 | | After finishes of 31st, 29th and 28th to start the year, John Andretti failed to make the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta. Credit: Autostock |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
March 31, 2005
10:58 AM EST (15:58 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- ppc Racing, which made a robust entry to the Nextel Cup Series last year with John Andretti, has announced a cutback in its plans to attempt the full 36-race 2005 schedule, effective immediately. The team, which also fields three entries in the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series, hinted at sponsorship issues when it withdrew its entry of Andretti's No. 14 VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford from Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. "This will also allow our primary cup sponsor to regroup their sponsorship package for the remainder of the year," ppc co-owner Greg Pollex said. "In the near future we will announce a part-time schedule for this year and return stronger than ever full-time in 2006." The team also fields Busch Series programs for Kenny Wallace, whose No. 22 Stacker 2 Ford is sixth in the standings and Michel Jourdain Jr., whose unsponsored No. 10 Taurus is 20th; and in the Truck Series for Terry Cook, whose No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel Ford is 12th. Pollex noted those programs would continue with "no direct affect from today's announcement." The Cup program, however, after a strong debut late in the 2004 season, has struggled in 2005. Pollex also cited changes in NASCAR procedures as part of the decision. The team's program was introduced at Lowe's Motor Speedway last fall, and Andretti made the first of four late-season starts there. In the five races the team attempted, Andretti never qualified worse than 23rd. His finishes ranged from 20th to 31st. The team missed one race, when Bud Pole Qualifying at Darlington was rained out and it did not have enough owner points to earn a provisional starting spot. A new NASCAR method of setting starting lineups in 2005 -- which dictated in the first five races of the season, the top-35 finishers in the 2004 car owner points would be guaranteed starting positions -- adversely affected ppc when Andretti wasn't fast enough to claim one of the eight available positions at Atlanta. An accident in the season opening Daytona 500 relegated Andretti to his worst finish, 31st; but results of 29th and 28th at California and Las Vegas and missing the Atlanta race have put Andretti in 38th place in the driver standings and Pollex in 37th in the critical owner standings. With 51 cars entered at Bristol, Andretti would have been one of 16 cars trying for eight positions. Due to last year's selection of races, ppc has yet to contest a Cup short track race. "We started our Cup program last year with the No. 14 car with the intent of being competitive and we want to continue that initiative in 2005," Pollex said. "We did not anticipate the major shift in the qualifying rules, which force a non-locked-in team to qualify for a race or to go home -- as happened to us in Atlanta. "The combination of the new qualifying rules and the fact that most events are impound races is a combination that does not work when you are forced to use a qualifying setup just to make the field (because) a qualifying setup will not race competitively. "We have decided to turn our efforts to improving downforce on our bodies to assist in the qualifying effort." | 
