Wood Bros. tread lightly around Cup's dividing line (cont'd)

"Bill called and said, 'What do you think?'" Wood recalled. "I said, 'You make the call. You're the one who came up with it.' That's how it happened, exactly. It was all his deal. I think that shows what kind of guy he is, because he gave up the race because he felt the outcome would be a little bit better with someone who road races every week. ... He's the one who ran into Boris that morning. We had nothing to do with it."

The result was a 14th-place finish that got Wood Brothers the two spots it needed. Wood, spotting on the backstretch, said Said took care of the car and realized he was racing not the leaders, but the other drivers like Dave Blaney and Patrick Carpentier competing to get their cars back in the top 35. In the waning laps, with Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman closing fast behind him, Said pulled aside and let them go by.

"That was honorable," Wood said. "It was all about getting points."

And now, for one week at least, Wood Brothers can worry less about qualifying and more about the race. When his car is outside the top 35, crew chief Michael McSwain is forced to spend about 90 percent of his practice time on qualifying runs, just trying to make the show. Now, when practice begins Friday at Michigan, the No. 21 team will be able to focus on race setup.

And Elliott will stay in the car. Although the organization had previously announced that Schrader would resume driving duties when the team regained a position inside the top 35, right now it's taking no chances. Each week when Wood receives an entry blank, he calls Elliott and asks if the 1988 series champion still wants to race. Elliott keeps saying yes.

"We're just going to see how things shake out," Wood said. "Once you get in the top 35, then the next problem is staying there. You can have a bad week and get bounced back out, and you're back where you were. It's really too early to guess what we're going to do next, because right now the concern is just staying in the top 35."

It always is, something teams on the good side of that dividing line just can't understand.

"If you've never been outside, you don't even think about it," Wood said. "Go ask somebody. Pick somebody that the team, the driver, the crew chief, the whole group has never really been out. I'm sure they never think about it, and you wouldn't, until you've lived it. You know how they say until you walk in someone else's shoes, you don't know what they feel like? That's how the top 35 is, bad walking."