Without having the luxury of just showing up to qualify for races like the majority of Nextel Cup teams, Denver-based Furniture Row Racing and driver Kenny Wallace continue to miss more races than they make.
Wallace has qualified for only two of the six races this season and is 44th in the standings. The top 35 entries from last year were guaranteed starting spots in the first five races, and now the top 35 entries are guaranteed spots the rest of the way.
That leaves only eight spots for 12 to 20 drivers such as Wallace to get into the 43-car fields. The number is fewer if champion’s provisionals are used.
The system might seem unfair, but it helps keep big-name drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. from missing races, and allows championship contenders to shake off poor qualifying runs and remain in the hunt.
In the March 25 race at Bristol, Tenn., Wallace qualified 27th – a good showing for the second- year, single-car team. But when all the automatic starting positions were delivered, Furniture Row came within one spot of missing the race.
“That’s how difficult things are in this series right now,” Furniture Row manager Joe Garone said.
Competition has intensified with Toyota joining the series and fielding a combined seven entries. Without Toyota last year, Furniture Row made 21 of 36 points races. The fact the team is only 2-of-6 this year is “disappointing but understandable,” Garone said.
Furniture Row is focusing on qualifying, and that showed March 9 in Las Vegas and last week in a series-wide test session at Richmond, Va. Wallace, who qualified 15th at Vegas, topped the practice charts on the first day at Richmond and was 13th the next day.
“Not only were we fastest, but also we were able to back it up – Kenny ran that speed (122 mph) twice,” Garone said of the Richmond test. “So we’re excited, cautiously, because when we go back we’ll have to be faster, because everyone else will be faster.”
Footnotes
After a week off, Nextel Cup visits Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the Samsung 500. In 12 previous races at the high-banked oval, there have been no multiple winners. … Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who has captured three of the past four races, has never won at Texas but his average finish of 6.3 is best in the business. … Texas is one of three tracks where Jeff Gordon has never won, but Gordon and Mark Martin have a series-high four top-five finishes. … Owner/driver Michael Waltrip has been charged with reckless driving and failing to report an accident after hitting a telephone pole and rolling his car about a mile from his home in Sherrill’s Ford, N.C., over the weekend. Waltrip, who suffered scratches to his arms, hands and face, said he fell asleep at the wheel right before he wrecked his Toyota Land Cruiser early Saturday morning. He left the scene of the accident and walked the rest of the way home.
NASCAR EXTRA
SPOTLIGHT: KEVIN HARVICK
Daytona champ fading
The reigning Daytona 500 champion has struggled since winning the big season opener in February, and his 41st-place showing in the previous race has dropped him to 10th in the standings. Harvick, who finished fourth in the points last year, ended 17th, 27th and 25th in the three races after Daytona. He rallied to finish fourth at Bristol, Tenn., before ending 41st on April 1 at Martinsville, Va.
THIS WEEK’S RACE: SAMSUNG 500
Eyes of Texas on Nextel Cup series
Noon Sunday, Fox
Where: Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile high-banked oval.
Distance: 500 miles, 334 laps.
Records: Qualifying – Brian Vickers (196.235 mph), Nov. 3, 2006; race – Carl Edwards (151.055 mph), Nov. 6, 2005.
Last year: Kasey Kahne won a year ago from the pole. Tony Stewart captured the fall race.
ON THE MOVE: JEFF GORDON
Consistency already in gear
The four-time champion and points leader is winless on the season and remains one victory shy of No. 76, which would tie the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth most all time. But Gordon, 35, has otherwise had a fabulous start to his 15th season. In six races, Gordon has finished outside the top 10 just once. He ended second in three of the past five events. “Our sport changes every year – the setups, the cars and everything,” Gordon said in a release. “Sometimes you adjust to the changes well and other times you’re playing catch-up.” He is right on track for his fifth crown.
DRIVER RATING
Defending Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is third in the official standings but first in the unofficial driver rating, a more complex way of examining the series’ first six races. The formula for driver rating is: wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps, lead-lap finish.
Name Pts.(Pos.)
Jimmie Johnson 110.6(3)
Tony Stewart 108.8(8)
Jeff Gordon 108.7(1)
Jeff Burton 105.3(2)
Matt Kenseth 98.5(4)
Kyle Busch 98.2(5)
Denny Hamlin 92.3(6)
Clint Bowyer 91.3(7)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 90.2(11)
Kurt Busch 88.0 (17)
Source: NASCAR
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
