As of today, a driver can only use six 'past champion' provisionals a year to make Nextel Cup fields.
Same for any team, so that means a single outfit can't employ more than one former champ during the course of a season to get their car into more than six races they otherwise wouldn't have qualified for.
This rule was created way back to keep Richard Petty in the field in the final years of his career, when a NASCAR race just wouldn't have been the same for the fans without 'The King' on the grid. Once Petty retired, it was employed extensively - some say abused - by Darrell Waltrip.
The big loser 'in this deal' is Dale Jarrett, who will be driving the new Toyota entry for a brand new team in '07. You can't help but assume that having DJ's free passes into the starting field played a role in their eagerness to sign him to a whopping contract (rumoured to be $10M / year for two years).
Jarrett is no doubt relieved that the ink dried on his contract with Michael Waltrip Racing before this change was announced.
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
UPDATE: Delaware Speedway story in the London Free Press
According to London Free Press scribe Jim Cressman, Delaware Speedway's 2007 season is no longer "in doubt", but the facility is still "troubled". (h/t Joel Robinson for the link)
Troubled Delaware to open April 28
Delaware Speedway will drop the green flag on its 2007 racing season as scheduled, track co-owner Arlen Scherba said yesterday.
Ownership is doing its best to put on a brave face during tumultuous times after general manager Kevin Bulmer and operations director Amy Dugas suddenly resigned 13 days ago.
Bulmer said last week he left "due to untenable working conditions and lack of support from current ownership."
Sources tell The Free Press a split developed among the four-man ownership group that involves Scherba of Sombra, Dave Meldrum of Stratford, John Sheppard of Scarborough and Dave McDonald of Freelton.
The four bought the operation from Tony Novotny in November 2002. Scherba and Meldrum had already been around the sport and bought in as a hobby.
But for the other two, it was a new venture and when the costs of running a race track began to mount up, they looked for immediate returns on their investments.
This industry doesn't work that way, especially short tracks in Canada. And it wasn't through the Friday paid admissions that Novotny made his money.
He was smart enough to establish Performance Fibreglass, a company that builds fibreglass race car bodies.
The "math" was simple. You own a race track and the sanctioning body, plus you own a fibreglass shop, equals: you make them run your cars.
Scherba admitted there has been a "negative cash flow" and now Delaware is facing more upgrades, especially the racing surface. Estimates peg those costs between $500,000 and $1 million.
"We realize there needs to be work done there," Scherba said of the asphalt track. "The better days of Delaware Speedway as far as track conditions are basically behind it.
"But we need to paint the picture that Delaware Speedway is not going to close."
"There is money behind the track and we will put more money into it to make it happen," Scherba said. "We've got a lot of people coming to the plate right now that have interest in buying in, under conditions, and the format and foundation underneath it may change in the next year and a half. Hopefully less than that."
Read into that what you will, but it sounds like there may be some more changes.
But in the meantime, the season opens with the APC Enduro 250 on April 28 and the first night of regular stock car action is May 5.
... continued at the link above.
Troubled Delaware to open April 28
Delaware Speedway will drop the green flag on its 2007 racing season as scheduled, track co-owner Arlen Scherba said yesterday.
Ownership is doing its best to put on a brave face during tumultuous times after general manager Kevin Bulmer and operations director Amy Dugas suddenly resigned 13 days ago.
Bulmer said last week he left "due to untenable working conditions and lack of support from current ownership."
Sources tell The Free Press a split developed among the four-man ownership group that involves Scherba of Sombra, Dave Meldrum of Stratford, John Sheppard of Scarborough and Dave McDonald of Freelton.
The four bought the operation from Tony Novotny in November 2002. Scherba and Meldrum had already been around the sport and bought in as a hobby.
But for the other two, it was a new venture and when the costs of running a race track began to mount up, they looked for immediate returns on their investments.
This industry doesn't work that way, especially short tracks in Canada. And it wasn't through the Friday paid admissions that Novotny made his money.
He was smart enough to establish Performance Fibreglass, a company that builds fibreglass race car bodies.
The "math" was simple. You own a race track and the sanctioning body, plus you own a fibreglass shop, equals: you make them run your cars.
Scherba admitted there has been a "negative cash flow" and now Delaware is facing more upgrades, especially the racing surface. Estimates peg those costs between $500,000 and $1 million.
"We realize there needs to be work done there," Scherba said of the asphalt track. "The better days of Delaware Speedway as far as track conditions are basically behind it.
"But we need to paint the picture that Delaware Speedway is not going to close."
"There is money behind the track and we will put more money into it to make it happen," Scherba said. "We've got a lot of people coming to the plate right now that have interest in buying in, under conditions, and the format and foundation underneath it may change in the next year and a half. Hopefully less than that."
Read into that what you will, but it sounds like there may be some more changes.
But in the meantime, the season opens with the APC Enduro 250 on April 28 and the first night of regular stock car action is May 5.
... continued at the link above.
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