LOUDON, N.H. — The midway point of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, which will be reached when race 18 of the 36 scheduled events takes the checkered flag at Daytona Int’l Speedway next week, doesn’t receive a lot of notice these days.
We end the season with the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup, which means everything. The preceding 10-race segment, beginning at NHIS, is tagged the Race to The Chase, which is a clever promotional phrase with no other significance. I guess that makes the first 16 events the Pace to the Race to The Chase, or something.
Halfway through the semester is the traditional time to issue midterm grades, and with the fanfare which attended its launch last winter, it’s fair to offer a midterm evaluation of the Toyota Nextel Cup program.
As in Fine Arts 101, the midterm grade is purely advisory. An “A” does not guarantee the dean’s list, nor does an “F” mean automatic probation and loss of fraternity privileges.
In assembling its Nextel Cup roster, Toyota cast its lot with one established team, Bill Davis Racing; a new team of well-known parts, Michael Waltrip Racing; and an all-new team whose glitter begged for a shop in Hollywood instead of Mooresville, Red Bull Racing. The firm also chose to enter the fray during a transitional year to the Car of Tomorrow, meaning a two-track development program.
The seven cars fielded by those three teams rank between 37th and 48th in Nextel Cup owner points. Every one of them has to scramble for a spot in the lineup every week. It hasn’t been pretty.
One of the few bright spots came in the Coca-Cola 600, in which Brian Vickers in the Red Bull No. 83 led 76 laps. Another was Friday at NHIS, where Dave Blaney grabbed Toyota’s first Nextel Cup Bud Pole in Bill Davis Racing’s Caterpillar No. 22. 
“Hopefully, this is the first step toward many successful days of poles and wins,” said Blaney after the pole run. “It’s been hard being out of the top 35 because it’s hard to concentrate on the races when you have to concentrate on getting into them. This is a big confidence booster for the while team,” he added.
The former World of Outlaws sprint-car champion credited a test earlier in the week at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. 
Blaney has qualified for all but two races, with a best finish of 11th at Richmond. The No. 22 team gets a midterm grade of “B,” with commendation for effort.
The other Bill Davis Racing entry, the 360 OTC No. 36 for Jeremy Mayfield, has qualified for only six races, including the road race at Infineon with Butch Leitzinger. The grade is “D minus.”
Michael Waltrip’s season with the NAPA Auto Parts No. 55 needs little review. In fact, there isn’t much to review since the car has made only four races, one with Terry Labonte at Infineon. Believing in mitigating circumstances, we’ll issue an “Incomplete” as Mikey’s midterm grade.
Dale Jarrett with the UPS No. 44 was a wise selection given the driver’s track record, talent, PR savvy and his past champion’s provisionals. Since exhausting his supply of free tickets to the dance, Jarrett has missed five of the last eight races. Still carrying himself with class, we give DJ a “D” for the first half.
David Reutimann has made 11 of 16 races in Waltrip’s third car, while P.J. Jones finished 12th in the car at Infineon. Granting extra credit for his excellent work in the Busch Series, Reutimann earns a “C plus.”
Which brings us to Red Bull Racing, home of the nearly identical No. 83 of Brian Vickers (nine-for-17 in making races, best finish of fifth) and A.J. Allmendinger (seven-for-17 in making races, best finish 31st at Michigan).
We’ll award Vickers a “C” and Allmendinger a “D minus” with sympathy for a career decision he probably shouldn’t have made.