Ultra late with PIR entry; may not receive points

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Unless NASCAR issues a reprieve, Jimmy Spencer and Ultra Motorsports won't earn any points in this Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500, not even if they win the race.

	Jimmy Spencer is currently in 29th place in the standings, nine points out of 28th. Credit: Autostock

Spencer's team is listed as a "post-entry" this weekend because NASCAR did not receive the official entry blank before the deadline, which is seven days before qualifying.

Teams are required to submit an entry blank for each race, with the deadline anywhere from seven to 10 days before qualifying. If an entry blank is received after the deadline, neither driver nor owner points are awarded.

"The black-and-white language on an entry blank reflects that if the entry is not received on time that championship points are not rewarded," Winston Cup director John Darby said. "However, there's a lot of outside circumstances that we need to look at to make that judgment."

Ultra Motorsports owner Jim Smith and crew chief Tommy Baldwin met briefly with Darby after Winston Cup Happy Hour on Saturday. But Smith said nothing had been worked out yet, but he was hopeful NASCAR would decide to award the team points.

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Entry blanks are typically mailed in, and Darby understands that problems can arise.

"It would be really quick to assume that we'd be quick to drop a gavel on that type of situation without thoroughly understanding and checking and re-checking the whole system," Darby said.

Darby said the any change in the status of the team would be released when the official race report is sent out Monday.

"They're currently listed as a post-entry, but that just on the very surface," Darby said. "We will go back and understand the whole process and try to make sense of it all before we make a final decision."

Smith said he wasn't sure why the entry blank wasn't sent in on time. The team was surprised to learn they were a post-entry when they got to Phoenix, and Smith and Baldwin immediately went to NASCAR to try to rectify the situation.

An entry list reported that Spencer's entry blank was not received on Monday. By Wednesday, the team had submitted it.