Changes to Top-35 Rule Analyzed: Amid growing unrest among team owners on the wrong side of NASCAR's rule guaranteeing the top 35 teams spots in each Nextel Cup field, a Charlotte Observer analysis of several potential alterations leads to the same conclusion. In the first 10 races this season, traditional qualifying was held eight times. The exceptions were the Daytona 500, which has its own procedure, and at Texas, where qualifying was rained out. For the eight races in which traditional qualifying was held, 8.1% of the cars making the fields would have changed if NASCAR had allowed in the fastest 43. Only 7.6% would have differed if the top 12 teams were exempt, and it would've been only 6.4% if the top 25 were exempt. If NASCAR were using its old format, with 36 cars qualifying on speed and seven provisionals, there would have been a 3.5% difference. If the rules had been different early this year, #55-Michael Waltrip would have had the most to gain under virtually any scenario. He missed all eight races analyzed would have made five of those with no exemptions, 12 exemptions or 25 exemptions. At the same time, those tweaks would have knocked Kyle Petty and Robby Gordon out of as many as four races they made, depending on which change had been employed. (Charlotte Observer)