MAN... All the new guys for 2007

[paulfan]

Whahoooo, Here's another one!!!  Robby Gordon is goiing to field a second car next year.

[Dustcloud]

I'm a newcomer to the sport - started listening to it on the radio in 1994 and saw my first race in 1996 (The ticket was a present from a friend who was graduating our HS that year and wanted a school friend to teach about racing. Bodine won. I spent the entire race sitting on the walkway of the turns 1-2 stands and had an absolute blast)

And so, the reporter in me does what I do best - research

The 43-car field was mandated in 1998 by NASCAR as an across-the-board number for the start of each race (Unless there were not enough entrants to fill said field).

In the years immediately before that, 43 was the magic number for most tracks, but generally ONLY if there was someone using a past champion's provisional. If no one took that spot, the race simply started 42 no matter who showed up to try out.

The short tracks tended to run 36 in the years leading up to that, and I believe the road courses ran 44 (I verified Sears Point from a couple sources, but not WGI, so that race might have been 43 or 42)

See what happens when I get off my lazy butt? Oy. Now to turn my talents to the elimination of second-day qualifying. :-/

PS, who's gonna drive for Gordon? O.o

[Chris]

Elimination fo 2nd qualifying was pretty recent...
Seems within the last few years. (may have been a 'little' bit longer than that)
Seems like 2000 (or 2001) was the LAST year they had two rounds of qualifying...

Seems like they had X number on speed,... and then a bunch of provisionals (on car owner points).... someone maybe could find out an clarify it.
I've slept a few days since then and it's entirely possible I could be wrong or have gottne the facts wrong..   

[FS JessNicholas]

The 43-field wasn't mandated until the 90s, but before then a past champion was allowed into the field if he didn't qualify -- which, in the opinion of many, came about because Richard Petty was no longer fast enough to get in on time.

As for the future, with as much money as there is floating around the sport now, I can't imagine NASCAR would sit idly by while 5-10 cars with good sponsorship missed the show every week. I won't be surprised to see fields extended to, say, 48 cars.

Jess

[ROOKER]

The 43-field wasn't mandated until the 90s, but before then a past champion was allowed into the field if he didn't qualify -- which, in the opinion of many, came about because Richard Petty was no longer fast enough to get in on time.

As for the future, with as much money as there is floating around the sport now, I can't imagine NASCAR would sit idly by while 5-10 cars with good sponsorship missed the show every week. I won't be surprised to see fields extended to, say, 48 cars.

Jess

Yea i have to agree wtih ya about the 'kING' statement... He was slower than H*ll back in his latter years.. H#ll, he was so slow they'd lap him on the pace lap..

[Chris]

As for the future, with as much money as there is floating around the sport now, I can't imagine NASCAR would sit idly by while 5-10 cars with good sponsorship missed the show every week. I won't be surprised to see fields extended to, say, 48 cars.
Jess

I'd like to think you are right Jess...
I'm not sure Nascar is that smart.. ?? 

I think with probably 50+ QUALITY teams next year, it's a good idea to expand the fields again.  Only way to keep the sponsors happy and have them get their air time and a bang for their buck.
48 cars fields would STILL send some quality teams HOME each week,.. not to mention the teams like Lepage, Chaffin, Barrett, Wallace, etc...

Imagine 48 cars at Bristol... woo hoo

[FS JessNicholas]

The biggest problem they'll be facing is pit room. The Dover situation was odd this year and I can't imagine people accepting that as the norm.

What they might have to do is keep fields at 43 at Martinsville, etc., and expand them at the tracks that can hold it.

I just think common sense has to take over at some point, and common sense should tell NASCAR that if they continue to think of this as a business, you can't grow your business if you're upsetting the customers -- the "customers" in this usage being the teams with the money. Just looking at the possibilities for 2007, it's a guarantee that some very multi-million-dollar people are going to be sitting at home, some of them frequently. That won't work.

Jess

[Dustcloud]

Oh, it can work. We can just look at the Busch series to see.

You start sending people home on a regular basis, the sponsors will eithershift their money somewhere more lucrative and the teams will just drop out of existance, or will start trying to lure a driver from another team in an effort to improve (more the former I'm guessing). We're fans - we're fickle and can have terribly short memories. Some more so than others, but honestly, once you don't see a name in the news for a few months, it's like he never existed until someone says "Hey remember that driver/team..."

On the bright side, It should be the back-of-the-pack drivers who get written out instead of top-10 cars like happened in Busch.

So losing the teams is just a minor irritation, and really, NASCAR doesn't have to worry about the sponsors so much, because there are a LOT of ways to put your money into the series. If sponsoring a car won't work, the company will maybe go partial on a race or put up for a recurring on a set of stands or become the "official (insert product type here)" of a track/the series or just go the old standby route and put a commercial in the race - and if they're not willing to do that they were probably not all that interested in advertising in NASCAR anyway.

[Chris]

The biggest problem they'll be facing is pit room. The Dover situation was odd this year and I can't imagine people accepting that as the norm.

Well.. the fact is... It is (and has been) the norm... the "odd" part about it was it just "happened" to involve the point leader,.. and not a bunch of cars starting in the rear of the field like normal.

They could start 48 cars in the field at ALL the tracks,.. and just have the last 5 - 8 starting places share pit stalls (like they did at Dover) until enough cars fall out foreverone to have their own stall.

[Chris]

ANOTHER new team just announced...
Not many details yet...
Press conference on Friday... former RYR Team Mgr, Eddie D'Hondt, will be part owner in the new team.

Be interesting to see WHO will drive,.. WHO will be the sponsor,... etc.

Ya think since no one would hire Ward he hooked up with Eddie and formed his OWN team,,... nnnaaawww.. Surely he's not that silly.  Maybe Ward will driver for Eddie,.. Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

[FS JessNicholas]

D'Hondt is working for Petty Enterprises right now; I wonder if he's going to partner with Petty. Petty needs a third car to avoid getting left behind the rest of the field again. Bringing back the 44 for Petty or Petty/D'Hondt would be a nice thing.

Jess

[PlanoHarvickFan]

Thanks for all the info on the number of cars.  I guess I just feel really bad (LOL, like I know any of these guys  personally and feel for them) that they come and put their heart and soul into getting the car ready and practicing and everything ellse and then go home.  Agreed that many of them may not make the length of the race, but it makes me feel bad that they don't get the chance (LOL, I know...tell me I'm crazy...what can I say?)