Another second round farce at Charlotte.

It was simple, seven drivers knew that unless they beat 36th place Hut Stricklin's lap of 29.699 seconds they would be a spectator for Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Once again, circumstances saw that those seven had a near impossible task on their hands and not one of them will start the 29th round of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup.

It was simple, seven drivers knew that unless they beat 36th place Hut Stricklin's lap of 29.699 seconds they would be a spectator for Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Once again, circumstances saw that those seven had a near impossible task on their hands and not one of them will start the 29th round of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup.

For some reason NASCAR decreed that second round qualifying would take place at 6pm on Thursday when the track would still be relatively hot and thus considerably slower for the drivers. Bud Pole qualifying was held some two hours later on Wednesday night and the track had been given ample time to cool down and thus allow faster speeds.

Even with the odds stacked against them, Scott Pruett, Steve Grissom, Carl Long, Stacy Compton, Kerry Earnhardt and Ricky Craven all took to the track and tried as hard they could to get into the field. The seventh member, Larry Gunselman, withdrew before practice already resigned to his probable fate. Of the remaining six, three improved their times although none were quick enough to get into the final field.

Pruett was fastest and has the dubious honour of being the fastest non-qualifier with a best lap of 29.748 seconds, a time that would have put him 37th on the grid if the rules weren't such a joke. Grissom was next with a best time of 30.253 and Long trimmed over one second off his Bud Pole mark with a time of 30.276 seconds but both were well off the pace.

Compton, Earnhardt and Craven were even further behind although none can be blamed for lack of trying and yet again the rules worked squarely against the smaller teams in the Winston Cup, the teams that help make the spectacle of NASCAR racing what it is and who deserve the same shot at making the races as everyone else.

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