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The 11th-hour withdrawal of a two-car team, WPS Racing, has left just 29 cars entered in this first round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship.
It's the smallest field ever in the Adelaide 500, the inaugural race in 1999 having 40 starters, selected by qualifying from 54 entrants.
Since then, the strict licence-franchise arrangements to have a car on the grid has capped the field at 32.
In recent years, the sport's governing body, V8 Supercars Australia, has kept one licence in reserve as 31 cars have raced.
However, the late withdrawal last week of the WPS outfit run by Queensland businessman Graig Gore has cut two cars from the field, not allowing enough time for any aspiring team to get the backing to take over the available licences.
It also means that popular driver and former Bathurst race winner Jason Bargwanna has been robbed of being among the handful of drivers to contest all 10 years of the Adelaide 500. The other driver left marooned is Max Wilson.
Gore, 41, cited health reasons and business commitments for pulling out. He suffered an inner-ear injury.
V8 Supercars Australia spokesman Cole Hitchcock argued yesterday that a 29-car field would still provide a good sight and a good race in Adelaide.
“It's not desirable,” he said of the late withdrawal.
“But 29 cars is not an issue. It won't lessen the spectator appeal or the racing itself,” Hitchcock said.
In turn, each of those teams will sell their current “level-two” licences back to V8 Supercars Australia who can then sell them to new entrants if approved.
A level-one licence gives a team greater rights and a greater share of V8 Supercars Australia dividends.
Team BOC, run by Brad and Kim Jones, was quick to pounce, yesterday announcing it had secured the WOW sponsorship that had been with the WPS team.
The sponsor is making a last-minute move to the Team BOC stable, which already has new life breathed into it by switching from Falcon to Holden, getting two near-new VE Commodores from Holden Racing Team. Experienced Cameron McConville will drive one of the cars.
Clipsal 500 chief executive Andrew Daniels said he would prefer a full grid but the matter was out of the hands of the Adelaide race promoters.
“We would love a full field of 32 cars. But 29 is not an issue. They are all professional teams and they'll have good, close racing.
“The privateers are disappearing from the top ranks, leaving the more-professional teams whose cars have greater reliability and aren't likely to fall out of he race.”
