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NASCAR Notebook: Crews to be tested by more, uh, testing
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Published: October 20, 2008
■ Pilots in the NASCAR tour's "Air Force" are braced for overtime next season, shuttling drivers and crews between race tracks and test tracks, as NASCAR dramatically expands its pre-race testing rules.
Testing is a pain, time and money consuming, but NASCAR teams have to endure it and in 2009 there will likely be more mid-week Sprint Cup testing than in the past 10 years.
NASCAR hasn't delineated the exact testing policy, but apparently it will allow teams to test at any of the tour tracks, for a total of about 24 days a team per season. There are 23 tracks on the tour, so teams should be able to test everywhere.
The day after teams run the February race at California's Fontana track they'll be shuttling fast back to Atlanta to test instead of just driving three hours up the road to Las Vegas, the next tour stop. And then they'll shuttle back to Vegas. And then back to Bristol to test and then to Atlanta to race and so on and so on.
■ So how about moving NASCAR's annual All-Star race to Texas Motor Speedway?
Sure, Concord officials might complain, but that market has three major NASCAR Cup races, and it doesn't sell out all its seats. Logical business would be to cut a race, and make the remaining seats more valuable.
Track owner Bruton Smith could take one of those Texas Cup weekends and move it to his newly purchased Kentucky Speedway, and then move the May All-Star race from Lowe's Motor Speedway down to Texas.
Certainly something has to shake out if Smith is to maximize his investment in the Kentucky track.
■ The NASCAR Frances, on the other hand, are looking for a Cup date to move to their own Kansas City track, now that they've got the OK for a Hard Rock Casino at that speedway.
And whenever the stock car tour comes to tiny Martinsville Speedway, where the race day traffic madness defies the fact that this track, with 62,000 seats, has the smallest capacity on the circuit, the inevitable question is how much longer can Clay Campbell, whose grandfather built this place, hold on to his two Cup dates.
At least two more years, it would seem, with yesterday's announcement that GlaxoSmithKline's Tums/Goodys division will sponsor Cup races here in 2009 and 2010.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., on Martinsville: "There is something about this place … it has a lot of history. But so did Darlington, and it didn't stand the test of time, as far as two Cup dates.
"There will be a day when I think this track probably will lose a date. But it is unfortunate.
"We still see some of the most exciting racing of the year at Richmond. And you don't have a problem ever selling out Bristol, where you do at probably 80 percent of the other tracks.
"Somebody really needs to wake up and see what is going on: Get some more short tracks back in this series.
"A couple years back they really latched on to something unique when they ground the bottom groove, and you had a second groove that was actually preferable. There was a lot of side-by-side racing, even the ability to pass on the second groove.
"They don't have that now, once they fixed the surface. It is back to really just getting around the bottom the best you can.
"So this track lacks some of the characteristics that keeps it from becoming a Bristol or a Richmond."
■ If the General Motors merger/buyout of Chrysler does go through, and well it might, perhaps by Nov. 4, what happens to all those NASCAR Dodge teams?
MoPar fans have certainly been making their voices heard. NASCAR would be remiss to dismiss them.
Dodge racing executives haven't had much to say lately about the situation.
And what might happen to Dodge's various NASCAR contracts if Chrysler is sold to GM is up in the air. Dodge has a number of long-term contracts in place, and just a few weeks ago Dodge officials insisted things were fine.
However, George Gillett, who with minority owner Ray Evernham (20 percent, perhaps to shrink to 10) has been Dodge's anchor in NASCAR, is on the verge of making a deal to run Toyotas next season. That would put Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorensen in the Toyota camp.
Petty Enterprises appears on track to merge -- somehow -- with Dale Earnhardt Inc., which would apparently turn the Petty Dodges into Chevrolets. Or maybe it's just Kyle Petty merging. Richard Petty didn't have much to say about the DEI report; he didn't deny the talks, but he insisted he didn't have to panic about things: "We did our panicking last year. That's why we did the deal with Boston Ventures. We're ahead of the curve." There appears to be considerable internal disagreement between the father and son about the next business steps to take, though Bobby Labonte still has no sponsor for 2009, and Kyle Petty apparently is trying to leave Petty Enterprises at the end of the year and take the company's only full sponsor, Wells Fargo, with him.
■ Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup tour champion, hasn't done much during his nearly four years with car owner Roger Penske, at least little as spectacular as during his early years on the tour.
However Walt Czarnecki, a top Penske executive, denies speculation Busch might be with another team next season.
There are reports that at least one top team would be interested in talking with Busch if his Penske contract were up.
But Czarnecki calls it "categorically untrue" that Busch might be moving on.
Busch -- Kyle's older brother -- finished second in the Daytona 500 behind teammate Ryan Newman. But he's had six top-10s in the other 30 races since, though he did win Loudon in June on a cool no-pit gamble by crew chief Pat Tryson. Busch's average starting spot this season is 19th; his average finish is 21st.
■ With the fate of his own father's company, Dale Earnhardt Inc., at risk right now, with the reeling American economy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he doesn't see things getting any better any time soon:
"The economy is in a dire situation. It is pretty severe, and there is a good chance it is going to continue to get worse.
"I don't see how it cannot affect every piece of the puzzle.
"Everyone who drags a race car to the track knows you don't do it to make money … and if you are lucky, you break even doing it.
"So it is a severe issue for all of us, as drivers, owners. Every person walking in the garage needs to have a greater understanding of what their position is and a plan of action should we see the situation get even worse, which I think it possibly could.
"It doesn't look like there is any relief any time soon."
■ The death of NASCAR safety official Steve Peterson in July left a big void in the company's safety division. And NASCAR has been looking for a top-notch engineer to take over that job.
The latest name being mentioned is Tom Gideon, head of General Motors' racing safety program for the past 10 years. Gideon, who would be an excellent choice, worked closely with Peterson for years on many of the major safety improvements made in NASCAR Cup cars.
■ With NASCAR executives insisting they will be making no significant changes, if any, to the winged car, despite continuing complaints from drivers and crews, more grumbling is starting to be heard: "The car is definitely still a work in progress," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "Me and Greg Biffle both agree the car isn't a finished product.
"Whenever they (NASCAR) decide to move forward and evolve and let that car change and become a better race car, we will be ready to do that.
"But until then, we really don't have a choice in the matter."
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