why does NASCAR have 43 cars in their races?

Answer 1

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR's 43-car limit for fields in the Winston Cup Series has come under closer scrutiny this season, but it wasn't that long ago that Winston Cup starting grids held a more variant number of cars.

Economic difficulties, primarily, have caused a dip in the total number of entries this season and anticipating the first short field of the season -- one fewer than 43 entries -- has become a weekly watching point in the Winston Cup Series.

But the bottom line is that since the across-the-board 43-car field was mandated in 1998, no regularly scheduled Winston Cup event has started less than that number.

Thus, the last event with a starting field of fewer cars than the entry blank called for was the fall 1996 event at Dover, Del., when 41 cars ran in the race that called for 42 starters. Eleven races in 1996 actually had short fields, with three of them -- events at Michigan, New Hampshire and Indianapolis -- being off by two cars each.

In 31 races held in 1996, eight different numbers of starters took the green flag, ranging from a low of 36 cars at two short track races to a high of 44 at events that were considered at that time to be "combination events" with the NASCAR Winston West Series.

While the number 43 has come to be accepted as the standard field by the majority of race fans, this is only the fifth season in which 43 starters has been mandated for all Winston Cup races, according to NASCAR Managing Director, Business Operations Kevin Triplett.

"There is no magic number when it comes to starting fields, and 43-car fields don't have a long history," Triplett said. "Sometimes it's just a matter of stepping back and looking at the forest through the trees. There have been a lot of changes in our procedures and they have been done in an effort to makes things better for the most people."

The current situation came to a head when a variety of media outlets cited the last regularly scheduled event with a short field as the 1997 DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in October. While that event had 42 starters, the field was not short.

In 1997, the 43rd position was reserved for a former Winston Cup champion that had not otherwise qualified -- a provision that was instituted for the 1991 season, although the designated position varied depending on the race track. If a past champion did not earn the position, it was not used, resulting in a standard 42-car field.

In fact, of 32 races in 1997, half of them -- 16 events -- had starting fields of 42 cars. Fifteen other races had 43-car fields and one, the West Coast road course event at Sears Point Raceway, had 44.

Since 1998, when the current method of definitely using the 43rd position per a set of guidelines laid out in the entry blank for each event, only one race has had a starting field of less than 43 cars.

The 2001 season finale New Hampshire 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway started 42 cars. But the event rates an asterisk in the "short field" category. When the starting lineup was set in September, 43 cars earned starting positions after three additional entries withdrew when it became apparent they would not be eligible to start.

By the time the event -- which was rescheduled from Sept. 16 to Nov. 23 by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- was run, one of the qualified teams had ceased operations and was not replaced in the lineup.

Prior to 1997 and particularly in the early 1990s, short fields were common, and in fact in some years, the norm. In fact, up through and including the 1996 season, fields were virtually tailored to the individual race tracks and the method for determining the field and provisional starters underwent several changes.

The latest came on the eve of Bud Pole Qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway, when NASCAR officials announced that both Winston Cup and Busch Series teams would not be charged for provisional starting positions used if the field for an event was at the 43-car minimum or less. Teams currently have an eight-provisional limit, per procedures set forth in the official entry blanks.

In 1990, at superspeedway races -- that is, tracks of one-mile in length or over -- the entry blank called for positions 1-40 to be set in time trials. Only two provisional starting positions were available, primarily being set from the top-35 positions in car owner points.

For races on short tracks and road courses the method for determining the field varied slightly in the total number of entries, but the procedure was basically the same. West Coast races also had provisional positions for Winston West competitors, which used the same type race cars.

In 1991, the biggest change that occurred was the creation of the "Past Champion's Provisional," which allowed a car owner who had a former Winston Cup champion as his driver to take the 43rd starting position if his car had not otherwise qualified.

This provision came about in the backwash of seven-time Winston Cup champion Richard Petty's failure to qualify for the spring 1989 race at the Richmond International Raceway short track.

From 1991-1994, the standard superspeedway field was set in the same way. The Past Champion's Provisional was available at all events, though it was used sparingly in those first years. Petty was the only driver to use it in its first year, taking advantage of it three times to make starting fields.

The PCP was not used in 1992, Darrell Waltrip used it once in 1993 and it was cited five times in 1994: Three times by Bill Elliott, once by Waltrip and once by Terry Labonte.

