NASCAR: Points' Swap
Written by Hopper, Wednesday February 04 2009
It was announced today that, in an attempt to move Sam Hornish Jr. into the top 35 in owners points, and lock him into the first 5 races of 2009, Penske Racing sold minority ownership of its team to Bill Davis, in exchange for owner points from Davis's #22 car.
The move is a smart one by Penske, as well as Davis. For Penske, its driver, Hornish, now is guaranteed a spot in the first 5 races of 2009, including the Daytona 500. For Davis, he no longer had any stake in the now unsponsored, and unoccupied, #22 machine, but appearently still owned the points, as well as the guaranteed spot from 2008. Now, he is a minority owner in a very competitive team.
However, this may not be the last points' swap we see before the start of the 2009 season, even though qualifying for the season-opening Daytona 500 is just 5 days away.
The Phoenix Racing #09, which will be driven on a limited basis(including the 500) by Brad Keselowski, is currently seeking owners' points from one of the former Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing cars, either the #41 or #01, both of which finished inside the top 35 last year, but are unoccupied after the merger.
The only way Phoenix could get the points, however, would be if EGR bought a minority stake in Phoenix Racing, which would put them over the 4-car limit, effective for all teams with the exception of Roush-Fenway, who had 5 cars before the rule was initiated. However, NASCAR does make an exception if the 5th car is to be driven in no more than 7 races, by an aspiring rookie, which Keselowski is.
Such a move would knock Richard Petty Motorsports' #44 Dodge out of the top 35. Remember, when it appeared that the #01 and #41 would be dissolved, it bumped the #44(then #10) from 37th to 35th, and into a guaranteed starting position. Since one of those cars(with a different number, of course) may be coming back, the #44(driven by AJ Allmendinger), would be bumped back to 36th, and would have to qualify for the first 5 races on speed.
Another rumored move is that Richard Childress Racing's #33(Clint Bowyer), which currently possesses no owners' points, would by the points from either the #41 or #01. This, coupled with the Phoenix/EGR deal, would force the #47 JTG/Daugherty Racing Toyota, along with driver Marcos Ambrose, out of the top 35 as well. How NASCAR could allow such a move without the aforementioned rookie factor being involved is beyond me. EGR could not legally buy minority stake in RCR, because that would, once again, put them over the 4-car limit, without the "aspiring rookie" factor to fall back on. So that tree seems as good as dead, but stranger things have happened in the world of NASCAR.
Though none of these moves is official(except the Hornish one), it seems unfair that such moves are even being considered. Just 5 days until qualifying, and 12 days until the 500, the owners' points should already be set. The official entry list for the 500 is up, and Allmendinger and Ambrose are locked in.
Whatever happens, it should stay that way, at least for Daytona. To yank that security blanket away just before the big show would be just as bad as breaking a promise.
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2 comments
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Tell me about it. I tried to make it as simple as possible. Hopefully I cleared it up a little bit. Just don't understand why NASCAR would allow them to swap points NOW, instead of forcing them to have done it sooner. Hope you liked the article.
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You need a damned slide rule, abacus and perfect planetary alignment to understand all of this points swapping junk. The whole thing is frustrating, not because it is difficult, but because it all seems so sheisty.