CUP: Testing Coming Back To NASCAR
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For the first time since 2008, NASCAR will allow limited Sprint Cup testing at tracks where teams race at next year.
NASCAR officials confirmed Saturday that each Sprint Cup organization will be able to test at four tracks in 2013, plus all teams will be invited to the annual pre-season test at Daytona International Speedway.
The four tests are per organization, not per car.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thus, the four-car Hendrick Motorsports team will only be able to test at four tracks, the same as any single-car team.
However, it makes sense for Hendrick to test at four tracks and its affiliate, Stewart-Haas Racing, to test at four different tracks, for example. Similar scenarios might exist for Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Penske Racing, and Richard Childress Racing and Furniture Row Racing.
NASCAR banned testing at tracks where NASCAR-sanctioned races are held in 2009, as a cost-cutting measure. Teams have still been able to test at places like Road Atlanta, Nashville Superspeedway and the Milwaukee Mile, none of which hosts any races in NASCAR’s top three divisions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.