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closeRoush cries foul over other teams' testing, vows to catch up
DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Saturday, May. 26, 2007
Ford team owner Jack Roush admits his Nextel Cup operation fell behind on car of tomorrow testing, but said part of the reason is that NASCAR said one thing and teams did another in regard to rules governing tires and testing.
“NASCAR came back and with Goodyear decided that we couldn’t own our tires,” Roush said. “They were going to stop us from taking tires home because they did not want us to test these cars. They were going to start everybody on the car of tomorrow on an even basis saying, ‘There’s four or five tests – whatever it was – that’s what you get, that’s what you’ve got.’ ”
But then, Roush said, other teams have tested time after time at tracks not on the Nextel Cup schedule on tires not made by Goodyear.
“I’ll name names,” Roush said. “The Hendrick organization, the Gibbs organization and the Childress organization ... were out going around NASCAR’s policy and their intention by buying other people’s tires and going to race tracks.”
Roush said he hadn’t been doing that with his cars, but that within the past few weeks he’d hired six people and dedicated a tractor-trailer to ramp up his testing.
“I’ve said, ‘OK, I’m going to get in the testing game, too,’ ” Roush said. “If you don’t want us to test, then you need to have us sign something in the application that says, ‘We agree that we would not test our cars with Goodyear tires or anybody else’s tires, except for the race tracks that NASCAR approved.’
"They didn’t do that. They left the door open and we got behind, but we’re going to catch up.”
Jeff Gordon said the Hendrick teams aren’t doing anything wrong.
“We’re testing at tracks that aren't at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks, as they clearly state,” Gordon said.
“We’re notusing Goodyear tires. ... We’re doing things to get laps and get information. ... I don't know what the Gibbs teams or Childress teams are doing. But if the Roush teams aren't doing that, then that's their mistake.”