by Lee Spencer

Around the track

Follow the action:

• Chicagoland practice speeds
• Chicagoland schedule, entries

Watch:

• Video Central

Picture perfect:

• Earnhardt at Goodwood
• 2010 Hall of Fame nominees

Read all about it:

• Dale Jr. would consider racing Indy 500
• Eury Jr.: Split with Junior was needed
• Mayfield won't race at Chicagoland

Analysis:

• Hammond: Battle Royale
• Larry Mac: Midseason report cards

And unless you were expecting three-time winner Tony Stewart or 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman in the lineup, you will love it.

Under the new rules, the top six drivers in owner points for each car make will be represented in the field. Former winners need not apply. And given the current status of the Haas CNC Racing (soon to be Stewart-Haas Racing) the Nos. 14 and 39 — which are currently Nos. 66 and 70 — are buried so far down in owners points (34th and 43rd, respectively) that neither driver will have a shot in hell of racing in what is considered the best testing session for the Daytona 500, NASCAR's most prestigious race of the year.

In the advent of the Car of Tomorrow, which was introduced last March at Bristol Motor Speedway, manufacturers have been lost in the shuffle with the exception of scandals like the recent Joe Gibbs Racing's Dyno-gate. Top teams and crew chiefs will tell you this is the closest example to IROC that the Sprint Cup Series has seen since its inception. The drivers, the pit crews and the decisions made by the crew chief/team engineer distinguish one car from another. As we saw in the Nationwide Series, engines can be manipulated. But NASCAR has the teams in such a tight box with the chassis and the bodies that people more than ever make the difference.

If it weren't for familiar color schemes, Joe Fan in Section U, Row 50 in the Petty Tower Section could not distinguish a Chevrolet from a Ford, a Dodge or a Toyota.

Under the current rules, five of NASCAR's top six stars — Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon — are locked in by winning poles. As is Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard, Joe Nemechek and Patrick Carpentier. Stewart and veterans Mark Martin, Bill Elliott and Ken Schrader are locked in as former winners. Entering California, 17 drivers would be eligible.

The new format expands the field to 24 — which is better from a competition standpoint on a track the size of Daytona (2.5 miles). Seventeen drivers can get lost on Daytona faster than you can blink. But I'm still not convinced I would sacrifice Stewart and Newman for David Reutimann and Dave Blaney.

Of course, one driver that will be part of the field is 18-year-old Joey Logano. But has he really earned the right to be in an all-star race and get 75 laps of practice at Daytona under his belt while Stewart and Newman watch from the sidelines?

Guess we'll all have to wait until February 7 to find out.