Stories for '09: NASCAR Bans Testing

Here's what everyone will be talking about as the NASCAR haulers roll into Daytona International Speedway next month for the start of one the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.

Let's be real. The teams that were winning when NASCAR allowed formal testing will still be the teams winning now that it's not allowed. The new policy eliminating testing at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks this season will save teams money, but don't expect it to even the playing field.

For starters, the big-budget teams are still testing. And the teams that can least afford to test are the very ones who need it the most.

Three-time defending Cup champion Hendrick Motorsports went to Mesa, Arizona to utilize General Motors desert proving ground. Obscure Texas World Speedway and Saturday night-short tracks in places like tiny New Smyrna Beach are dusting off the straight-aways to welcome teams willing to exploit the testing loopholes.

Toyota Racing Development President Lee White said he heard of a team – which he declined to name - actually attempting to rent out 50 dates at Rockingham's (N.C.) two tracks hoping to "lock out" other teams from the facility.
"NASCAR got pretty upset with them about that,'' White said. "It was kind of flying in the face of the spirit of what (NASCAR) is trying to do, which is to save everybody some money and hopefully keep this thing rolling along at a subsistence level until the economy gets stronger.''

Hours after NASCAR issued the policy change last November, championship owner Jack Roush tried to get teams to take a Just-Say-No-To-Testing pledge -- promising no wheels on-track at all. If everyone followed the rule, he optimistically figured, then all would be fair.

But then again Roush also thought Santa Claus would put coal in Toyota's stocking and he's still hoping the Easter Bunny might be able to bail out the Big Three.

And by the way, Roush teams were testing at Texas World Speedway this week.

"Having no testing is only going to help the teams that are already good,'' said Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge. "They're good because of the people working on the teams, the engineering things like that.''

Ryan Newman insists the testing policy will have absolutely no bearing on competition.

"Testing doesn't make the racing better,'' Newman said.

Certainly, the upside is that drivers, who have had fewer obligations and enjoyed longer vacations will be better rested and in great moods. No doubt they'll be arriving at tracks with huge smiles on their faces, more eager to sign autographs, pose for photos and answer questions from reporters.

And at last, the mind-numbing television coverage of the newly-appreciated practice sessions will prove relevant and news-worthy.