January 28th, 2009 
Journo A month or two ago we heard from a good source that officials from the newly merged Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing had approached a team that will remain nameless and asked them if they would be interested in serving as a test team for the organization. Obviously because of the test ban EGR was looking to collect all the on track information they could get; this was the best way to do that. Needless to say though that team declined the offer.
Fast forward to this past week and an interview with EGR/CGR President Steve Lauletta from the 24 Hours of Daytona where he said the team was close to naming a fourth driver for the Daytona 500. While there was no announcement from the team on Monday, rumors surfaced that the driver for that fourth ride would be John Andretti. In connection with that is what has been described as a “technical alliance” with Front Row Motorsports.
Now this got me thinking, perhaps this “technical alliance” is the same testing deal they offered that other team. I will tell you what makes me think that.
While I don’t doubt their dedication to the sport (in fact I admire their perseverance), Front Row’s on track performance has been less than stellar. In three seasons they have only made 34 races despite attempts at many more. This is not an organization that you would typically associate with a large organization like EGR.
That being said, this is the reason this deal makes sense; you’re not going to align with a strong organization for something like this. What they offer is a knowledgeable veteran driver, and a base from which to operate a team. If this technical alliance is what I suspect it to be, count on one of EGR’s crew chiefs to show up with John Andretti; maybe Steven Lane. Likewise as Jayski is reporting today, the car could take the No. 15 and the points that come along with it.
Ultimately what this partnership would provide is a means for EGR to gather setup information and to try things that they are unable to try because of the testing ban. It will help strengthen their core drivers and give them another dog in the fight while giving Bob Jenkins and his struggling team decent equipment, a guaranteed spot in the first five races and support to run his operation. A win, win deal if you ask me.
Now I don’t have any firm information on the current deal they are working out. Anything I have said is a result of putting the puzzle pieces together (speculation if you will). But I think it makes sense if that is what they are doing; especially in an era when you have to get creative in order to get the edge over your competition. Kudos to both teams if this works out.
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Journo-Very interesting article. I assume the team that declined the EGR offer, originally, was a top team and not Front Row that you suspect would be the test (“R&D”) team? I say the R&D team, because technically wouldn’t the 15 car would be racing and not just testing? Maybe “testing” parts/set-ups during actual races (ie Greg Sacks in winning the 1985 Daytona Fireracker 400 acting as an R&D driver for DiGard Motorsports).
This leads me to a question: Let’s say I develop a team w/ no intention of entering Cup races. I build/buy some COT’s and offer my services to an actual cup team(s). I am a team outside of NASCAR’s umbrella and only selling my services to those within. I can then test anywhere at anytime, as I have no restrictions? Right? Guess I just need to secure plenty of Goodyear “leased” tires!
I think these alliances could be a good thing for teams that have been -sub- par preformers in the past, it is a way for Teams to become a super team allowing them to compete with the hendricks, roush teams ect,ect. But I also see these alliances as a way for teams to exceed the 4 car cap (look at Roush) Don’t you think NASCAR will put a cap on these alliances?
That ban on testing seems to be saving them lots of money…. oh wait now they are funding a car just to run setups during practice and the race…. Never mind.
Smokey Yunick would be proud. Seriously thats rather good thinking your way around a problem.
That’s the only problem with your plan Neon. If you have are outside of NASCAR’s umbrella and you are not an owner you would Not be able to lease tires from Goodyear. Goodyear will not sell them to you; according to the 2009 lease policy you have to be a team to get them.
I wonder if NASCAR has a stranglehold on “all” tracks that host a sanctioned event. Basically stating that if any team (uh company or just a bunch of yayhoos) attempts to rent your track and they bring anything that resembles a COT, NW car or Truck….you could potentially lose your race date(s) if you accept fees.
With the whole testing ban coming so quickly last year, how many of these type of details are “worked out”.
Neon they have any track that has a Cup, Nationwide, Truck, Campingworld East or West sanction tied up fairly well. The way the testing band is worded it refers to teams, organizations, and affiliate groups as defined by the rule book. The racing world is so small, if you showed up with a car to test for another organization because you were being paid by that organization to do it; NASCAR would find out about it almost immediately. At that point you would probably be consider an affiliate group by the rule book and therefore in violation of the testing ban. NASCAR’s reaction to that would more than likely involve penalties against that team rather than sanctions against the track that allowed the test. So between the testing policy and the tire lease policy they have it covered fairly well. This has been in evolution since November which is more than enough time to get folks on the same sheet of music. I think that the tire policy may have some issues with tire accountability we will see on that one; it is a short document that has a lot in it, but I see some tires slipping thru the cracks.