By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Round and round she goes and where the tire blows nobody knows.
There was in Charlotte a problem when the rubber met the road and the
ramifications of the demolition derby called the UMW-GM 500 are still being
felt.
What happened was that in the Oct. 15th race there were 15 cautions because
of tire-related problems. Those crashes led NASCAR officials to talk about
canceling the race.
The finger pointing and the "not me" is still going on.
Track President H.A. 'Humpy' Wheeler said the track was just fine. There
were no problems with the track's surface even though it had its surface
freshly ground with a diamond-grinding machine.
"Not our fault," was basically Wheeler's response to anyone suggesting the
track itself may have been responsible for all the tire problems.
NASCAR, meanwhile, said it thought about canceling the race. But it did not.
And this was after there were numerous tire-related problems reported from
time trials and test runs.
Many drivers called the race a fiasco and said that they were just glad to
get out of there alive.
Now Goodyear, the company that supplied the "may-pop" tires for the event
has scheduled testing at the track.
Goodyear wants to try different
compounds and then evaluate the data. It then plans to use that data to
study the difference between the track during the UMW-GM 500 and after it is
repaved next year.
That may actually tell people what happened and who was to blame but will it
be in time to keep another race from becoming another demolition derby?
Let's hope so.
MORE NEW NASCAR CARS: Although it appears to be a long-term project there
are rumors that Honda may enter the NASCAR realm by the 2010 season.
If Honda does field a NASCAR team it could mark the second new automobile
nameplate to join the circuit since Toyota is apparently going to be a
NASCAR force by 2007.
Honda has not divulged its plans but NASCAR has provided it with
truck-racing templates. Honda came out with a full size pickup, the
Ridgeline, and has been widely expected to enter NASCAR truck racing
eventually.
Honda is big on the Formula One tour, and it has dominated Indy-car racing
recently and was a major force in running GM out of the open-wheel business
and has put a hurt on Toyota in that same circuit.
Current plans call for as many as eight Toyota teams to compete led by
Penske Racing, which will have four teams.
Bill Davis Racing (BDR) and Michael Waltrip Racing will both field two-car
teams.
ELSEWHERE: The Brasington Grandstand at Darlington is coming down. The
grandstand was built in 1963 and was one of the last covered grandstands in
NASCAR before the roof came off in 2004. The grandstand, which was named for
track builder Harold Brasington, had 3,330 seats.
A grandstand that will
hold 6,300 is replacing it. ... Drivers Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant and Janet
Guthrie will join team owner Jack Roush and Lowe's Motor Speedway President
H.A. 'Humpy' Wheeler as new members of the 2006 International Motorsports
Hall of Fame induction class. ... NASCAR has changed the starting time of
Sunday's Dickies 500 Nextel Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway to 3:50 p.m.
EST. The new starting time is 40 minutes later than the original start time. | 
