Full Throttle

According to reports NASCAR is soliciting input from team crew chiefs with an eye towards a change in Sprint Cup testing for the 2009 season.

“Holy rules written on an Etch-a-Sketch Batman, whatever makes NASCAR think a change is needed?”

“Well Robin, based on the Brainwave Bat-analyzer John Darby, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup director, is looking for a way out of an untenable situation where teams in some cases are forced into testing at non-Cup tracks and gathering data of questionable quality.” (to say nothing of extra travel involved to test at “approved” tracks)

Smart-assed Batman narrative aside, it’s about time!

“NASCAR’s the policy-maker, but one thing that’s really reliant on the teams’ input is what we test, how many times we test and where we test,” Darby said after a brief meeting with the crew chiefs in the garage area at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“In the past, it’s just been a matter of, `Here, select your race tracks and let’s go.’ This year, I felt it was time that we just sat down with everybody and talked and said, `Look, we’re open to any suggestions you have,’ from leaving our testing policy exactly like it was in ‘08, all the way to going to what I’m going to call wide-open testing, no limits - any track, any week, any time, as many times as you want to go.

“We’re prepared for either way, it doesn’t matter to us. We’ll listen to what all of the teams come back with for suggestions and formulate a test plan for 09 and go forward.”

The Mike Harris AP article noted the incredulous looks on some of the assembled crew chiefs faces as Darby made his statement.

I bet, probably something on the order of “is this Darby talking or an implant from another planet!”

Putting on my Peanut Gallery hat; I say to hell with any and all testing rules, with one exception, and one pie-in-the-sky dream:

Open tire testing done by Goodyear to ALL teams, not the select few that has been the policy to date. That would prevent some of the conspiracy theories seen early this year when some drivers, and some fans, claimed some type of favoritism was shown towards certain teams. Whether any favoritism was present or not is not the issue, the perception was it was there.

As for my “skyward pies,” I’m of the opinion the Goodyear tire leasing policy is nothing but a scam from the get go, Goodyear gains in two ways. They get back any tires that are unused and gain revenue by leasing them again and they also gain back the used tires that are in all likelihood passed into the recycling market and recover some cash from the buyer.

So… make them spend that extra cash.

Make Goodyear pay any and all transportation costs to teams of less than three cars to all Goodyear tire tests. That gives the smaller teams a financial boost by supplementing their budget and the only costs to them would be for housing the team at whatever venue the test is conducted at.

Do I believe the later would happen?

Sure, right after I believe Oprah’s next residence is a home for the indigent and NASCAR’s Mythical Rulebook is put online in PDF format for any and all to see.

In other words, not only no, but HELL NO!

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