Qualifiers’ Epilogue
The 125s and Grand National time trials have been run, and a look back is in
order:
The aero-clean package proved itself less than raceable again. Jeff Gordon’s
wire-to-wire win in the first Twin conjured up memories of the worst Speedweeks
ever – 2000. The second Twin, in contrast, was a stirring battle for a very good
percentage of the event’s 50 laps. If the draft kicks in for the rest of
Speedweeks like it did in the second Twin then the 500 will turn out to be a
competitive race after all.
The transfer spots as always saw the majority of attention, and among those
in desperate need to race into the 500 who managed to do so were Stacy Compton,
both Travis Carter Fords, Brett Bodine, and Jeff Green. Some of the moves made
by Todd Bodine were stellar, and one should recall how Todd failed to make the
500 field in substantially less desperate circumstances the year before.
The big shock comes in big names who didn’t get into the 500 and one lesser
name who did. Of the six drivers who got in on speed – Robert Pressley showed
decent form but broke; Bobby Hamilton surprisingly showed no speed on Thursday;
Jeff Burton ran strong in the draft but cut a tire; Kyle Petty made some very
impressive moves in traffic and realistically had a top-15 car; Geoff Bodine,
who also has shown legitimate form in traffic this Speedweeks, made it in
despite a ridiculous penalty (more on this below).
The shocker of the "Speed Six" was Shawna Robinson, who promptly
fell to last on the start, could not pass a single car, and tried to drive
through Jimmy Spencer’s nose when Skinner stopped in front of Rusty Wallace and
Buckshot Jones – in short it was a typical Shawna Robinson race. She nonetheless
scraped into the 500 at 36th.
The rest of the big shock comes in names who didn’t get into the 500. Of
Dodge’s fleet, Ganassi/SABCO Racing, Petty Enterprises, and Bill Davis Racing
each saw one of their cars go home – and all three drivers within (#23 Hut
Stricklin, #41 Jimmy Spencer, #44 Buckshot Jones) showed light-years superior
driving form than Shawna, who likely will fly Target’s colors with Spencer out
of the 500.
Taking provisionals were Rusty Wallace (who ran well despite crash damage),
Johnny Benson, Mark Martin (who gave up and quit the first Twin), Matt Kenseth,
Elliott Sadler, Dave Blaney (eliminated in the Spencer-Shawna wreck), and Ricky
Craven.
Geoff Bodine was victimized in his Twin by NASCAR’s thoroughly stupid yellow
line rule. There was also the Stewart-Mayfield contretemps in the final laps of
the second Twin, highlighted by double saves more memorable than
what’s-his-name’s over-hyped IROC save in 2001. They of course went over the
"out of bounds" line.
Imposed solely to appease whining drivers at Talladega in April 2001, the
yellow line rule has no legitimate defense, and nowhere have I seen even a
marginal attempted defense of the rule offered. The yellow line rule needs to be
repealed.
Just how stupid are NASCAR’s provisional rules? In the Grand National
qualifying session, Dan Pardus and Mike Wallace timed faster than all seven cars
that took provisionals. And Daytona really can afford to start the 48 cars that
entered the Grand National 300.
Will Dodge get a rule change after the 125s? Yes. Three of them failed to
qualify, and only three finished in the top ten of the Twins, so NASCAR has
allowed them to shave a quarter-inch off their spoilers.
Ford will likely be screaming because only two qualified in the top fifteen
of the 500, just seven made the cut in the top 30, and six of the seven
provisionals were Fords (the other was Johnny Benson’s Pontiac); NASCAR promptly
allowed them to shave another quarter-inch off the spoilers.
Let the politicking continue.