Michael Waltrip: Testing 'a colossal waste of time and money'

By SceneDaily Staff

Monday, January 12, 2009

Team owner Michael Waltrip says NASCAR's testing ban for the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season is a good thing.

Jason Smith
Getty Images for NASCAR

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Michael Waltrip, a veteran NASCAR Cup driver who also owns a third-year organization, has come to one adamant conclusion: NASCAR drivers do not need to test.

Waltrip believes that NASCAR’s one-year ban on testing at all tracks that host Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Truck, East and West series races should be extended indefinitely.

"My philosophy on testing is that it's a colossal waste of time and money," Waltrip said.

"We can go to the wind tunnel. These guys will tell you, the cars are set up so precisely when they leave the shop. The guys go to the seven-post rig, and they shake them. They do simulation. They understand what the cars are going to do when they go into the corner in the wind tunnel. So everything about the setup, it can be done virtually or through wind tunnel and seven-post testing. So when you go to a race track to test, you're just basically burning up tires, burning up gas and taking people's time, taking employees' time at home away, which is a negative, because the schedule is so intense."

Therefore, he believes the testing ban should be extended.

"I guess NASCAR will decide that is the case because of the fact the world has changed," Waltrip said. "We used to didn't know how to set up a car on the computer. We would blow a car in the wind tunnel, then couldn't wait to get it to the track to see how it runs. Now they blow a car in the wind tunnel, they know exactly what it will do. It's gotten that precise.

"I'm happy about the testing ban. I'm not so happy about teams going to Rockingham, [other tracks], [Virginia International Raceway]. I think that's circumventing the spirit of the rule. The rule was to try to save the teams money. [Team owner] Jack Roush had a wonderful idea. He and I talked about this at length. He wanted to say all teams in the top 35 in points would sign an affidavit stating they wouldn't go anywhere and test a car on track, no on-road vehicular testing anywhere."

Still, Waltrip isn't abandoning the idea of engaging in some sort of offseason activity.

He likes to race and likes to see fans have access to the drivers early. So he's promoting some sort of preseason race to take the spot vacated by the preseason testing normally going on at Daytona, Auto Club Speedway in California and Las Vegas this time of year.

"Why not have a race in January, maybe a New Year's Eve race, middle of January, some sort of race in a cool location where it pays money?" he said. "You go down there for two or three days, you're able to test what you've learned, and you actually have like an unofficial race. NASCAR does it. It's like a preseason game, if you will.

"These guys, they're not quite as smart as me. We’ll have a preseason game in January sometime. You get paid money for it. Fans get to come and watch it. It's a test for all the teams. Everybody gets to compete. We can start 50 cars. Whoever shows up gets to race. I like that."