Jim Duff: NASCAR test ban will likely do more harm than good
COMMENTARY
NASCAR officials certainly have the best of intentions with their announcement of draconian restrictions on testing for their national series next year, but the measures could well wind up irreparably harming the sport. The virtual test ban may save struggling teams some money, but it dooms them to also-ran status once again, and that could ultimately wind up being more harmful.
If fans, officials and competitors thought the 2008 season saw a widening gulf between the sport’s haves and have-nots, just wait. Struggling teams that may have thought they were finally beginning to figure out the new model Sprint Cup car, for instance, stand little chance of making additional progress in 2009.
The Cup series’ elite organizations – Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing – don’t face nearly the same challenges. Those teams already have the sophisticated – and expensive – testing machinery in place that will allow them to continue making progress. They also have the sponsorship and budgets to go anywhere they need to keep right on testing.
Those big multicar teams supplied all 12 drivers in the 2008 Chase For The Sprint Cup, and the test ban makes it likely that they’ll do so again next year. Those who don’t make the Chase understand that their failure to make the championship field harms their ability to land the kinds of sponsorship that could boost their chances. The result is likely to relegation to second-class status for at least another year.
Certainly, these are difficult times. Few people can be surprised that the woes of the national economy are spreading into the racing world. The impact of an economic downturn was certain to be felt on a sport whose astounding growth has been fueled by its ability to work with business partners to expose their products to a particularly receptive audience.
The impact in the garage is enormous. Sponsorships worth $15 million to $25 million a year to the teams are disappearing. Multiply that by 10 or more teams, and it’s easy to see perhaps $250 million disappearing from the sport. Layoffs have started, and expectations are that others will follow.
NASCAR’s reaction is understandable. Unfortunately, its testing decision makes it more difficult for struggling teams to improve enough to help them land more sponsorship from corporations facing their own financial challenges.
Officials with the sanctioning body clearly mean well. They must believe that their test ban saves teams of all sizes money. But the big teams will find ways to cope that the small ones won’t, and that ultimately may do the sport more harm than good.
If NASCAR really wants to control costs and help the teams, it should modify its ban to let teams practice on a regular basis at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The 1.5-mile track just outside Charlotte is convenient to virtually all of the teams, and it’s the size track that dominates the NASCAR schedule.
By using the track virtually outside their shops, teams wouldn’t have to spend money hitting the road to test in distant states. And especially in the Cup series, everyone would have an opportunity to continue making headway with the new model car that proved to be such a challenge this year.
Yes, testing is expensive. But in an engineering-based sport, not testing will ultimately be more expensive.
