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Here we go with the Top 35 rule again

An Opinion



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April 3, 2012

By Doug Demmons


Doug Demmons


After a long absence in the forefront of NASCAR fan chatter, the Top 35 rule once again rears its ugly head.

The Top 35 rule used to be a big deal a few years ago, back before the economy tanked and their were still plenty of good teams competing with start-and-park operations for weekly spots in the lineup.

But the recession thinned the herd and the folks who hover around the cutoff line at 35th in owner’s points are either part-time teams or teams that don’t generate a lot of fan interest.

Until now.

Now we have a car sitting one point behind 35th in the dreaded 36th position. And it’s not just any car. It’s the No. 10 which is owned by Tommy Baldwin Racing but is really a Stewart-Haas car.

And it doesn’t just have any driver. It has a marquee driver -- Danica Patrick.

Except that Danica wasn’t in the car at Martinsville. David Reutimann was. He was running one of his 26 races in the No. 10.

His job, basically, is to keep that car in the top 35 so that Danica will have an automatic starting position when she gets behind the wheel for her 10 races. It ought to be pretty simple, but it hasn’t been.

So there was Reutimann at the end of the race Sunday with a crippled car, hanging on for dear life, just trying to make it a few more laps to the end and not lose a ton of positions.

And the car stopped on the track and controversy ensued.

"I was just trying to limp around there,” Reutimann said after the race. “We needed to finish next couple of laps to try to stay in the top 35. I know it sucks. I hate it for everybody that it affected, but I mean I can't get out and push the thing. You know, it shut off. It's that simple."

What happened with Reutimann was bad enough. But can you imagine the hue and cry that would have gone up if it was Danica limping around out there trying to keep her car in the Top 35?

Reutimann isn’t the only driver who ever limped around a track in a wounded car. It happens on a regular basis. Sometimes cars pieced together after wreck look like open-wheel modifieds.

But they are still out there getting in the way -- as long as they can maintain a minimum speed -- to preserve their points.

When those points make the difference between a guaranteed starting position the next week and having to qualify with the Go-or-Go-Home crowd it takes on added importance.

And when the driver you are trying to keep in the Top 35 is Danica Patrick ... well, let’s say there are millions of reasons to do what it takes to stay in the Top 35.

So now Reutimann will have to qualify on speed until and unless he gets the No. 10 back in the Top 35. That shouldn’t be too hard but he’ll have to get it done before Danica is due to return at Darlington.

And when another high-profile car -- the No. 5 of Kasey Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports -- sits just 16 points ahead of 35th place, you wonder if maybe we won’t soon see a Top 40 rule.




Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at ALABAMA MOTORSPORTS

Follow Doug on Twitter: @dougdemmons


You can contact Doug Demmons at .... Birmingham News

You Can Read Other Articles By Doug Demmons


The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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