Goooood morning everybody. If we're at Bristol, it's time for the annual "Who is in danger of having to make Martinsville on time" list. That's right, after today, they start using this year's points.
First things first, the top 20 in owners' points, including the #82 driven by Scott Speed (which has had to qualify on time up until now) and ending with the #99 driven by Flipper, are guaranteed of staying in the top 35 after Bristol because they will have more than the 466 points the #37 (currently in a tie for 35th) could get (golly - could that be a reason why the Battlin' Cousin didn't get more than a 3-race probation?).
Next up are the teams that were in as of the start of the weekend:
- #42 of Chip Ganassi (driven by Juan Pablo Montoya) - 418 points going in - #11 of JD Gibbs (Denny Hamlin) - 409 - #43 of Richard Petty (AJ Allmendinger) - 398 - #56 of Michael Waltrip (Martin Truex Jr) - 386 - #19 of George Gillet, Jr (Elliott Sadler) - 380 - #78 of "Richard Childress"/Furniture Row (Regan Smith) - 373 - #6 of John Henry/Jack Roush (David Ragan) - 360 - #47 of Tad Geschickter (Marcos Ambrose) - 349 - #39 of Tony Stewart (Ryan Newman) - 337 - #71 of Kevin Buckler (Bobby Labonte, who was the 2000 Winston Cup champion) - 328 (the team has had to qualify on time or use Bobby's past-champ provisionals, of which they still have 5) - #77 of Roger Penske (Sam Hornish Jr) - 325 - #38 of "Doug Yates"/Front Row Motorsports (David Gilliland/Robert Richardson) - 318 - #12 of Roger Penske (Brad Keselowski) - 295 - #34 of Bob Jenkins (Travis Kvapil/John Andretti) - 286 - #37 of "Doug Yates"/Front Row Motorsports (Kevin Conway/Travis Kvapil) - 276 (the team is technically in 36th because of tiebreakers, but the team in 35th did not qualify for Bristol)
Next up, the teams that could get into the top 35 this weekend because they can get to 310 points, the minimum the #37 can get:
- #26 of Bill Jenkins (Boris Said/David Stremme) - 252 (they've had owners' points to fall back on, and used them almost every week) - #7 of Robby Gordon (Robby Gordon) - 249 (he's had owners' points to fall back on) - #55 of Randy Humphrey (Michael McDowell/Michael Waltrip) - 175 points (they've made every race on time) - #66 of Phil Parsons (Dave Blaney) - 174 points (they've made 4 of the races on time) - #87 of Andrea Nemechek (Joe Nemechek) - 171 points (they've made every race on time) - #190 of Raymond Key (Casey Mears) - 121 points (this is the first race they're making)
Meanwhile, because they missed this race, the #36 of Tommy Baldwin (driven by Mike Bliss, with 276 points/4 starts going in and 307 points/4 starts going out) and the #13 of Bob Germain (Max Papis, 247 points/4 starts going in, 275 points/4 starts going out) will have to qualify on time next weekend.
Also, the #46 of Dusty Whitney (driven by Terry Cook, making the team's first start of the season), cannot get into the top 35 because they have only 100 points going in.