NASCAR NEWS: It's qualify or else for crew chiefs

WANTED: A crew chief capable of qualifying his team for the first five races of the Nextel Cup season.

A crew chief who can't live up to this expectation need not apply because his 2007 tenure will be short-lived.

If you thought qualifying for the Chase was intense, watch the early-season time trials. With eight new full-time teams joining the entry list each week, qualifying will be pressure-packed and the responsibility for making the show will be on the crew chiefs.
The top 35 teams in the 2006 owners points standings are locked into the field, so the new teams must compete every week for the seven remaining positions. The top 35 in owners points will be reset after Race 5 at Bristol (a potential train wreck in itself because the Car of Tomorrow will debut). Unless they make that list, competing on race day will be anything but a lock for Jeremy Mayfield, Paul Menard, Joe Nemechek, Brian Vickers, A.J. Allmendinger, Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann, all drivers on new teams, as well as for veteran Sterling Marlin, who is outside the top 35. One new team has a sure thing: Dale Jarrett can use the former champion's provisional because the titleholders who followed him are safely established in points.

Obviously, teams that don't make the cut every week will have a difficult time making the exempt list. It used to be that an owner fired a driver if the team was struggling, but that's not the case anymore. Sponsors have too much invested in driver marketing and advertising campaigns to release a driver on a whim -- or after a bad race or two.
At the first indication a team is flagging, the spotlight turns to the crew chief. It's unfortunate, but releasing the crew chief often placates sponsors in the short term. And it doesn't matter how successful a crew chief has been in previous seasons.

Take veteran Roush Racing crew chief Jimmy Fennig. His success with Mark Martin and Kurt Busch was impressive, but Fennig never jelled with Jamie McMurray last season. So despite Fennig's solid reputation, he was shipped to Roush's Busch program in April. If Jack Roush could dismiss someone of Fennig's caliber that quickly, any crew chief is expendable.

The crew chiefs for the drivers outside the top 35 in owners points will be under the microscope all season, but they won't be alone. Any crew chief whose team fails to qualify for the Chase will come under scrutiny. With the stakes higher than ever in the Nextel Cup garage, win or walk is the dictum of the day.

Credit for story: NASCAR Expert Lee Spencer