Smith, Gilliland rate raves on the top-35 firing line

There's not an event throughout the 36-race Sprint Cup schedule where NASCAR's begrimed top-35 rule doesn't loom over the landscape like King Kong perched atop the Empire State Building.

It smells about that bad, too.

Smith and Gilliland

But as the 2009 season creeps toward Race 6 at Martinsville -- the first event where the current year's owners' points will be used to set the 35 guaranteed starting positions -- it's time to recognize some significant accomplishments by a couple of the sport's smaller organizations.

Specifically, Furniture Row Racing and TRG Motorsports.

Mayfield Motorsports, Tommy Baldwin Racing and Prism Motorsports and, to a much lesser degree, Yates Racing did great things by making the first two races of the season, including the Daytona 500. But once they got in, they didn't deliver the needed results. So when they all missed the third event, last weekend at Las Vegas, the impact was more severe.

Furniture Row's Regan Smith and TRG's David Gilliland -- who has quickly made like Lazarus -- however, delivered. And the official owner standings reflect that. Barney Visser's No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team is 35th and, since they're only racing a limited schedule, it really puts Kevin Buckler's 36th place No. 71 TRG team into "the select few."

On the one hand, starting the season successfully was a great financial windfall for last weekend's "fallen four" -- particularly for owners Jeremy Mayfield and Baldwin, who came to Daytona without having a payroll to put employees on. But certainly lessening that impact was the massive expense of even attempting a Cup Series race, never mind the sport's marquis event.

Making the show is a big deal, sure, but from Yates' perspective the mitigating factors are several, when stacked against what the other go-or-go-home organizations face.

The biggest ones are the fact that they're powered by the in-house engine company, Roush Yates Engines, which swept the front row for the 500 in 2007 and won the last restrictor-plate pole of 2008. They use top-of-the-line Roush Fenway Racing chassis. Travis Kvapil's No. 28 team also is part of what amounts to a three-car team operating out of Yates' shop, though one carries the Hall of Fame Racing brand.

Prism, of course, had a trump card up its sleeve at Daytona -- two-time series champion Terry Labonte. So when its car was too slow to get in on merit it still made the 500 with the past champion provisional. But that makes Dave Blaney's achievement at California, where he easily qualified the team's car, all the more notable.

And if you want to take special note, then don't miss the fact that NEMCO Motorsports, Gunselman Motorsports, BlackJack Racing, H&S Motorsports, Phoenix Racing and M&J Motorsports have attempted all three events so far -- and the latter four haven't made any.

You just can't discount how debilitating that is, though in Phoenix and M&J's favor, they both have successful Nationwide Series programs. M&J-affiliated Front Row Motorsports in the Cup Series has used its purchased guaranteed status to stunning effect with the capable John Andretti behind the wheel. (Continued)