Full Throttle

(Subtitled: “Here We Go Again!”)

According to the NASCAR press release the sanctioning body will debut the new NNS car during the first of two scheduled tests Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 8-9, at Richmond International Raceway.

Wednesday, Sept. 10, is set as the rain date which may be the only smart thing printed in the release given Hurricane Hanna roaring up the Eastern Seaboard at present.

For those with dusty memories the Half-Vast Staff™ of Full Throttle was at the forefront of criticism of the testing program NASCAR produced for CoT introduction in Sprint Cup. With some teams (yeah I’m pointing at you Jack) holding what amounted to a boycott, albeit a silent one vice public declaration, by just not showing up on many occasions.

Additionally, we were just as critical of the cars roll-out, forcing teams to compete with both versions of the Cup CoT in 2007 was nothing more than an exercise normally seen in governmental circles, “waste, fraud and abuse.” It did nothing but add additional cost to the teams and those it hurt most - the smaller one and two car operations - had the least ability to withstand the economic pressure.

When last heard NASCAR’s intentions are to have the NNS CoT debut in the last half of the 2009 season. As seen from the Robin Pemberton quotes below that seems to have been changed, proof even and old dog can learn new tricks I suppose. Or just proof they don’t want to risk being lambasted in public by owners and fans like the were during 2007.

“The goal of this test is for the manufacturers and participating teams to start laying a foundation for the transfer phase from the current car to the new car in the Nationwide Series,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition.

The cars will be on track in their current stages of development and the test data will be shared among the manufacturers, teams and NASCAR.

“We’re still in the process of approving the cars,” Pemberton said. “This wasn’t a quick process on the NASCAR Sprint Cup side and it won’t be with these cars. We’ve also been talking to teams and they’ve indicated they’d be better suited budget-wise to spend a full season building cars instead of a mid-year transition.

“We’ve had this style of chassis for more than two years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and many questions have already been answered,” he said. “In applying the new car to the Nationwide Series, we fully anticipate the teams to be as competitive and resourceful as possible throughout the developmental process.”

Kudos for apparently shit-canning the mid-year transition BS.

Also note that may be an indication the competition roll-out for NNS won’t be next year. Given NASCAR’s R&D facility, that at times is rather cartoonish, and the limited time between now and Daytona 2009 there’s no way in hell the original time-line will be met.

With luck NASCAR won’t make their other glaring mistake, if teams fail to show up for any of the test sessions they need to whip out the Ultimatum Dispatcher and lay it on the line.

Test or else.

Eventually, when near the final version of development, that ultimatum should come with this caveat: Test with as near a full field of cars as possible. If that means the R&D facility mass produce the car to take financial pressure off the much smaller NNS teams so be it. Just “get-R done” as the saying goes.

What remains to be seen is the actual car. Unless I’ve missed it no specifics beyond it not taking the form of the new generation Pony Cars entering the marketplace and general declarations it won’t have a wing are about all that has been published.

If anyone has seen something other than what I noted and the additional safety measures being part of the car drop a hint in a comment and I’ll update the post.

IN OTHER news you can lose: “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina Robby Gordon.” They’re not crying Robby, they’re just suing your marquee jumping butt.

If only to disprove I only point out the “down side” to Robby, not that his minions will believe it, Robby along with Rusty Wallace and the NASCAR Angels presented Army Spc. Josh Grant with his totally refurbished Ford F-150 pickup today.

Grant is an Army mechanic who was wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq and is recuperating at the Warrior in Transition Unit at Fort Lee. NASCAR put the value of the work done on the 2004 truck at $20,000.

Both drivers took part in the filming of the presentation ceremony attended by Grant’s fellow soldiers and friends and family. The show will air on the The Hallmark Channel in October.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Nationwide Series, NNS CoT, RIR, Richmond International Raceway