Rain, Rain, Go Away...Oh, Wait...
Another savvy business move by Michael that will likely come under fire once other fans hear about it (though right now I think most are watching Dale Jr.’s situation). David now is basically 37th in points from last year and is listed under Cal Wells as the car owner. This helps him a little bit, but only if qualifying is cancelled or rained out – he would be locked into the field if this was the case (along with Michael, who is 38th in points, and DJ could use his champion's provisional). However, if the qualifying session is held he will still have to qualify on time during the first five races at least, so this isn’t exactly like what Michael did last year with the #77, which guaranteed him into the first five races.
I don’t know what to think about moves like this. The logical part of me says, “Hey, no one was using those points anyway.” But morally, I’ve never been a big fan of someone using owners points he didn’t earn. This bothers me in cases such as Brian Vickers and Casey Mears as well…even though Brian earned points last year he doesn’t get them because he’s in a new ride. I don’t particularly like how the points that guarantee a driver into the field stay with the car, but I suppose it puts some power into the car owner’s hands and makes a team attractive to prospective drivers if the ride is vacated. In the end business is business and all is fair in love and war, I suppose.
I’m also nervous about this specific deal because Cal Wells now has ownership of the 00 (technically the #100). I can see this because MWR hired the ex-PPI team members, but it still makes me uneasy that David’s car is now under “Waltrip-PPI Racing”. It may be just a name like Waltrip-Jasper Racing was last year, but I can’t help being leery of these types of partnerships. I don’t know how much – if any – say Wells has in David’s team, and to me it seems like Michael already has enough to worry about to have to take into account another car owner.
But Michael’s a smart guy so I should put more faith into him! And if it rains any time soon during qualifying I’ll definitely be thankful for those points.
I don’t know what to think about moves like this. The logical part of me says, “Hey, no one was using those points anyway.” But morally, I’ve never been a big fan of someone using owners points he didn’t earn. This bothers me in cases such as Brian Vickers and Casey Mears as well…even though Brian earned points last year he doesn’t get them because he’s in a new ride. I don’t particularly like how the points that guarantee a driver into the field stay with the car, but I suppose it puts some power into the car owner’s hands and makes a team attractive to prospective drivers if the ride is vacated. In the end business is business and all is fair in love and war, I suppose.
I’m also nervous about this specific deal because Cal Wells now has ownership of the 00 (technically the #100). I can see this because MWR hired the ex-PPI team members, but it still makes me uneasy that David’s car is now under “Waltrip-PPI Racing”. It may be just a name like Waltrip-Jasper Racing was last year, but I can’t help being leery of these types of partnerships. I don’t know how much – if any – say Wells has in David’s team, and to me it seems like Michael already has enough to worry about to have to take into account another car owner.
But Michael’s a smart guy so I should put more faith into him! And if it rains any time soon during qualifying I’ll definitely be thankful for those points.
