Provisional

[domaza]

Could someone explain to me what does this thing mean and who getsProvisionals? I'm not a big NASCAR fan and I also live in Europe, where NASCAR ain't popular. Is that so there are lika 30 guys who race all races and do get Provisionals and then like 20 others are battling for the three places? Is there a exact number of provisionals that one driver can use in one year? From my opinion Terry Labonte loves to start from the back of the field

[Joe Fan]

Basically, the last eight spots of the grid can and usually are provisional starting spots. During the first five races of the year, teams get to use provisionals based upon where they finished in the points the previous year. After the first five races of the year, current point standings then dictate the number of provisionals awarded. Teams can only use X amount of provisionals a year. I can't remember the number but I think it is eight.

This system was devised to reward teams who don't qualify well but have committed to racing the series every race. A new team would have to qualify in the top 35 in order to make the field, unless the remaining teams who qualifed 36 on down, have run out of provisionals to use. Say that only 5 teams that qualifed 36 on down are the only teams left that have provisionals to use, then position 36, 37 and 38 would be determined based on qualifying time and 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 would be those using provisionals.

The pecking order for how these teams 39-43 would start in the race would be based upon the current position in the points(ie the highest in the points would get the 39th spot and so forth). Also if there are 12 teams that did not make the 1-35 cut in qualifying, the pecking order for who gets to use their provisional would also be their current position in the point standings. Obviously, here the teams highest in the point standings would get to use theirs first.

This system rewards the teams who are dedicated to the sport and race every week, who also have problems in qualifying. This prevents a top team who blows an engine during their qualifying run not making the field when some small team, who is only cherry-picking certain races, making the field over them.

[Emfa]

Joe, Good explanation of what I would consider a fairly complex system. Also, I found this at nascar.com:

Field consists of the fastest 36 cars through time trials. Also, seven provisional starting positions based on 2001 owner points, for maximum 43-car field. The 43rd position is reserved for a past NWCS champion, if needed. If unused, it will go to the next eligible owner.

So, a couple of minor items relating to your original explanation...
- first 36 places are determined by qualifying time with 7 provisionals,
- there is a provisional for previous champions if required (this is the one Terry uses! ).

[Emfa]

I got curious and did a bit more digging. The best explanation that I could find is at:
http://www.sptimes.com/News/063000/S...rocess_a.shtml

Isn't it typical that I couldn't find this at nascar.com and ended up with the St Petersburg Times (FL) !!!!!

[Joe Fan]

Whoops! I stand corrected. Thanks Emfa! I was adding in the past championship provisional on top of a number of provisionals that already included it.