Did payoffs come down as dusk fell at Daytona?

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.

Paul Menard, who plans to run a full Nationwide schedule in a No. 98 Ford fielded by Roush Fenway Racing, in addition to a full Cup schedule in an identically-numbered 98 car for Richard Petty Motorsports, drew the 49th spot in the order, which originally included 56 cars.

By the un-luck of the draw, Menard—who finished sixth in points the last time he ran the full series, in 2006—was going to be on the sidelines. And all of a sudden, voila—five team representatives show up at the NASCAR office hauler to opt-out of their biggest payday of the season.

You'll never convince me the checkbook didn't come into play.

It almost smacks of something similar to point transfers. NASCAR offers guidance and facilitation, but says the points aren't "sold," even though there's an item of definite—to some people infinite—value changing hands.

Just don't ask for any details. One team manager who was in the middle of the "exchange" said it was "confidential—can't talk about it."

Nationwide Series director Joe Balash said several crew chiefs and/or car owners came to his mobile office to withdraw their entries and five of those petitions were accepted.

"In events, teams may work together with something like that," Balash said when asked if he could confirm any buyouts. "But whatever those arrangements are, are between the teams, so I don't really have any detail on what those arrangements are."

Whatever the payoffs were, it came without the risk of damage to the race cars or personnel, though in the case of the cars that planned to "start and park," the risk would be minimal.

The withdrawals included NEMCO Motorsports' second car, driven by Jeff Fuller, which drew the 32nd spot in the qualifying order and would've started 34th. Owner Joe Nemechek planned to run about 10 races this season with that car, so withdrawing and getting no credit for a qualifying attempt was no detriment to him.

The cars in 45th through 48th in the order were those of Jimmy Means Racing, which typically runs the majority of the races, but not all; a second car from K-Automotive Motorsports, which owner Brian Keselowski has likened to an ATM, entered to earn money for the team's primary No. 26, which he drives; Jay Robinson Racing's second car, another money-maker for primary JRR driver Kenny Wallace; and the Team 42 Racing car of rookie candidate Parker Kligerman, which is unsponsored and probably won't be able to do a full schedule.

So was this a bad thing? Absolutely not, since the skip-town owners got a paycheck. And Menard, who is a legitimate contender for a top-five championship finish, gets to race. But your heart breaks for the eight cars that had to pack up and go home, some of them sponsored, and at least a couple that had intentions of running the full season.

But just like it is for the fans, so it is for the competitors. You pays your money and you takes your chances—and Mother Nature spares no one.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.