2019 Robby Gordon Headquarters
Staying Alive...The Fight for the Top 35 at an all time high
Inside Garage - 3/25/2009
Being inside the Top 35 is the only way to survive in Nascar Racing's Cup Series. Those drivers outside the cut-off have to approach each race differently than those that are locked in. "It becomes 2 races, you have to put a very aggresive setup underneath to race your way in and then you fight the rest of the weekend to gain as much points as possible. It will be nearly impossible for a driver outside the Top 35 to win a race. It requires so much into qualifying, that the race itself is out of reach," said a crewchief for a team that spent all of last year outside the Top 35.
This year, the Top 35 was set after Bristol for 2009 and it's appears to be able to produce a weekly fight of "Who's In & Who's Out!" With some pretty well rounded teams like Red Bull Racing's Scott Speed (#82) , DEI / Gannasi outfit with Aric Almirola (#8) and Yates Racing's Paul Menard (#98) all outside the Top 35. Throw in the weekly guys trying to play spoiler like Jeremy Mayfield, Scott Riggs, and Joe Nemecheck. The guys sitting above aren't out of harms way either. Drivers like, Mark Martin, John Andretti, Sam Hornish, David Gilliland, Joey Logano and Robby Gordon need to gain points and avoid problems to increase their cushion.
Once some of the drivers like Speed, Menard and Almirola start missing races, expect Silly Season to crank up. With drivers like Allmendinger & Gilliland showing some value, expect teams and sponsors to quickly make changes.
Being inside the Top 35 is the only way to survive in Nascar Racing's Cup Series. Those drivers outside the cut-off have to approach each race differently than those that are locked in. "It becomes 2 races, you have to put a very aggresive setup underneath to race your way in and then you fight the rest of the weekend to gain as much points as possible. It will be nearly impossible for a driver outside the Top 35 to win a race. It requires so much into qualifying, that the race itself is out of reach," said a crewchief for a team that spent all of last year outside the Top 35.
This year, the Top 35 was set after Bristol for 2009 and it's appears to be able to produce a weekly fight of "Who's In & Who's Out!" With some pretty well rounded teams like Red Bull Racing's Scott Speed (#82) , DEI / Gannasi outfit with Aric Almirola (#8) and Yates Racing's Paul Menard (#98) all outside the Top 35. Throw in the weekly guys trying to play spoiler like Jeremy Mayfield, Scott Riggs, and Joe Nemecheck. The guys sitting above aren't out of harms way either. Drivers like, Mark Martin, John Andretti, Sam Hornish, David Gilliland, Joey Logano and Robby Gordon need to gain points and avoid problems to increase their cushion.
Once some of the drivers like Speed, Menard and Almirola start missing races, expect Silly Season to crank up. With drivers like Allmendinger & Gilliland showing some value, expect teams and sponsors to quickly make changes.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by rpmscott on
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I can see a Race where Paul Menard doesn't make it on qualifying. And Robby with no sponsor for that race.
Hope Robby has one of the # 7 Menard's wraps on the Trailer at every track. Just incase!
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Permalink Reply by Keith on
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If Speed, Almirola and Menard can't beat the ragamuffins entered this weekend, they should go home... and stay there.
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Permalink Reply by Ryan Plowman on
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Agree. Top tier equipment and sh*t for results. Scott Speed is worthless, should've stuck to ARCA for a while longer.
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Permalink Reply by Walt Pendleton on
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its interesting, Robby finish 21st and dropped a spot in the standings. We need less pit road mistakes like loosing a lug nut. We forget how competative it really is.
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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on
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Points were really tight and Ryan Newman leaped us. That's why Robby fell a spot.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on
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Walt - RG did widen the points gap to 35th
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Permalink Reply by Coltranefan on
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As long as at least 43 cars show up things will be fine, its when less then 43 show up is when we may have a problem. Its got to be really difficult for a team to attract money when there is no guarantee of them making the race. As if the race itself wasnt enough pressure to perform. Course most all of us in our every day lifes and our jobs face about the same set of circumstances so as life goes so goes racing (did I just say that?)
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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on
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From what it sounds like the weather might be the spoiler and qualifying might be rained out. If that does happen then the race will be set with 2009 top 43 in points.
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From Jayski.
What happens if qualifying gets rained out?
After the 5th race of the season, the current season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - First 35 by current Owner Points [position 1-35][top 35 teams do NOT need to attempt ALL the races]
#2) - Last Years Cup Champ or the Event Champion if not already in the field
#3) - Car Owners whose team has won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#4) - Drivers who have won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#5) - ALL Past Cup Champions not in by 1 thru 4 [is NOT charged against the 6 past champ provisionals]
#6) - Qualifying Attempts [not starts] with Owners points as the tie breaker
#7) - Qualifying Order Position
(all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race)
As you can see being out of the top 35 is big,
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