by Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Waltrip: When I had my own Cup race team in the 1990's, I lobbied for franchising. Other series had done it, Indy cars particularly. When I was a driver/owner, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd and Geoff Bodine were also driver/owners. If NASCAR had franchised the teams, it would have given teams some value at a time when driver/owners were struggling.

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With a franchise, you would be guaranteed a starting spot in every race, and that's something that you could sell or take to any sponsor. It just gave the team a whole lot of added value. But NASCAR didn't want to hear it. Locking in the top 35 teams in owner points is basically a form of franchising.

All I can tell you about Daytona 500 qualifying is it's going to be different. The two front-row starters at Daytona are locked in for sure so that's 37 cars — the top 35 in points and the two front-row starters if you said the front row was made up of drivers not in the top 35 in points. That leaves six spots open for people who are not in the top 35. That's the only thing I can really tell you for sure. The lineup will change based on the qualifying races, but I'm going to be just like you. I'm going to have to wait until they put the lineup on the board before I understand it myself.