When the Nascar season ends, it is a guarantee that there will be drivers out of work and teams looking to gain an edge. These are usually field filler organizations that just make laps to gain experience. The easiest way to do that is to buy another teams owner points and gain a spot in the all-important top 35.
But this past season, we have seen this post season tradition get way out of hand.
In the past, one or two teams would buy the points of a team that folded at seasons end. The key to this is that the owner being bought out must have a stake in the organization that buys their points. In 2009, when Penske Racing bought Bill Davis Racing's No. 22 points, the team's name was "changed" to Penske Championship Racing (though it is still known as Penske Racing).
But this year, Danica Patrick will be attempting the Daytona 500. She has no owner points to fall back on and no ability in a race car. So the only way to get Nascar's new golden girl into the biggest race of the year is to buy points.
A few weeks ago, it was announced that Patrick's Stewart-Haas Racing team would merge with Tommy Baldwin Racing and take possession of the TBR No. 36 car's owner points. This move also allows Baldwin's young team access to SHR's notebook to help them gain on the rest of the field and run competitively when David Reutimann runs their No. 10 car when Patrick is out of the seat. But now Danica is locked into Nascar's Super Bowl without ever turning a competitive lap in a Sprint Cup Series race car.
As if that wasn't confusing enough, it was announced Monday night that Michael Waltrip Racing and FAS Lane Racing had agreed to swap points, thus allowing Mark Martin to gain a spot in the 2012 Daytona 500 field. The next week in Phoenix, FAS Lane will acquire the points from the now-shuddered No. 6 car from Roush-Fenway Racing.
This has all gotten to the point now where this is hardly a sport anymore. Imagine if the Washington Redskins were able to buy the NFC title from the New York Giants or if the Kansas City Royals bought a playoff spot from the New York Yankees. Nascar is a business, there's no denying that. But when it gets to the point where no driver has to earn their keep anymore, the sanctioning body needs to step in.
Nascar needs to do away with the top 35 rule and just have the fastest 43 cars race on Sunday. The Sprint Cup Series is billed as having the best drivers in the world. I'm not so sure that's true when somebody like Danica Patrick can have a spot in the season's biggest race bought for her before her team has rolled into Daytona beach.
Nascar needs to get back to the good old days where drivers had to qualify and earn their keep in the Cup garage. If you aren't fast enough one week, then go home, work harder and get faster for next week. This business of buying your way into the field to guarantee a sponsor is happy is just idiotic.
Does anyone really believe that FAS Lane Racing, a Ford team controlled by Jack Roush's monopoly, now has an ownership stake in Michael Waltrip Racing's Toyota team? That would be like Barack Obama touting the benefits of Reaganomics. It just isn't going to happen.
Teams are breaking the rules right in front of Nascar and the sanctioning body refuses to do anything about it. If teams no longer have to earn a starting position, especially for the biggest race of the year, something has to be done. With a big name like Danica Patrick involved in the points mix this year, hopefully Nascar will take notice and put a stop to it for next season.
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