In a move that should help ensure full 43-car fields throughout the 36-race season, NASCAR announced Tuesday it will raise from 36 to 38 the number of cars that qualify for races based on speed in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series.

The move reduces the number of cars forced to use provisionals at each race, going from seven under the old system to five for '04. Provisionals, which set the field based on owner points, are used when a driver fails to post a fast enough qualifying time.

Since each driver has a limited number of provisionals available for the season, the rule change will reduce the likelihood of drivers running out of provisionals and missing races.

The past champion's provisional will remain in place for the 43rd and final starting position when applicable.

New car owners and those not among the top 45 in owner standings must now attempt to qualify at four events before becoming eligible for provisionals, NASCAR also announced during team testing sessions at Daytona. After making four qualifying attempts, the car owner receives two provisionals and can earn up to eight with additional qualifying tries.

Also tweaked was the provisional system for car owners in the top 45. Those owners, who start with four at the beginning of the season, can now earn up to 10 provisionals -- the old system allowed a maximum of eight.

In the event a 43-car field is not reached for any given race, provisionals used to fill positions 39 through 43 will no longer count against the season allotment, NASCAR said.

Teams also will be allowed four single-day tests, a new wrinkle for '04, while the five two-day test periods will remain unchanged from previous years.

Highs and lows
Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip had an up-and-down testing session Tuesday. First, he crashed his car, then posted the fastest time of the day.

Waltrip, the defending champion of the race, crashed in the morning session when he dropped an oil line and hit the outside wall.

"It happened so fast I really didn't know what went on,'' Waltrip said. "I went down in the turn and a little bit of smoke puffed up and I was in the wall. I was down the back straightaway before I finally figured out what happened and we had a pretty major oil event under the hood that messed that car up.''

Waltrip rebounded by turning the fastest lap later in the session, going 186.834 mph in his No. 15 Chevrolet.

He led Jeff Green (185.835), Joe Nemechek (185.494), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (184.926) and three-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Jarrett (184.740).

Indy on hold
Former Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart said Tuesday he will put his quest to win the Indianapolis 500 on hold until his NASCAR career is over.

Stewart has twice run both the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 on the same day in an attempt to fulfill his childhood dream of winning at Indianapolis.

But he's decided he'll sit out the May open-wheel race until the day he retires from the Nextel Cup series.

"It's not fair to the team,'' he said. "As many people as we keep adding every year and as competitive as Cup racing gets every year ... just the threat of something happening is what is keeping me from doing it.

"And, the technology of IRL keeps growing. The last time I did it, it took me two days to get acclimated to the way they worked and the way they operated versus two years before that when I was running with my own team.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.