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NASCAR bans all testing for first half of 2009 season
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Published: November 14, 2008
Updated: 11/14/2008 06:34 pm
NASCAR is banning testing for at least the first half of the 2009 season at all Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck series tracks, officials told teams yesterday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The ban includes the cancellation of January testing at Daytona, NASCAR-affiliated tracks, such as Kentucky Speedway and Nashville, and tracks used for the lower-tier Camping World East and West series.
With that surprise, and Jimmie Johnson's anticipated third straight Sprint Cup championship on tap Sunday evening, the action on the track this weekend — barring anything highly unusual — probably will take a backseat.
Toyota drivers David Reutimann and rookie Scott Speed took the front row yesterday for the Ford 400, just ahead Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, who still look like the race favorites because this historically has been a Roush-Ford track.
"I have had only nine laps at this track ever," Speed said after just missing the pole by just a blink. "My qualifying record is 30-30-30-2, so I don't think I'll be giving anyone any advice soon."
Teams said they were told that the testing ban is to be reviewed in June. NASCAR president Mike Helton said that the plan is for the ban to run the entire year. NASCAR says more details will be coming.
"Economic conditions have led us to this decision," Helton said. "There was an urgency we felt to tell the teams and the industry of the decision to suspend testing, before this weekend was complete, because Monday morning, everyone's focus is on 2009. Hopefully it's a temporary situation."
The move is a complete reversal from NASCAR's plans of a few weeks ago, to open testing for as many as 24 days each season. Now Cup teams and crew chiefs are scrambling to figure out what to do next, and several were skeptical about how such a ban might really play out.
Todd Berrier, the crew chief for Kevin Harvick, says that the ban will cost teams jobs — the smaller teams in particular. "We'll put 1,000 people out of work on the lesser teams," he said. "And in turn those people won't be able to come to these other teams to look for jobs, because they'll be cutting jobs, too."
Teams say they typically spend about $100,000 on a major test; there have been seven such tests a year in recent seasons. NASCAR's Brian France estimates that a total testing ban could save $30 million to $40 million over a season.
However previous attempts by NASCAR to limit or ban testing backfired and exacerbated the situation — instead of teams testing at NASCAR tracks around the Carolinas, they loaded up their haulers and planes and started combing the country for other test tracks — a major escalation of costs that increased the gap between the big, well-funded teams and the smaller operations.
The big-dollar teams also expanded their technological operations, hiring more engineers and computer specialists, buying more very expensive machinery, and expanding computer simulation projects to take the place of testing.
An even wider ban on testing would be expected to make all those expensive options even more critical.
Greg Zipadelli, Tony Stewart's crew chief, said: "Really, testing at the right track with the right tire is the cheapest R&D."
And that's just what NASCAR had planned for 2009, until a few weeks ago when the impact of the U.S. economic slump hit harder.
Jimmie Johnson says that the testing limit "is a mistake."
"Teams need a chance to work on their cars," he said. "If we'd had this rule this year, with all the development work that needed to be done … I don't think we'd be where we are today.
"I am shocked."
Jeff Burton said: "Testing is a way for a struggling team to improve. I'm not sure of the consequences of a testing ban. But we are in severe times, and we need severe actions…. While I agree with the policy (the ban), I am nervous about it."
Carl Edwards called the decision "a great move."
When faced with earlier testing limits, car owners Roger Penske and Jack Roush laid plans to build their own test tracks, in the Carolinas. Those plans might well be revived.
For now, crew chiefs are telling their crews to cancel any plans for December vacations, because they plan to test as much as possible before the Jan. 1 ban.
NASCAR tried limit testing last year but that move backfired. Roush took NASCAR at its word, that any teams testing would be "dealt with" and then discovered that NASCAR was not cracking down on the major testing program that Rick Hendrick had quickly put in place. Hendrick's teams dominated, and when Roush finally started testing in June, his teams started running better.
Team managers say that the huge test teams of each owner — Joe Gibbs, for example, has a 130-man research and development department — will certainly be hit hard, and many of those jobs are expected to be cut in the coming weeks. The day after Sunday's season finale is already being billed as Black Monday, with perhaps 1,000 crewmen expected to get fired. The ban could soon put more out of work.
However, some of the "test" teams could now become regular Cup teams, running races as part of a test program, and that might help the smallest teams. Since tour fields are expected to be rather small next season with sponsorships drying up, it might be easier for a driver to make a field.
Rockingham Speedway, where new owner Andy Hillenburg has just built a Martinsville-type track next to the big one-mile oval, already has been booked for 70 test dates by a major NASCAR Cup team, whose identity is not yet known. Hillenburg is also building a road course.
And it is not unlikely that tracks overseas could be used for testing. In the past, teams have shipped cars to Europe for special testing, despite NASCAR's disapproval.
The biggest problem with testing would be getting tires, since Goodyear is the sole NASCAR supplier. However when NASCAR attempted to limit testing two years ago by limiting tires, Cup teams made deals with Michelin and Hoosier for tires and continued testing.
NASCAR executives could be missing the most logical economic solution to the expense of testing — make a deal with Bruton Smith to open Concord's Lowe's Motor Speedway for testing year-round. That track is within easy driving distance of virtually every team. One stumbling block might be politics, because Lowe's is not a France family track.
Richard "Slugger" Labbe, who is helping run Speed's Red Bull team, says that Rockingham is suddenly really hot. "You can still go to Rockingham, and Virginia International Raceway," Labbe said. "And there is that new track being built in New Jersey — New Jersey Motorsports Park, where ARCA teams run…. There are a lot of places to test … but it comes back to tires."
Berrier says: "The intent of the rule is not to test. So we need to submit questions to them, like, 'Can we test at Caraway?'"
Berrier indicated that NASCAR planned to deal sternly with violators.
"It's not going to be like you just made a mistake by showing up to test," Berrier said. "They will define this in a manner so they can limit it … at least till midseason.
"But there's nothing to stop Rick Hendrick, say, from building a test track. And you can't tell him he can't test at a track he owns."
Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
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