Michael Waltrip's plight last weekend at Talladega is a clear example of why NASCAR's qualifying system has to change.

Waltrip was 20th in speed out of the 52 drivers who made a qualifying attempt, but he didn't make the race. Twenty-four drivers who posted a slower qualifying lap than Waltrip made the field.

That's a travesty. If you turn a qualifying lap faster than 60 percent of the competitors, you should make the race. Period.

Waltrip's speed was 190.045 mph in the No. 55 Toyota. Paul Menard was the driver one spot ahead of Waltrip in speed at .034 seconds faster, but Menard started 19th in the 43-car field.

Yes, that's how it works, believe it or not.

Jeff Burton's qualifying lap was only 186.579 mph, but he got in because he ranks second in the points standings. The top 35 in points have a guaranteed spot.

Basically, qualifying meant nothing to Burton and his team, especially since Talladega was an impound race. Teams could not make adjustments to the cars from the end of qualifying until the start of the race.

So any team that had a guaranteed spot could qualify in its race setup. Why waste time on qualifying trim when you're going to change 20 spots in 10 laps anyway in a restrictor-plate race?

NASCAR officials said at Talladega they are considering several options to change the qualifying procedure. They should do it now because fairness is missing from the current format.