Did payoffs come down as dusk fell at Daytona?

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Racers help racers -- that's just the way it is on any level of the sport: short track, speedway, NASCAR, IndyCar, Grand-Am or anywhere else.

But as rain fell late Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, it appeared that money talked, as five teams walked -- actually drove their transporters -- off the speedway grounds.

The tune this cash was singing was in the six-figure range -- probably almost a quarter-mil -- judging by the $2.7 million event purse, which would pay more than $45,000 per position just for starting.

That tells me someone had to offer that much financial incentive for an owner, who had already undergone the expense of bringing his car to Daytona and practicing it, to pack it up without racing in the season's biggest and most lucrative event.

The situation unfolded as a deluge of rain fell on the speedway, first forcing NASCAR officials to cancel a scheduled Cup practice and then several hours later, when they pulled the plug on Nationwide Series qualifying for Saturday's Drive4COPD 300.

The lineup would be set per the rule book, with the following parameters coming into play: The top-30 owners in the 2009 standings -- or teams they had "transferred" their points to -- got those spots. Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart, who won races last season, got the next two positions, followed by 2000 series champion Jeff Green.

The remaining 10 spots would go to the top 10 positions in the randomly-drawn qualifying order, if they were not already in the lineup.

So let the speculations begin. (Continued)