Charter Concerns Are A Fan Problem, Not A NASCAR Problem
Concern: The champion’s provisional has been eliminated.
Look. I like Terry Labonte. He’s a two-time Cup champion and a worthy Hall of Famer.
However, this is 2016. Every Cup champion since 2002 is already in a full-time competitive car, one that was already essentially locked into the field through owners points. Every Cup champion from 1997-2001 is retired. That means Labonte, the 1996 champion could get into a car and be locked into the 43rd spot. Does that make any sense at all? Do you think if they were making the rules from scratch today a “let’s make sure a guy who hasn’t raced full-time in 12 years gets an automatic starting spot in the field because he won a title 20 years ago”-rule?
With charters leaving only four open spots per race, there does not need to be a way for a team to lock themselves into the field just because their Human Resources department was savvy about the rules.
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