Race Weekend Central

Bubble Breakdown: Wood Brothers Racing Benefits From NASCAR’s Stubbornness

As it often is in motorsports, one team’s loss is another team’s gain.

One day after rain washed out qualifying sending road-course ace Boris Said and the No. 60 SoBe No Fear Racing team home, Bill Elliott generously offered his Wood Brothers seat to Said in an effort to move the No. 21 car back into the Top 35. It was the second straight race in a span of two months that Said was not even given the opportunity to qualify for the event because of mother nature, NASCAR’s pitiful Top-35 rule and lack of effort to alter the schedule to fit in qualifying.

Although he got a ride in the end, Said wasn’t afraid to voice his frustrations about what NASCAR’s ruling did to his good friend and car owner Mark Simo.

“For a part-time team, you don’t get to race that much, and two races in a row get taken away. I don’t understand why the schedule can’t be adjusted and just qualify tomorrow when it’s going to be sunny,” he said. “It’s just hard for a small team. It pretty much puts us out of business. It puts me out of business. It’s just a lot of income lost.”

I have been adamant for quite some time on my opinion of the Top-35 rule, as I stated in my column back in July when rain washed away Said’s pole position in Daytona. What happened this week to those teams on the outside of the bubble wasn’t just a result of the Top-35 rule, but further proof that NASCAR only cares about the major market teams inside and around the Top 35.

As Said mentioned, NASCAR had plenty of time to qualify Saturday morning before Busch qualifying and the Busch race, but they chose not to and it’s obvious why. What a perfect way to ensure that the NASCAR regulars outside of the Top 35 aren’t replaced by relatively unknown road-course ringers, huh? Come on, it’s a no-brainer for NASCAR – Dale Jarrett and Terry Labonte or Brian Simo and Klaus Graf; UPS and NAPA or cars with the same sponsors you could probably find at any local short track. Notice that the few road-course aces in the field were driving full-time, fully-sponsored, recognizable cars.

Biggest Mover

While NASCAR’s decision certainly benefitted those teams inside of the Top 35, the team it benefitted most was the team knocking on the door of the Top 35 since Indianapolis. Said stepped into the No. 21 car and did just what was expected of him. Coming from the back, Said stayed out of trouble and kept the car on the track finishing 14th and jumping past Dave Blaney into the Top 35.

“Mission accomplished. At the end, I think we could’ve gotten a top 10, but where the No. 22 car was, I had to really think about it,” Said admitted. “They’re in the Top 35 now, so they’re in the show next week and that was the mission. It was a win-win for all of us.”

Said/Elliott (No. 21) – Moved from 36th to 35th in car owner points.

Biggest Loser

On the other side of the coin sits a disappointed Toyota that was on top of the world two weeks ago. Blaney needed a strong run with Said jumping in the No. 21, but couldn’t pull it off, finishing 35th, two laps down. In one week the No. 22 team has gone from the lone Toyota team in the Top 35 to just another car outside the bubble. Blaney can easily jump back into the Top 35 with a decent finish at Michigan being just 37 points behind the No. 21, but must now make the race on time.

Blaney (No. 22) – Moved from 35th to 36th in car owner points.

Tracking Toyota

The Toyota brigade was led by a road-course ace this week with PJ Jones replacing David Reutimann in the No. 00 for one race. Although six Toyotas started the race, Jones was the only one that finished in the top 25, finishing 25th. Jeremy Mayfield was able to spend some time in the lead because of pit strategy, but wound up finishing 27th while Labonte came out of retirement to pilot Michael Waltrip’s No. 55 car and finished 30th.

Top-Three Finishing Toyotas

Jones (No. 00) – Finished 25th
Mayfield (No. 36) – Finished 27th
Jarrett (No. 44) – Finished 29th

Breaking Down the Bubble

Pos Owner Car # Driver Points Points +/- of 35th Place (No. 13 is ineligible)
31 Robert Yates Racing 88 Ricky Rudd 1,861 +229
32 Haas CNC Racing 66 Jeff Green 1,832 +200
33 Petty Enterprises 45 Kyle Petty 1,729 +97
34 Haas CNC Racing 70 Johnny Sauter 1,729 +97
35 Wood Brothers 21 Boris Said/Bill Elliott 1,632 0
36 Bill Davis Racing 22 Dave Blaney 1,595 -37
xx Ginn Racing 13 None 1,547 *ineligible*
37 Evernham Motorsports 10 Patrick Carpentier/Scott Riggs 1,505 -127
38 Team Red Bull 83 Brian Vickers 1,301 -331
39 Michael Waltrip Racing 00 PJ Jones/David Reutimann 1,243 -389
xx Teresa Earnhardt 15 None (Menard now using No. 14 points) 1,209 *ineligible*
40 Michael Waltrip Racing 44 Dale Jarrett 1,108 -524
41 Bill Davis Racing 36 Jeremy Mayfield 1,003 -629
42 James Finch/Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 Ward Burton 992 -640
43 Furniture Row Racing 78 Kenny Wallace 962 -670
44 Michael Waltrip Racing 55 Terry Labonte/Michael Waltrip 870 -762
45 BAM Racing 49 John Andretti 813 -819
46 Team Red Bull 84 AJ Allmendinger 732 -900
47 Front Row Motorsports 37 Kevin Lepage 522 -1,110

About the author

The Frontstretch Staff is made up of a group of talented men and women spread out all over the United States and Canada. Residing in 15 states throughout the country, plus Ontario, and widely ranging in age, the staff showcases a wide variety of diverse opinions that will keep you coming back for more week in and week out.

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