Tony Stewart Racing - A Fans View

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From Joe Gibbs Racing:

Rain canceled today’s qualifying session for the Auto Club 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California in Fontana. As a result, the 43-car field for Sunday’s 250-lap race was set by 2007 final car owner points.

Whenever qualifying is rained-out during the first five races of the season, the previous year’s car owner points are used to determine the starting field.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well it’s not. I read several places this evening, and still couldn’t quite get a handle on how all 3 former champions got in, plus John Andretti and Joe Nemechek. It wasn’t making sense until I read David Poole’s column.

Here’s the way it works when qualifying is rained out during the first 5 races.

1. Top 35 in owners points from LAST year. then
2. Any driver who won last year that isn’t in the top 35 in owners points. Kurt Busch get’s in here since his last years points were passed to Sam Hornish, JR. then
3. Any past champion not in the top 35 from last year. Bill Elliott and Dale Jarrett.
4. Finally, in a strange twist, the remainder of the field is set by THIS YEAR’s owners points. The field is rounded out by Vickers, Reutimann, Waltrip, Andretti and Nemechek.

Drivers who made the trip to Fontana for nothing were A.J. Allmendinger, Ken Schrader, Patrick Carpentier, Mike Skinner and Burney Lamar.

The Auto Club 500 gets underway at 4 p.m. EST on Sunday. Current forecast is 90% chance of rain. Hourly forecast is Definite rain until 10 AM, Chance of rain 10 AM to 4 PM (start time), Slight chance of rain 4 PM to Midnight. In case thr race is rained out, Monday’s forecast at 11 AM (normal Monday start time) is Sunny and 55 degrees. Make sure you set your VCR/TIVO, I think it’s going to be a good one.

Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR, Sprint Cup