Opinion: Having Only Forty-Two Cars at Daytona is a Crime

Photo: Tommy Baldwin Racing Facebook

I've followed NASCAR full-time for the last ten seasons. The first time I watched the Daytona 500 (2007), sixty-one cars showed up for qualifications.

Sixty-one.

Yes, do the math. Sixty-one > forty-three. Eighteen cars went home that day.

Now, looking at other years around that time, this was still a rather large number, even for the biggest race of the year. But next week at Fontana, fifty-one cars showed up with the intention of racing on Sunday. A sizable amount (eight) still failed to qualify. On any given weekend, there were always multiple cars that would fail to qualify and end up going home before the featured event.

Ten years later, as I sit here write this blog post, forty-two cars, one fewer than would have made a full field back then, have just finished qualifying for the 2017 Daytona 500. Today, only forty cars make the field, so two drivers will unfortunately have to watch the race from their motorhomes.

Obviously, two is not nearly as many as eighteen.

There are many possible explanations for why the entry list is only two-thirds the size it was a decade ago. Yes, the economy is not great, and yes, that has caused several teams to downsize and even close entirely.

But NASCAR also has a new system in place: the charter system. Thirty-six teams are awarded charters by NASCAR at the beginning of every season. The process is too complicated for me to have any desire to explain it here, but the bottom line is this: if a team has a charter, they are guaranteed a spot in each race that season.

That leaves only four open spots for non-chartered teams to fill.

Not only that, but teams with possession of a charter also earn more money and added benefits than teams without one. At the end of the day, if a team has no charter, they are going to have a hard time surviving in the sport.

I understand NASCAR's thinking here. Chartered teams receive added benefits and thus are more likely to be able to sustain themselves for years to come. It thus becomes easier for chartered teams to stay in business.

But thinking like that, in my opinion, is counterintuitive.

The flip side of the charter system means that it becomes much harder for "open" non-chartered teams to stay in business. Without major sponsorship and the other benefits a charter itself brings to a team, it becomes virtually impossible to operate without losing an excessive amount of money. Since Daytona is the biggest race of the season, it's highly probable we'll see a few short fields of less than forty cars this season.

The start-and-parks are non-existent in the Cup Series nowadays. Virtually all of the smaller, unsponsored, part-time teams have had to merge or close their doors in the past few years. And as ESPN's Ryan McGee argued when this system was launched, "I worry that they're making the Charter Club a little too exclusive."

It appears McGee may be right, because there are only forty-two cars at the track at Daytona this February.

Frankly, that's a crime.

Stewart Returns to Indy...As a Sponsor

Photo: Motorsport.com

Tony Stewart may not be racing in NASCAR full-time anymore, but that doesn't mean he's done with racing. 

In fact, if you thought he was, you couldn't be more wrong. In addition to running at least 71 other races in 2017, Stewart's foundation will return to Indianapolis as a sponsor for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the Indy 500.

Stewart will be promoting his Team One Cure program aimed at helping develop and research cancer treatments in both animals and pets, explaining, "We learned that with the One Cure program, cancer treatment breakthroughs are happening through collaboration between scientists and doctors working with both people and pets. It perfectly fits with my foundation’s missions to help children and animals."

Stewart's history at Indianapolis as a driver is a mixed bag when it comes to IndyCar. In five starts, he failed to finish the race twice but also earned three top-ten finishes, with a best of fifth in 1997. The three-time NASCAR Cup champion also won the 1997 Indy Racing League championship, only further adding to his impressive motorsport resume.

A Brief Opinion on NASCAR's New Format

With a new logo comes a whole new
era of racing.

Yes, this is a bit overdue, but there is a good reason for that.

I had a knee-jerk reaction when I first heard the news that NASCAR would be overhauling its race format and dividing each race into segments: I thought it was a terrible idea. That being said, I wanted to wait to write this opinion post until today because I wanted to give it a week or so to sink in.

Now, I'm not inherently opposed to the Chase, but I will admit, the traditionalist in me prefers the pre-Chase era. If NASCAR had had some form of the Chase since 1949, I would have no problem with it at all. But Jimmie Johnson's seven titles are virtually impossible to compare with Richard Petty's, since they were won under different points formats.

With these changes, it's now going to be impossible to compare a new driver's entire career to that of a driver from an earlier era. Chase Elliott will make a name for himself in NASCAR, but he'll do so with a different driving style, using different strategies, etc, than his father Bill used in his career. Not only will the Chase races and Championships look different, but every race will look different, as Cup Series veteran Regan Smith noted.

Based on what I've seen on social media, fan reaction has been mixed. Some find this change refreshing; others are traditionalists like me who are disappointed with such a major, sweeping change to all three series.

My main problem is not the format itself. My problem is that it's being used by an established series that has been around for nearly 70 years.

To borrow an example from open-wheel racing, Formula E is far different than Formula One when it comes to rules and regulations, and I have no problem with that. If NASCAR wanted to create some sort of electric or "green" racing series with Chevy Volts, Nissan Leafs and Toyota Priuses, I'd be happy with them using any format they want. It's a new series, why not try something different?

