Head2Head: Ringers

Klaus Graf is entered in Sunday's race at Sonoma. Ever heard of him?

So are Butch Leitzinger, P.J. Jones, Ron Fellows and, of all people, Terry Labonte. They make up five of the eight road-course ringers who will make one of their annual appearances this weekend and do so each time the Nextel Cup Series stops at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Time to brush up on the entry list for the first time this season.

At the track where NASCAR turns right, experienced road racers often sit in for drivers whose teams are lower in the points. Graf is substituting for Mike Bliss. Leitzinger will be Jeremy Mayfield this week. The list goes on.

So is it good that a newbie takes the wheel instead of the driver these respective teams have "committed" to? Without question, the answer is a resounding yes.

First, ringers will do something each of these replaced drivers have proven they cannot: qualify the car.

Of the eight teams using ringers, seven of them must qualify based on their speed. Only Ron Fellows, who's driving the No. 96 instead of Tony Raines, is guaranteed a starting spot. Four of the ringer teams are replacing drivers who have repeatedly failed to qualify for races this year: Michael Waltrip has missed 12 races, Mike Bliss 11, Mayfield 10 and David Reutimann five.

A qualified car means the sponsor gets exposure in the race.

All of the must-qualify teams that are using ringers are fully funded. Sponsors write checks for upwards of $15 million annually for hood placement. Missing a race, according to research done by Joyce Julius & Associates, can cost a top-25 finisher as much as $7 million of advertising.

Of the six ringers who are replacing full-timers, four of them have an average finish of 25th or better; Jones and Brian Simo average 30.4 and 33.2, respectively. Total average: 23.5.

The average road-course finish for drivers they're replacing: 26.7.

That leads to coverage. In addition to the routine "here are the road-course ringers this weekend" story, it's a sure bet the teams will get a mention on TV during qualifying rather than the discrete commercial break.

And that's sure to equal air time during race coverage, something the subbed-out drivers -- and their sponsors -- haven't seen much of this season.

• Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM

I don't understand the point of "road-course ringers," I really don't.

The Nextel Cup season is 36 races, which includes a myriad of different tracks. You have the short tracks like Bristol and Martinsville, cookie-cutters like Atlanta and Homestead and restrictor-plate tracks Daytona and Talladega. There's even a triangle track in the Pocono Mountains that doesn't fit a "label."

At all these tracks, regular Cup guys drive their regular Cup cars each and every week. Until two weeks a year, when right turns are required, and all of a sudden certain Cup drivers have forgotten how to drive and need to be replaced.

This makes no sense to me.

What's the point of giving David Reutimann a full-time Cup ride if you're just going to yank him out of his car to let P.J. Jones take some laps in Wine Country?

Is Butch Leitzinger really going to do that much better for Bill Davis Racing than Jeremy Mayfield?

And the examples go on and on. Ron Fellows is in for Tony Raines, Klaus Graf for Mike Bliss, you get the idea.

If a driver can't drive a road-course race, maybe he should remain in the Busch Series.

Reutimann is the future of Michael Waltrip Racing, so it makes sense to get him as much seat time as possible at tracks like Sonoma.

Raines is putting together a top-20 season for HOF Racing, yet he can't make right and left turns simultaneously?

Of the six drivers who are subbing for Cup regulars this week, not one of them has ever won at Sonoma and the average finish for them is 24.0. Jones' best finish in four races at Sonoma is 25th and he has an average finish of 33.0. Brian Simo has an average of 29.3. Fellows' best finish at Sonoma is seventh and in five races, his average finish is 23.0.

Odds are the "road-course ringer" you put in the car isn't going to bring home a top-15 finish.

There is one exception, and that is Terry Labonte who is driving the No. 55 for Michael Waltrip Racing. One, he gives you an automatic starting spot with his champions provisional and two, he is successful at Sonoma with six top-fives.

The truth is it's better to stick with your guy than sub him out for someone who has yet to get behind the wheel of a stock car this season. Besides, your guy just may surprise you.

• Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM