NASCAR and Firestone Tires–Is Goodyear’s Reign Slipping Away

December 22, 2008

“It was not a Firestone test and it was not a NASCAR test.” Okay so what was it?

According to a report for SPEED; ON PIT ROW contributor Robin Miller; quoted Firestone-Bridgestone motorsports executive director Al Spreyer as saying, “It was a technical exercise to try and develop current stock car technology.”

This side step-shuffling attempt was after Scott Pruett was seen driving a Chip Ganassi owned ARCA car, this past weekend, at Miami-Homstead’s road course. This is interesting on several levels.

First the rest of the ARCA bunch was busy testing at Daytona last weekend for their undercard race during Speed Weeks. That three day test saw Will Kimmel, nephew to nine time series champ Frank Kimmel lead all of the sixty-one testers with a speed of 180.977mph.

Second item of interest shows the test being performed at Miami-Homestead Speedway which will be on the banned track list come 2009. But because the driver and the road course are not part of the NASCAR world, the test went on without much fanfare.

And lastly, NASCAR has vehemently denied that they are looking for a new tire supplier. The contract with Goodyear will be up for renewal before the 2011 season. Could Firestone be looking to that time frame to make a comeback in the NASCAR ranks? Or are they looking to unseat a supplier in another series? Hoosier and ARCA are signed through 2011.

So this week our BUZZ ON PIT ROW is:

Would you like to see multiple tire manufacturers in NASCAR?

Let us know what you think and as always we may use your answers ON PIT ROW. Listen live from 5-7pm ET every week except for our 2 week Holiday break.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Written by Steve Wronkowicz · Filed Under Buzz On Pit Row, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dodge Motorsports, Inside the ARCA Remax Series, NASCAR, On Pit Row | 2 Comments

NASCAR Teams looking at Cha-Cha-Changes

August 22, 2008

NASCAR’s Silly Season may be wrapping up.

Scott Wimmer, who until recently has been rumored as a possible driver in the new Richard Childress Racing #33 ride, will not return to the Chevy team in 2009. Wimmer and Jeff Burton combined to win a Nationwide Series owners championship for RCR in 2007. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Wimmer hasn’t posted enough wins in the car and was not the new sponsor’s driver of choice.

RCR has announced that Clint Bowyer will move to the #33 next year with the General Mills sponsorship and soon to be ex-Hendrick driver Casey Mears taking over the #07 Jack Daniels ride for ‘09. It seems general Mills wasn’t trilled with the former Kellogg’s driver hawking Cheerios. Will Mears be able to do at RCR what he has not been able to do on a consistent basis at Hendrick Motorsports or at Chip Ganassi Racing? It will again come down to the equipment that he is given. Casey could argue that his stuff has been at the bottom of the pecking order at both shops.

Speaking of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates; Chevron-Texaco dropped their little bomb this week that they will no longer be supporting the #42 car of Juan Pablo Montoya after this season. It seems the Texaco brand is going the way of DeSoto, and they will be investing their advertising monies in a different direction. Sirius Speedway/Motorsports Soapbox is also reporting that the Target sponsorship that has been gracing the #41 driven by Reed Sorensen may be gone as well. Chip will have to do some serious sponsor work in the off season to fill the quarter panels of those rides while trying to get the #40 back up and funded.

Maybe the 2009 version of Silly Season is still going strong. Not only are there still seats to be filled, but more importantly, there are hoods and quarter panels to be filled. When long time sponsors leave the sport; as Texaco will, Target might and Kodak, Pfiser and Goodwrench have, the impact can have a long term affect. Lets hope there are enough new willing partners to keep the NASCAR ship afloat.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Written by Steve Wronkowicz · Filed Under Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR, On Pit Row | Leave a Comment