Jamie McMurray and Dario Franchitti were the two 'biggest' names missing from the top 35 in owners' points after the fifth round of NASCAR's Sprint Cup season at Bristol on Sunday night, while Sam Hornish Jr made it through by the skin of his teeth.
Although neither McMurray or series rookie Franchitti are major players in the series, both have received their share of hype over the years - the Scot following his switch as IndyCar and Indy 500 champion this season - but will now have to make the field on qualifying performance, rather than relying on the previous record of their teams. And drivers' points and owners' points are not the same either, as
teams who fail to make the race still get points, while drivers who miss out get nothing.
On top of that, NASCAR uses the previous season's owner points to help establish the grid for the first five races of the current campaign, but then takes into account the current standings on a week-by-week basis. So, when the field reconvenes after next week's Easter break, both McMurray and Franchitti - and a host of others - will live each weekend sweating on whether they make the qualifying cut.
Ironically, McMurray's chances of staying in the top 35 effectively ended when Franchitti tagged him at Bristol, and allowed Hornish - who started the year by assuming Kurt Busch's owners' points record in order to help him make the weekly cut - to steal the final place in the select group by a scant four points. The former IRL champion started the weekend outside the top 35, along with Franchitti, but was the only one to make a positive move.
JJ Yeley, Jeremy Mayfield, Casey Mears, Michael Waltrip joined Hornish in just surviving the cut, while Dave Blaney - who had been in the top 35 early in the season - Regan Smith, Kyle Petty and Joe Nemechek headed the list of those to miss out.
![Sam Hornish Jr. [Pic Credit image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/405823.jpg)
