NASCAR’s rule loophole panned

Last year Sam Hornish Jr., driving the No. 77 for Roger Penske, finished 30th in owner’s points. NASCAR locks the top 35 in points into the first five races of the next season and then the top 35 from the current year after that. The intention of the rule was a way to franchise the teams. To give the teams some value.

Unlike all the other major league sports, if you want to play the New York Yankees you are forced to buy an existing MLB team. I can’t just get 20 players together and show up at Yankee Stadium and challenge them to a game. I can form a race team and build or buy a Cup-legal race car and try to qualify for the Daytona 500.

I’m not a big fan of the top 35 provisional rule, but I understand it. Allowing Rusty Wallace, or anyone else, to “acquire" points from a team that doesn’t plan on competing in 2011 is just wrong and shouldn’t be allowed.

This practice has been going on for way too many years and needs to stop now! I have no problem if Penske wants to replace Hornish in the No. 77 and go racing, that’s fine. But Wallace’s car is 100 percent a Toyota fielded by Rusty Wallace’s Nationwide team.

And the sad part to this deal is, by rule, if a team in the top 35 doesn’t run the following season the free pass goes to the owner who finished 36th. And wouldn’t you know, 36th last season was the No. 38 “owned" by Doug Yates. In reality, that car is owned by Bob Jenkins. He hijacked/bought the owner’s points from Yates after the 2009 season. Yates owns about as much of that car as I do.

These deals are not fair to all the teams headed to Daytona without a provisional and this loophole should be fixed. Caledonian Record