By Rea White
Associate Editor
Scenedaily
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The fact that there will be Sprint Cup cars testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a couple of weeks is a good thing – for two reasons.

First, it’s good because teams obviously need that session to get a better handle on the model formerly known as the car of tomorrow. Second, it’s a positive sign because it shows NASCAR’s flexibility when it comes to meeting team requests and its integrity when it comes to doing whatever it takes to improve racing.

This season, the racing on the 1.5- and 2-mile ovals has been less than what would be desired. No one disputes that. Most drivers can’t seem to manage the car well yet, a fact that has led many to say they aren’t comfortable attempting a pass in a race. Most teams can’t figure out how to make radicalenough changes to the car in order to make it more drivable over the course of a weekend.

That leaves NASCAR with events marked by single-file racing and resulting in complaints from both drivers and fans.

Competitors want swift reaction, with many asking for changes to the car that they can’t even figure out yet. Obviously, this course of action would be burdened with its own potential pitfalls. The sanctioning body, a group that has long held that knee-jerk reactions to situations such as this are not moves it plans to make, has held firm on the car. It was tested over the course of the past two seasons, developed by drivers, engineers and specialists.

The fact that it cannot be mastered yet is not a sign that the car cannot be raced, but rather part of the growing process with this new model. Some drivers applaud the difficulty it creates. Even as they struggle to handle it and seem somewhat baffled by what changes to make to it, they like the increased role the driver is playing in races. But they also want some extra time with it.

Now, they are getting just that.

Drivers clamored for some additional time on a sanctioned NASCAR track with the Goodyear tires they’ll use in a race. They asked for more chances to try to understand the new car in conditions that come as close to those of a race as possible.

So NASCAR gave it to them. The sanctioning body added a seventh official test session for the season, putting the teams at Lowe’s Motor Speedway May 5 and 6. That’s a track where Cup competitors will run three times this season for two points races and the all-star event. It’s the next 1.5-mile oval on the schedule, and the test also will give them data they can use at some other tracks this season.

Instead of voyaging to non-sanctioned tracks to test for the trio of races, they can actually take laps on the tires they will use during the race on the actual track that will host it.

The impact of this test will be seen not only in these races, but in others to come.

That’s why this was such a good move – for everyone involved.

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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