Pocky's Paddock
A NASCAR BLOG BY Bob Pockrass
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Sorry, Jon Wood
May
14
All-Star race eligibility questions, Take 2.
It looks as if Jon Wood gets the raw end of the deal as far as the Sprint Showdown is concerned.
Here’s what has happened, according to those familiar with the situation (and not willing to be quoted by name):
NASCAR has the sole discretion to approve all drivers who compete in the event and in general requires drivers to have been in the top 50 in points or have started a race by March 10. The March deadline is used so Sprint can get its fan voting set.
That would have been fine for Jon Wood, who was scheduled to compete at Las Vegas the first weekend in March. But when Wood didn’t compete at Vegas, his team checked with someone at NASCAR and was told he wouldn’t be eligible to drive the No. 21 car in the all-star qualifying race because he hadn’t started a race before March 10. So the team entered Bill Elliott.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and BAM Racing and/or Petty Enterprises inquires about Chad McCumbee. Another NASCAR official, apparently unaware of the Wood Brothers’ request and wanting to get as many cars as possible in the Showdown, made an exception for him to compete in the No. 49 BAM car in order to get another team in the field.
So where does that leave Wood? On the bench.
Maybe NASCAR should just ditch the rules for this event and just say anyone who has raced in 2007 or 2008 can enter. If NASCAR needs a deadline for those eligible for the fan vote, then it can set one for that and even put in a requirement that the driver had to be in the top 50 in the previous season.
This year, maybe they should let Wood drive a second team car in the event.
Wood not being allowed to race while McCumbee is in the qualifying event is not the biggest crime in the world. But it just shows that the confusing mess of rules involving all-star criteria could use some tweaking.
It looks as if Jon Wood gets the raw end of the deal as far as the Sprint Showdown is concerned.
Here’s what has happened, according to those familiar with the situation (and not willing to be quoted by name):
NASCAR has the sole discretion to approve all drivers who compete in the event and in general requires drivers to have been in the top 50 in points or have started a race by March 10. The March deadline is used so Sprint can get its fan voting set.
That would have been fine for Jon Wood, who was scheduled to compete at Las Vegas the first weekend in March. But when Wood didn’t compete at Vegas, his team checked with someone at NASCAR and was told he wouldn’t be eligible to drive the No. 21 car in the all-star qualifying race because he hadn’t started a race before March 10. So the team entered Bill Elliott.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and BAM Racing and/or Petty Enterprises inquires about Chad McCumbee. Another NASCAR official, apparently unaware of the Wood Brothers’ request and wanting to get as many cars as possible in the Showdown, made an exception for him to compete in the No. 49 BAM car in order to get another team in the field.
So where does that leave Wood? On the bench.
Maybe NASCAR should just ditch the rules for this event and just say anyone who has raced in 2007 or 2008 can enter. If NASCAR needs a deadline for those eligible for the fan vote, then it can set one for that and even put in a requirement that the driver had to be in the top 50 in the previous season.
This year, maybe they should let Wood drive a second team car in the event.
Wood not being allowed to race while McCumbee is in the qualifying event is not the biggest crime in the world. But it just shows that the confusing mess of rules involving all-star criteria could use some tweaking.
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