HAMPTON, Ga. -- Forty-five teams made the trek this week to Hampton, Ga., and Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500, and 45 drivers and crew chiefs knew what could happen Friday -- Cup qualifying could be washed out for a record 10th time this season, and the lineup would be set by owner points.

“

To say, 'You know, we can rearrange track practice and put everything in the way we want it,' but there's a lot more factors involved.

”

TONY RAINES

A heavy rain fell at the track overnight Thursday and in the early morning Friday but things looked good as the day went on. Rain avoided the track for most of Friday and at 5:09 p.m. ET, Cup practice finally started. Nine minutes later, a heavy mist started to fall at the track and NASCAR finally declared the racetrack lost for the day a couple minutes after 6 p.m. ET.

Rain has always been a problem for NASCAR, but this season it's gone to the extreme -- especially in the Chase. Yet a solution seems to be a long way off. Most drivers agree something needs to be and could be done; it's what that solution is they're not sure of.

"Until they put a roof over the place I don't see you getting away from it," said Tony Raines, who made the field, albeit barely, as he will start Sunday's race 43rd. "When you're running two or three classes at the racetrack, it's just the way it is. It's unfortunate for the two or four guys who get caught up in it because everybody is locked in that's in the top 35, but everybody knows that showing up. It's just Mother Nature and you got to play the hand you're dealt."

Raines has been on both sides of the fence. He missed recent races at New Hampshire and Richmond because of rain, but admitted there is no easy fix.

"They could alter the schedule; they've done it many, many times. But when you sit on [the executive] side of the track and look at all the logistics that go into getting people here to do the track drying, it's a lot harder than it looks," Raines said. "To say, 'You know, we can rearrange track practice and put everything in the way we want it,' but there's a lot more factors involved. Police being there to handle traffic in and out -- there's a lot of factors that go into it, so it's not as easy as it looks."

Greg Biffle, currently second in the Cup Series standings at 149 points behind Jimmie Johnson, finds it frustrating the guy at the top gets all the breaks. But like Raines, Biffle isn't sure how to fix it.

"We can all sit and look at it and try to figure out a better way of doing it, but the reality is there really isn't," Biffle said. "We have so many hours that we can use this racetrack without coming a day earlier, and there's really no way in guaranteeing that we're gonna be able to get qualifying in.

"The thing that does stink about it is, obviously, Jimmie Johnson gets that first pit box and it's a distinct advantage on pit road to have that first pit box. I'm not saying he wouldn't qualify there, but somebody else might. But that's the only thing that I can see as a disadvantage."

Despite the drawbacks to canceling qualifying, Biffle said it's necessary because practice is more important.

"It's obvious that we cannot race a 500-mile race without having any practice, so that is the most important thing," Biffle said. "We have got to have practice, otherwise we're not racing. Obviously, they're both important, but there's nothing we can do about the weather and qualifying."

Jeff Burton agreed with Biffle that practice needed to trump qualifying.

"I think it's way more important to get practice and get ready for a race," said Burton, who will start Sunday's race third. "I do understand if you're 44th in points and you go home and you didn't get a chance to qualify that you don't feel very good about that. On the other hand, I do believe protecting the best 42 or 43 teams -- there is nothing wrong with that.

"If you're going to put people in the situation where they have limited time to get ready for qualifying, I think it's more fair to take care of the teams that try to attempt every race and are higher in points than others. I'm OK with letting it be done on Friday. If it doesn't get done on Friday then it's over. I think that ultimately takes care of the teams that have done the best job."

One who would argue with that mindset is Joey Logano, who once again lost an opportunity to make his Joe Gibbs Racing debut in a Cup car (he's ran two Cup races with Hall of Fame Racing). Logano, along with Bryan Clauson, were the two drivers sent home from AMS when NASCAR canceled qualifying, but even Logano doesn't have an answer for the qualifying conundrum.

"I haven't been here long enough to really say what I think should happen. I really don't know," Logano said. "I've only ran a few races here, so that's not my call. That's NASCAR's decision.

"It's a bummer but something you can't control, so you can't get too upset about it. If it's something I did wrong, I would be more upset about it, but it is what it is."

The biggest benefactor in a qualifying rainout is the points leader, currently Johnson. But he would like to see changes made, specifically with those racing their way into the field.

"I do believe that there needs to be a change," Johnson said. "I think a good compromise -- and it's been floated around here lately -- is qualify go-or-go-homers on Saturday and impound their cars if we're rained out on Friday. [Saturday] we can spend 20 minutes, run those guys, let them earn their way in the show and go. I think it can be addressed and looked at, and I kind of feel like if there is enough attention on it that something will be done."

Johnson doesn't want to see too many changes, though -- he likes things just the way they are at the top of the standings.

"When it comes to a rain delay," Johnson said, "the top 12 guys, everybody has earned that right to start where they're at."