The three national NASCAR series, however, have already established themselves in tradition. I see no need to mix things up. Sure, the middle 100 laps can get boring sometimes, but to be honest, so can the second and third quarters of an NBA game.

In conclusion, I don't have a great feeling about this, but I also won't judge a book by its cover. The drivers all seem on board with this, so that's a positive sign. We'll know more after the first couple of races this season.

On a related note, my fellow Wikipedian, Justin Nguyen (or User:ZappaOMati), also gave his thoughts on the new format on his blog, which can be found here.

On an unrelated note, congrats to Jeff Gordon and his team on their Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona win today. It was well-deserved and only further cements Gordon's legacy as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

Update: Manor Finally Closes Down

Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

All of 2010's three new Formula One entries are officially dead.

Manor Racing announced yesterday that the team will almost certainly not race in 2017 after failing to find an investor, making their shutdown imminent.

To be honest, I thought this would not happen. Manor were in a very similar situation after the 2014 season and were able to make it through the administration process. ESPN F1's Kate Walker argues that Manor's demise was perhaps "inevitable" given the way prize money is structured in F1 these days. Walker does note that there is still (very) slim hope that an eleventh team will be on the grid next year, though it's very unlikely at this point.

"While the likelihood is remote, it remains possible that Manor could once again be saved at the eleventh hour. The team's entry in the F1 World Championship was held by a separate entity which has yet to enter administration or be declared insolvent. Should an interested party wish to pick up an F1 slot at a rock-bottom price, now is the time to do it."

The other big news that I was unable to write about this week (real-life work always comes first) is that Liberty Media have finally completed their F1 takeover. Furthermore, Bernie Ecclestone has stepped down from F1 entirely. One of the first things Liberty needs to do is reform the payout structure. Ferrari were the highest-earning team after 2015 despite finishing second in the championship to Mercedes. Ecclestone claimed: "We pay more money to Ferrari because they've been around a long time. Ferrari is Formula One and they deserve whatever we pay them."

Sorry Bernie, but that's not how it should work. Ferrari cannot get extra money for being Ferrari. As Autosport notes, McLaren received the fifth-highest amount of money in 2015 despite finishing ninth (of ten teams) in the championship. If that's the system in place, it's a miracle Manor survived as long as they did.

A Brand Used Car!

Photo: XPB Images

Manor's administration saga continues.

Assuming the team can find an eleventh-hour savior (and apparently they're "making progress"), the team has stated that they will have to use their 2016 car in the first three races of 2017.

Autoweek notes that: "For what it's worth, the 2016 car would have no chance of making the 107 percent rule in qualifying against the much faster 2017 machines." Yes, the new cars are expected to anywhere from two to five seconds faster per lap depending on the circuit, reckons new Mercedes man Valtteri Bottas.

The so-called "107% rule" states that any car that fails to run a lap time within 107% of the fastest time in the first qualifying session may not be allowed to start the race. Since the rule was reintroduced in 2011, many teams have failed to meet this threshold for various circumstances, though only perennial backmarker HRT was forbidden from racing. Given Manor's reputation as also being a perennial backmarker, chances are they would be slow enough to be forbidden to start the first three races if they did indeed use their old car.

Hopefully Manor will find an investor and survive. The first three races, however, already look rather bleak.

"Estou de Volta!"

Photo: @MassaFelipe19 (Instagram)

Valtteri Bottas' move to Mercedes is now imminent.

Felipe Massa and Williams have announced that the 35-year-old Brazilian will indeed put his retirement on hold to race for one more season, in a move that now all but confirms Bottas will join Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Massa posted a picture on Instagram breaking the news to his fans, saying, "I want to thank all of you who supported and cried with me. Thank you for all the messages of support and affection for me to return. Thanks Williams Martini Racing for the opportunity and confidence in my work! I'm back!"

Originally, it appeared there would be no room for Massa at Williams in 2017, which forced the Brazilian into retirement after originally stating he wanted to stay in Formula One for a couple more years. My more detailed thoughts on Massa's u-turn can be found here.

I'll have another post up when Bottas is announced at Mercedes.

Photo: Motorsport.com

UPDATE: Couldn't even finish Massa's post before it was confirmed: Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton are now teammates at Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Bottas made his debut for Williams in 2013 and has scored nine podium finishes for the Grove-based team, including a third-place drive in Canada last season. The 27-year-old Finn is still looking for his first career F1 win and pole position, though both of those are probably imminent given the power in the car Bottas will be driving next season.

Bottas becomes the third driver to have his ride confirmed today, with Massa and Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber) having confirmed their deals earlier this morning (or afternoon for my European readers) as well. Only Manor still need to confirm their drivers, though that's of course secondary right now given their priority is coming out of administration.

An Offer to Buy a Team

Photo: Motorsport.com

As I noted earlier, Manor are back in administration. Their hopes of staying on the grid, however, just got a bit of a boost.

Motorsport.com is reporting that an offer has been made to purchase the team; however, the deal needs to be completed by Friday.

Not much else is known yet. We don't know who this potential buyer is but chances are we will in the coming days. Time is of the essence for Manor right now, which means the team will be working hard to get something done before the deadline passes.

The new season starts in a little more than two months, on March 26 in Australia.