Scott Wimmer and crew chief Chris Carrier got their season under way at Fontana. Credit: Autostock

Wimmer, Riggs still haunted by Daytona

FONTANA, Calif. -- Scott Wimmer experienced that old feeling of dread when he first climbed into his No. 4 Chevrolet for Speedweeks this month.

He had missed races before, but it wasn't that big a deal. This was different. This was the Daytona 500, and missing the Daytona 500 was going to make it very difficult for his team to remain in the top 35 for the entire year.

Wimmer's No. 4 Chevrolet finished 39th at California. Credit: Autostock

Even as Morgan-McClure Motorsports began to fade from the NASCAR elite, the team still did reasonably well at certain tracks. Driver Mike Wallace even made a late charge in the No. 4 Chevrolet in the July 2005 race at Daytona, finishing eighth, which resulted in McClure's small group of guys shouting at the sky when Wallace screamed by their pit at take the checkered.

But things continue to get tougher and tougher, especially for Wimmer, who knew right away that the team absolutely had to make the Daytona 500 in order to have much of a shot to stay in the top 35 in points for the entire year.

It wasn't always this way, but the top 35 rule -- which guarantees weekly spots to the teams in the top 35 in owners points -- assures hardship to those fighting for the eight remaining spots each week.

Teams like Wimmer's are forced to take baby steps early in the year, but at Daytona, they fell hard. The car simply wouldn't go fast. Other teams noticed that fact right away, and no one was willing to draft with Wimmer in the qualifying races.

Essentially, he never had a chance, and very few noticed when Morgan-McClure missed its first Daytona 500 in 23 years.

Wimmer didn't come to Morgan-McClure merely to ride around and collect the large checks that are awarded to all Nextel Cup competitors. He wanted to better his career by showing that his skill could help make up the natural disadvantage of a single-car team.

But no amount of skill could overcome the complicated qualifying prerequisites that his car couldn't meet to get into the show.

"I was pretty dejected," Wimmer said, who finished third at Daytona in his rookie season. "We didn't have a lot of help and it was really tough."

If a Nextel Cup race is like having salt poured into an open wound, then missing Daytona is like diving into a pool of razor blades. It is considerably easier to make subsequent races, because far fewer cars attempt them.

"I got pretty mad. Right after qualifying I wanted to head home," Wimmer said. "I wanted to jump in the car and drive home. My wife calmed me down a little bit."

Wimmer had a temporary distraction for his disappointment -- his younger brother Chris, who was trying to qualify for the Daytona Busch race.

He didn't make it either.

"It wasn't a good Speedweeks for the Wimmers," Wimmer deadpanned. "We packed up and went home."

He would be watching the race on TV like everyone else, all the while knowing his team would likely face a weekly battle of merely trying to make races.

Riggs: 'We all took it on the chin as a team'.

It is hard to tell whose DNQ hurt worse at Daytona: Wimmer, or Scott Riggs, who finished fourth in the Daytona 500 last year.

Riggs brought heavy-duty sponsor Valvoline to Ray Evernham's third team, and their Dodge was fast as hell all during January testing.

Scott Riggs bounced back with a 19th-place finish out west. Credit: Autostock

But the car broke a gear in qualifying -- Riggs says there are several different theories as to why -- and a bad pit stop in the qualifying races sent him home.

Well, not home right away. Riggs had the painful job of remaining in Daytona to attend sponsor functions relating to the Daytona 500.

"It was tough because I had to get up in front of all the people from Valvoline and Stanley and tell them Friday how our team was wonderful and how we have all the people and pieces that we need, but yet at the same time, we did make mistakes that kept us from making the Daytona 500," Riggs said.

He made it home in time to watch the race on TV, though, and he took a small comfort in the fact that several large teams suffered bad finishes.

"I felt down because I wasn't in the race, but after watching what transpired and how so many cars got wrecked and guys that had great cars got wadded up and didn't finish very good, looking back at it, they are only a few points ahead of me," Riggs said. "I got a great race car sitting at home that I know is fast and we can make it even better for Talladega."

Like everyone else, Riggs cringed when he saw Matt Kenseth's car spinning towards traffic after a bump from Tony Stewart.

Riggs, who demolished a car last year in the fall Talladega race, knows what it is like to get hit by a train of cars at a restrictor-plate track.

"I was thinking, 'Oh man, here it comes. This is bad. This is going to be ugly.'"

On to Fontana, and another stressful week

Scott Wimmer was at ease last Friday at Fontana because his car was decent enough to get into the show. Still, teams like his have learned to hold their breath until they are absolutely sure it is time to celebrate.

Wimmer qualified 38th, helping knock PPI Motorsports out of the show. PPI's hauler had been parked next to Wimmer's that day.

Riggs had a fast car and qualified 14th. It would have been a top-10 qualifying lap, he said, but he couldn't risk pushing the car.

He didn't want to watch the race on TV for the second straight week.