Cup season reaches its halfway point

Last night’s Pepsi 400 marked the halfway point of the Nextel Cup season, but only eight races remain for teams to qualify for the championship portion of the schedule. Only the top 12 teams qualify for the Chase, and it appears the field is pretty much set.

Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are in 11th and 12th place with Jr. being 127 points ahead of Ryan Newman. Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch follow Newman in the standings but there would have to be some major failures by Bowyer and Jr. for them to move up. Anything is possible, especially with the penalties being handed out by NASCAR.

By now we can see the importance of being in the top 35 in points. Previously I discussed how the top 35 affected qualifying and car set-ups. Last week in New Hampshire we saw another phase of the top 35 rule. Jeff Gordon failed to meet inspection standards and was disallowed to qualify his car. Brian Vickers failed his post-qualifying inspection (because his car was 1/8 inch too low), and his qualifying time was disallowed.

Gordon was allowed to race while Vickers was sent packing, even though his qualifying time would have earned him a starting spot. Because of the penalties, both drivers had no qualifying times and the importance of being in the top 35 came into play.

Michael Waltrip has been questioning the top 35 rule. It came into being because NASCAR wanted to reward teams with full-season sponsors by guarantying them a starting position. Big-time drivers were getting knocked out of a race by smaller teams with little or no sponsors.

As Waltrip pointed out, he brought in some major full-season sponsors such as NAPA, UPS, Burger King and Best Western and doesn’t feel the rule should apply anymore. He wants the fastest 43 cars to race. Waltrip is not the only driver/team owner complaining, but he has been the most vocal.

Prior to last night’s race, there were no Toyota teams in the top 35, so all Toyotas had to qualify on speed.

Dave Blaney gave Toyota its first pole of the season, but only finished 29th. It hasn’t been easy for Toyota to break into Nextel Cup, especially with start-up teams like Michael Waltrip Racing, and smaller teams like Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing. There has been rumors of Joe Gibbs switching to Toyota in 2008. As unlikely as it seems, if the switch is made, Toyota would benefit greatly because of the Gibbs engine program.

NASCAR has changed its policy on suspended crew chiefs. Up to now the policy was that suspended crew chiefs were not allowed in the pits or garage and couldn’t communicate with the team on its radio. NASCAR’s informal policy, though, allowed crew chiefs to be at tracks as long as they abided by those rules and kept a low profile.

Last weekend, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., parked his motor home on the backstretch and sat atop it during the race in public view. Jeff Gordon said that suspended crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte also attended the race but they were not seen.

The new policy will not allow suspended crew chiefs to attend races. They can still watch TV and use cellphones to communicate with their teams. Maybe NASCAR should require suspended crew chiefs to switch from their current cell provider to the Sprint/Nextel network. It seems that those users are having trouble communicating from just a few feet away.

Let’s hope the second half of the season is just as controversial as the first half.