Series, the Western Series and Modifieds are for.
The problem was very evident last weekend at Atlanta. Jeff Gordon's day was ended when he collided with Andy Hillenberg, who had spun and was sitting across the track. No. 24 slammed into the driver's side of Hillenberg's machine at a high rate of speed. It looked real ugly, but Gordon had been able to slow down some. Neither driver was badly injured. Had he hit at full tilt, it would have been much worse.