by Larry McReynolds

Provisional change

Dave from Mishawaka, Ind.: Will the past champions provisional rule change in '07 like the NBS PCP changed in '06 to one for every eight starts? That would mean that Dale Jarrett would only be assured of a Daytona 500 Start, but not assured a start for the next seven races.

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Larry McReynolds: NASCAR has changed the championship provisional. I still think it will change more in the future, but it's not going to be like the Busch championship provisional. In the Busch Series, past champions can only use a provisional once every eight races. I like that rule. NASCAR has only gone a little bit of the way there in Nextel Cup.

In the past, there was no limit to how many times a Cup champ could use the provisional. But starting this year, past champions can only use it six times. If you use it in the first six races, so be it, but you can only use it six times. Down the road, I think they would like to institute the Busch rule, but this is a step in the right direction. I also like the fact that it's six attempts for a driver and/or an owner. It would prevent an owner from hiring one champion for six races and another champion for another six races.

I talked about the rule with Steve O'Donnell, vice president of racing operations for NASCAR, and we agreed that no team has done anything wrong with the current rule. But some teams have definitely gotten outside of the box when it comes to the intent of the rule. The rule was initially instituted to help past champions secure a spot in the show if they had wrecked or blown an engine. Over time — with the competition and dollars being spent by sponsors — teams figured out a good way to guarantee a spot in the show was to hire a past champion. Nobody did anything wrong. It was a great business move, but it wasn't the intent of the rule.

Cingular: Don't go changin'

Adam from Atlanta: Hey Larry, what will happen with the Cingular sponsorship in 2007? Does AT&T replace Cingular as the sponsor because of the merger?

Larry McReynolds: Dean Kessel, director of NASCAR Nextel Cup Series marketing for Sprint Nextel, said it is written in Nextel's contract that they can only have one name change . In other words, they can only change their name from the Nextel Cup Series once. But it's also written that if Cingular and Alltel want to sponsor cars while Nextel is the title sponsor, they can, but they can't make a name change. Kessel was very adamant about not altering his feelings on that point. It's a catch-22. Do you applaud Cingular for being a major sponsor on a car and supporting the sport? Sure, you do, but you certainly respect Nextel's stand, too. Sprint Nextel spent $80 million for the rights to this sponsorship for 10 years. They should have a little bit of say in what happens.

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No hard feelings

Carl from Monroe, Ga.: Larry, I didn't pull it down and look it up, but I think you had some fairly harsh words for Benny Parsons in your book. Did you two ever discuss it, bury the hatchet, etc.?

Larry McReynolds: Back in 2001, Benny really hurt my feelings with a comment about my English, but I respected that comment down the road. It's almost like when your parents get on you about something. It hurts your feelings or makes you mad when they're doing it, but when you grow up, you realize that they did you a favor. I talked with him several times during his illness, and while I can't say that we were close friends, Benny left this earth knowing that Larry Mac was a big Benny Parsons fan. I did need to work on my English, and I have worked on it. I've had an English tutor for a couple of years. Do I want to become like an English major on the air? No, because that wouldn't be me.

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FOX race analyst Larry McReynolds has more than 25 years of NASCAR experience as a mechanic, crew chief and broadcaster. He and his fellow Crew Chief Club members take you behind the wall at www.crewchiefclub.com.

"How to Become a Winning Crew Chief" is on bookstore shelves, or you may order your own autographed copy from www.DWStore.com.