Goodyear kicks off Daytona 500 testing....so where are the veteran drivers?

  
  Joey Logano could use as many laps as he can get in these Sprint Cup cars. And so could some of the veterans too. Maybe it's time for NASCAR to reassess this testing ban, which seems to work to the advantage of the big teams and to the disadvantage of smaller teams. (Photo: ISC)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   Looking for Christmas gifts? Well, the Daytona 500 isn't that far off…and, between rain showers Wednesday, five Cup drivers pulled some laps for Goodyear, in 15-lap stretches, with engineers hoping to figure out how to deal with the track which tends to have more tire problems during SpeedWeeks than it probably ought to have.
  Wear, unusual wear patterns when cars start dicing in the draft, is the typical issue. And it's almost impossible to test for, without putting a dozen or so cars out there in a pack and have them draft at race speeds.
  So it's hard to figure out just what the Goodyear-NASCAR game plan might before, as far as testing goes, for the Valentine's Day 500 next February.
   Remember NASCAR cancelled January testing this season, ostensibly a cost-cutting move, although the bigger teams simply flew their cars to other places for testing, like the GM test facility out in Arizona….hardly a cost-cutting play, and certainly not a move that would do anything to sell tickets to the Sprint Cup season opener.
   Sure, the top teams will probably press NASCAR to continue the testing 'ban,' such as it is (no testing at NASCAR tracks, although teams can test anywhere else they'd like to) – because they not only have access to plans and truckers to haul their cars wherever and whenever, and have access to high-tech computer simulations.
   But as far as getting the sport's little guys back in the picture, and as far as actually generating some ticket-buying excitement, NASCAR and its promoters would likely be better served by opening up testing at real Sprint Cup tracks with real racing Goodyears. And Goodyear officials say they're ready to bring all the tires teams might need for such testing.
   This week's Daytona test – with Clint Bowyer in a Richard Childress Chevy, David Ragan in a Jack Roush Ford, Marcos Ambrose in a Michael Waltrip Toyota, Joey Logano in a Joe Gibbs Toyota, and Brad Keselowski in a Roger Penske Dodge –  went on for two days.
    Ragan said "I'm sure this won't be the last test before the Daytona 500 in February."
    Goodyear also did a Daytona test last September.
   "I know they are going to come back here again and do some drafting," Logano said.
   With NASCAR's testing ban, getting the nod to do a Goodyear tire test has been golden…particularly for a newcomer to the division like Logano, who has been hurt by the testing ban.
    Logano this season became the youngest driver ever to start a Daytona 500: "I don't have much experience at Daytona."
    Whenever Goodyear has a test planned "I'll put my hand up," Ambrose said. "Every lap I get gives me an advantage. I'm behind Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson by about eight or nine seasons, maybe more. I've got a lot of catching up to do."
   Keselowski, who pulled off the surprise win at Talladega in April, is also a newcomer to the tour, and needs the track time.
   And Ragan doesn't have that many laps on the tour either.
   Of course all that might give one pause to ask why didn't Goodyear start out Daytona testing with some veterans, to get a better baseline, at a track where handling is so important.
  

  While we're at it, maybe NASCAR can scrap these IROC-style common template cars, and give fans real Fords, real Chevys, real Dodges and real Toyotas (Photo: ISC)