Penske Racing has decided to allow Sam Hornish Jr to use Kurt Busch and the 2 team's owner's points in 2008.
The top 35 qualifying rule has worn out its welcome. There are simply too many quality teams vying for a select few spots on the starting grid. Teams are beginning to search for ways to get around this apparent flaw in NASCAR Sprint Cup's qualifying procedure.
Two years ago, Michael Waltrip and his Bill Davis Racing team bought the owner's points from the 77 Penske Racing team that had disbanded in order to ensure a starting position for Waltrip. Now, Penske's 77 team is involved in another points scheme. Sam Hornish Jr will take over the resurrected 77 team for Penske Racing, and he has encountered some growing pains while transitioning from Indy Cars to stock cars. He only qualified for two NASCAR races in 2007 in 8 attempts.
With that being said, Roger Penske is a brilliant businessman, and he worked his magic again, finding a way around the qualifying system. Kurt Busch, driver of the Miller Lite Dodge, is the 2004 champion and has the champions provisional to fall back on. In all likelihood, Busch will never use it, but he has the security blanket just in case.
So there you have it, Sam Hornish Jr's saving grace. No more will he have to stress about failing to qualify for a NASCAR Sprint Cup event, at least for the first five races. Now, it is up to him to remain there, or he will be back at ground zero, and we saw how that worked out.
The points swapping is clearly legal as NASCAR's Robin Pemberton has signed his approval. But is it fair? That is debatable.
