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CUP: Saturday Chicagoland Speedway
Written by: Tom Jensen   
07/13/2007
Joliet, Ill.
 
Nextel Cup Director John Darby said Saturday that the problems will sort themselves out. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) View More NASCAR Photos HERE » More Photos

WHAT'S NEXT? The high car counts in the NASCAR Nextel Cup garage continue to fuel debate about what, if anything, can be done to level the playing field so that the same cars don't keep missing races every week. Unofficially, multiple NASCAR officials have confirmed that the top 35 rule is being looked at closely for next season and could be changed, as first reported last week here at SPEEDTV.com. Currently, any car in the top 35 in owner points is guaranteeing a starting spot in the field, regardless of how it qualifies.

Nextel Cup Director John Darby said Saturday that the problems will eventually sort themselves out when the unusually high car counts gradually lower as part of the inevitable NASCAR cycle. "It doesn't matter what system we use. Even if we qualify all 43 cars (on speed), seven cars are going to go home," Darby said, citing what would happen if 50 cars enter a given race. "So seven teams are going to say, 'Well, we've got to do something different.' It doesn't matter - the old system, the top 35 system. At the end of that, somebody's going home. What we know about our sport is over time, it always cycles. You get to the top of the cycle where we're at now, yeah, you can argue that there are too many deer in the forest. The leaves on the trees are evaporating too fast. You could do that. But over time, it will come back. It will build, it will come back."

Kyle Busch (left) and Jeff Gordon (right) have no issues, just a little frustration according to Gordon. (Photo: Robert Laberge/Getty Images) » More Photos
GOING SOLO A week ago at Daytona, lame-duck Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Busch complained his teammates weren't doing enough to help him win. Friday at Chicagoland Speedway, Busch made it clear he won't be doing anything for them in the future, either. "I'm not helping anybody but myself and this team for winning races," Busch said. "And I'm not helping Jeff Gordon. I'm not helping Jimmie Johnson or Casey Mears. They are able to go back and see what I run and that kind of stuff. But for me, it's just to go out there and to try to win races and keep winning with my name."

Busch said that ever since last month's announcement that he would be replaced next year by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., he has felt ostracized from the team. "Oh, it's just been a difficult transition period from where I felt like there was a really good team chemistry going on between all the drivers and teams and everything was going really well," said Busch. "And since that transition came when Junior was announced he was joining Hendrick Motorsports, it's been real different. So I'm just frustrated in all of that and just frustrated
in last week's results. … It used to be where we would call each other and talk to each other and text message back and forth and I had a sit down with Jeff (Gordon) there before the Coca-Cola 600 and that went really well and then since all that's happened, I'm in the team meetings just sitting there listening. I don't even really talk about what my car does because they all seem to talk amongst themselves. I'm sort of just sitting there in the corner."

Asked if he was concerned about how this could hurt his reputation with fans, Busch said, "My perception has been horrible since I came into this sport, so it doesn't really even matter any more."

TO THE REAR Mark Martin will be forced to go to a backup car for Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, after crashing his Ginn Racing Chevrolet in Saturday's first practice session. Martin will have to give up his fourth-place starting position and start in the rear of the field for Sunday's race. Martin spun out and hit the wall with the rear of his car coming off of Turn 2. "It's just absolutely inexcusable," said Martin. "This U.S. Army team built me one of the best cars I've ever had in my life and there is just no excuse for me letting that happen."

Joining him at the rear of the field will be Kurt Busch, who had an engine change in his Penske Racing Dodge Charger Saturday morning, and Elliott Sadler, who wadded up his Evernham Motorsports Dodge shortly before the close of Happy Hour.

CHANGE OF HEART Greg Biffle, visibly angry after he qualified 33rd for the USG Sheetrock 400 on Friday, was a much happier man Saturday morning, as he was sixth in the opening round of practice and 13th in the final Happy Hour session. "We switched our car around quite a bit and then we put it back how we ran it last year, some, and it's better. We still have a little ways to go, but, yeah, I definitely think it's better," said Biffle after the first session. "We're going to have to keep moving forward with it. Definitely, we've been running better as a group, but it seems like the 16 is really not running any better. Today, we are, and that's exciting for us."

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