If someone plays for a bad team in one of America's "big four" sports (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, certainly not in that order), at least the horrible team gets to play out every quarter, period, inning, and game. With NASCAR? Bad teams aren't so lucky. There are only 43 spots per race in the Nextel Cup.
And of the four manufacturers (Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Toyota), only one brand name has been unable to place at least one car in all 10 races to date this year. Toyota's last hope, Dale Jarrett, raced in the first nine before finishing 47th during qualifying at Richmond, being forced to watch the race. (Well, I guess he wasn't forced to watch the race. He could have done a number of activities that day. I didn't ask him.)
Dave Blaney was also close, racing in nine of 10 as well. However, Blaney did not finish (DNF) the race on four of those weekends, more DNFs than any other Nextel driver. Despite that nasty stat, he still leads all Toyota Camry drivers in points with 658. That's 37th place overall.
Then there's Michael Waltrip, one of the tallest and most likable drivers on the circuit. (The two traits aren't necessarily related, but hey, they could be. I know a lot of short asshats.) He qualified 15th for the Daytona 500, then was penalized a historic 100 points when NASCAR officials discovered an illegal fuel additive, so he began the season behind the 8-ball with negative-100 points. Since the 500 race, he hasn't qualified (DNQ) for any race, through Richmond this past Sunday. His official placement in the standings may be 55th, but in actuality he is in last place among all of humankind, because he has -27 points, while schmucks like you and me are steadfast at 0 points. Waltrip simply bit off more than he can chew, being both a driver and team owner.
Article comments
1 - Tuffy
Toyota's biggest sin at the moment is not being Hendrick Motorsports or Roush Racing. As huge teams are forced to shrink to four cars, there will be more room for Toyota to run full races and shake the problems out of their cars.
Toyota needs this to help it penetrate the all-American truck market by creating an American image. Toyota has consistently shown a relentless drive for perfection in both its cars and its marketing, reflected in its new status as the top-selling car manufacturer in America. In a few years, we'll consider this the quaint failure before the Toyota NASCAR domination.
2 - Jerkwheat
nas-car?