A reader thinks NASCAR’s grid are fixed

A reader writes, Dear AR1.com, Aflac, primary sponsor of Carl Edwards and the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, has a partnership with Kellogg Company. The agreement gives Kellogg primary sponsorship for two Sprint Cup races in the 2010 season. Edwards is running a special red, blue, & yellow Cheez-It paint scheme on his No. 99 Ford Fusion this weekend in Richmond and lo and behold he's on pole.

I have been tracking this for quite some time now and nearly 100% of the time the guy on pole either has a new sponsor, is rumored to be losing his sponsor, is racing at a track near the sponsor's headquarters or a big factory, or is trying to land a new sponsor so it's important to make the potential new sponsor think the car is a winner.

With no transponders in the cars it's your word against NASCAR's as to what the 'real' lap time was. I understand why NASCAR does it, sponsorship is desperately needed to run the sport. But make no mistake about it, NASCAR grids are FIXED!

I remember when Dodge came into Sprint Cup. At their very first race they took the entire front row at Daytona. Great PR for Dodge wasn't it? When the green flag dropped they went straight to the back of the field, which is where they stayed the rest of the year. After they killed Dale Earnhardt at Daytona (that's right, NASCAR's refusal to mandate the HANS Device resulted in his needless death) who won the next race at Daytona? Why Dale's son of course, one of the worse drivers in NASCAR today. Oh what a tear jerker it was that night for all those Earnhardt fans. When it was announced Tony Stewart was losing Old Spice sponsorship after this year and he was courting a replacement, bingo, he's on pole and soon thereafter wins a race. I can write an entire book with similar stories. Mordichai Rosen, LA, California