Editor’s Note: Each week, SceneDaily.com’s Bob Pockrass takes you inside the garage, providing insight, perspective and the latest news on the hottest topics in NASCAR. The big question that continued throughout testing was whether or not Danica Patrick would be locked into the Daytona 500. Or Mark Martin. Or Trevor Bayne.
It likely will be a few weeks before teams know the answer. When practice begins Feb. 18 for the Daytona 500, the issue of who is guaranteed a spot in the race and who isn’t has to be settled. The top 35 teams, based on 2011 owner points, that are entered in the race get automatic spots for the Daytona 500. So if a top-35 team doesn’t show up, then the team 36th in owner points would be the first to get the available spot.
NASCAR does not allow for points to be sold outright, but does allow for the transfer of points if the original owner retains a minority stake in the car. So if a team wants to “buy” points, it must make a deal that includes some sort of partnership with the original owner of the points.
With Red Bull Racing having closed, there could still be a deal done for the points earned by the No. 4 car (14th) and the No. 83 (25th) last year. If those points aren’t used, next in line is the closed TRG Motorsports No. 71 car. If it does not enter and a deal is not done to use those points, next in line are the Wood Brothers No. 21 car (Trevor Bayne) and Robby Gordon Motorsports No. 7 car, which Gordon will drive in the Daytona 500.
Among those looking for points are Stewart-Haas Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. SHR needs points for Danica Patrick, who will run a limited Cup schedule for the organization in 2012. Team co-owner Tony Stewart said last week the organization is still figuring out what it will do. The simplest option would be transfer the points of Tony Stewart to Patrick. Stewart could then rely on a past champion’s provisional if for some reason he failed qualify for one of the first five races until the sixth race when 2012 owner points are used to determine the 35 guaranteed spots. The other benefit is that if qualifying gets rained out in any of the other races Patrick attempts during 2012, she gets in the race because she has owner points of a car that won in 2011.
There has been speculation that SHR would put together a deal with Tommy Baldwin Racing, possibly for points from the No. 36 car (33rd in 2011 owner points) to be transferred to Patrick. But it also could include a partnership where TBR would field a No. 10 car for David Reutimann in the 26 races in which Patrick doesn’t compete, thus allowing that car to continue to earn owner points all season.
Team owner Tommy Baldwin, though, said last week that a deal SHR would be “news to me.”MWR attempted to purchase Red Bull for the points and equipment, but that deal fell through. Team co-owner Michael Waltrip said last week no final determination of which two of his three drivers would have the MWR points from 2011, but it is expected those would go to the two drivers competing for the drivers championship – Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer – while Mark Martin would have to get in the race on speed.
It appears that Richard Childress Racing will enter a fourth car for the Daytona 500 and use its points from the No. 33 car last year. That fourth car would only run a handful of races throughout the year, possibly with Austin Dillon for select events although RCR could put in a more experienced driver such as Elliott Sadler or Brian Vickers for the Daytona 500.
Will there be 43?
The idea of purchasing points has to frustrate car owners as only 32 teams showed up for the Daytona test. Included in those 32 teams were two – the No. 6 of Roush Fenway Racing and the No. 21 of Wood Brothers Racing – not expected to run the full season.
At least four full-time teams that plan on racing the entire season – two from Front Row Motorsports (David Ragan, David Gilliland), one from JTG Daugherty Racing (Bobby Labonte) and one from FAS Lane Racing (driver TBA) – did not show up at the test. Add a fourth RCR car and Robby Gordon Motorsports and that makes 38 cars that would be expected to race and only 36 for the entire season.
Jay Robinson announced Monday that he would run a full-time car as he has brought in investor Troy Blakeney and renamed the team Robinson-Blakeney Racing. Robinson has bought cars from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and will get his engines from Joey Arrington. He has not settled on a driver as of yet and has not had a number assigned to him.
Among the cars from last year that could enter the Daytona 500: A third Front Row Motorsports car (No. 37/55 last year), HP Racing (No. 66), Inception Motorsports (No. 30 with David Stremme), R3 Motorsports (No. 23 with Robert Richardson Jr.), Max Q Motorsports (No. 37 car, possibly with Josh Wise) and Sinica Motorsports (No. 93). That gets the number to 45 cars for Daytona.
Jimmy Means also might field a car under the new Hamilton Means Racing, which he announced at the end of last year, and Derrike Cope also owns cars that he could enter.
Whitney Motorsports, which fielded the Nos. 46 and 81 cars last year, is not expected to run in 2012. Make Motorsports (No. 50) is expected to concentrate on Nationwide and not enter the Daytona 500.
So it’s fairly clear there will be a full field for the Daytona 500. But of those cars, at least four - Roush Fenway and RCR fourth cars, Wood Brothers Racing and Sinica Motorsports – are not expected to run full time in 2012 and several others don’t appear to have funding in place for a full-season run.
Leavine Family Racing, which has Scott Speed as its driver, has a part-time schedule that doesn’t include the Daytona 500. Expect some existing teams to pull out additional cars as well as some other new teams looking to crack into Cup racing to emerge throughout the season to fill the 43-car fields.
In case you missed
When there was talk of JR Motorsports possibly going to Sprint Cup, it was assumed that Rick Hendrick would have to divest himself of ownership because of NASCAR’s four-team cap.