Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008 | 5:08 p.m.
NASCAR chairman Brian France wants NASCAR to “return to its roots” in an attempt to regain some of the longtime fans the sport may have chased off during the past decade of growth/change.
Here’s an idea: Why not scrap the current qualifying format, in which the top 35 teams in points are guaranteed a spot in each week’s race, and let the 43 fastest cars race?
NASCAR’s decision to grant the top 35 teams a free pass into the race is the closest it can come to granting team owners a franchise, but it has robbed the sport of an element of competitiveness.
Some would say that sponsor’s exemptions have always been a part of the sport, and I agree. So how about making the fastest 41 drivers earn their way into each race through qualifying and letting the race promoter or sponsor fill the final two starting spots?
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