More on the importance of qualifying

NASCAR has now limited the number of champion's provisionals a driver can use in a season to six, according to this article in USA Today on-line.
This is a much needed step, in my opinion, and, to paraphrase Michael Waltrip, if you can't get in on qualifying time after six races, you are not having a good year and you need to do something about your program.
With all the teams that will be trying to qualify in every race this year, the championship provisional is just an added problem. NASCAR has been getting increasingly competitive over the past few years, and no driver really wants to be there as a "place marker." Six is a reasonable number at which to cap the provisionals.
Those of us who want to see Dale Jarrett do well with MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) and Toyota need to have faith that the equipment is good enough for Dale to make it work. This just adds more excitement to the sport, which is a good thing.