In 1995 positions 1-38 on superspeedways were determined through time trials. Four provisional starting positions were now determined at all tracks primarily using the top-35 positions in the owners' standings. The option for a PCP was available at the back of the respective fields.

In 1996, the superspeedway qualifying procedure was the same but the basic provisional eligibility was extended to the top-40 in owners' points and the PCP was still an option.

As NASCAR officials analyzed the situation, they saw a need to standardize the number for a starting field, and for the 1997 season the number 42 was settled on -- using the same 1-38 from time trials and four provisionals. It came about after looking at a number of factors including the number of entries that were being filed at that time, the number of teams attempting to run full seasons, purse figures, the available pit stalls and garage space and track conditions in terms of raceability.

Through all these deliberations, the essence of NASCAR's consistent mode of operation was maintained, that is, ongoing discussions among the sanctioning body, competitors and track operators about what was feasible and desirable for the greatest benefit to all concerned.

"We do listen, and there's a lot of good ideas out there," Triplett said. "One of them that came about was using two pace cars to give the competitors throughout the entire field a better opportunity to get an accurate pit road speed reading on their tachometers.

"That came about through conversations with the competitors and an exchange of ideas."

1997 was also the last year in which the PCP was an option to be used if needed.

In 1998, for the first time, detailed language regarding the provisional starting system was contained in the entry blanks and there was also a big change in procedure that is maintained until the present. It called for positions 1-36 to be determined in time trials with seven provisionals to fill the field to 43 cars.

Since 1998, the provisional system has undergone changes such as imposing a limit on the number of provisional starting positions that can be used; including the PCP in that limit, which was not done in 1998, resulting in a public outcry when Waltrip used an exorbitant amount of them; and excluding teams in the top-25 in owners' points from having to count provisionals against their limit.

One thing the adjustment to 43-car fields has done is altering the pit configurations and procedures at a number of Winston Cup tracks. In the mid-1990s, five race tracks had two pit roads that were used during events: North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Sears Point Raceway, a road course in Sonoma, Calif.

Currently Rockingham, Darlington and Martinsville have redesigned their pit lanes to make them one continuous configuration.

For the first time, this weekend Bristol will use a different pit procedure under yellow flag conditions in an attempt to equalize the effect of pitting on the backstretch. Teams will have to use both the front and backstretch pit roads no matter which side of the race track on which they pit, entering in Turn 2 and exiting in Turn 1.

Under green flag conditions two pit roads will be used as has always been done.

Sears Point remains the only track that uses two pit roads under both green and yellow flag conditions.

Answer 2

it used to be 36 on tracks under one mile and 43 over 1 mile but since they run for points and money nascar decided it should be the same every week so 43 it is.

Answer 3

The number of cars used to be determined by the size of the track, with short tracks (less than a mile) starting only 36. The reason that NASCAR eventually came up with this odd number is that to encourage teams to attempt to start every race, provisional starting positions were given to cars which did not quality fast enough to be in the top 36, 38, or 40, but had accumulated enough "owner's points" in previous starts to be given a free pass to compete. Then one season, Richard Petty failed to qualify for a race based on either qualifying speed or provisional points, so the "past champion's provisional" was instituted and the final number set at 43. Like every other aspect of NASCAR "rules," this one has its origins in money. More cars means more entry fees. More cars means more sponsorship money. And allowing the "past champion's provisional" presumably causes fans to come to the track to see a favorite driver even if he is past his prime and cannot compete well enough to win or qualify. The flip side of the coin is that declining interest in NASCAR's two lower series has caused them to set the maximum starters at 40 (Xfinity) and 36 for Trucks, so as not to be embarrassed by short fields week after week. In other words, NASCAR never uses logic in making rules, but seeks to maximize its revenue and give the appearance of success in a dying sport.

Answer 4

43 Cars was decided on to keep smaller tracks less crowded. At Bristol the cars are crowded enough with 43 cars.

Answer 5

Thats not as many as they use to have, they use to have 50 to 60 cars on the track !

Answer 6

i'm not sure when it originated, but david t wins the prize for the longest answer in 'yahoo answers' history.

Answer 7

been like this since about 1998 I think.

Answer 8

everyone esle pretty much gave great answers so 2 points for me.

Answer 9

to make it more interesting....& they had to narrow it down 4 the drivers safty!

Answer 10

i think it has to do with safety issues.......