Loss of creativity could deter Toyota and Honda
The rear shocks used by Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch in finishing 1-2 at Dover were ruled legal by the sanctioning organization after an extensive post race inspection, but a technical bulletin will be issued this weekend making the design of those shocks a no-no in the future. “I will defend the 48 (Johnson) and the 5 (Busch) team by saying that if they were using parts in the shocks that were legal, and they could get their car to come back down to (the required) height in time to go through inspection through creativity, more power to them.
“There were some things taken away from us that hurt us earlier in the season, too.''
Biffle, speaking Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, said the trend toward lack of creativity is also reflected in NASCAR's work to develop the so-called Car of Tomorrow, a vehicle that moves the driver toward the center of the car, raises and widens the profile of the car and adds crushable materials — all in the interest of safety.
The new car is nearly ready for an on-track test and NASCAR hopes to have teams racing it by 2007.
“Everybody is going to have the same thing,'' Biffle said. “To me, that's going to be disastrous. I've heard all secondhand information. I haven't sat down and said, 'What exactly are we going to be able to do?' but I heard that we're not going to be able to do this, we're not going to be able to do that.'' More at Yahoo! Sports
[Editor's Note: Makes you wonder if the loss of creativity will make Toyota and Honda decide to stay out of NASCAR. Probably not given the huge TV ratings. After all, Toyota and Honda are in the business to sell passenger cars……but will the so-called NASCAR Bubbas buy Japanese brand cars, or will Honda and Toyota just be wasting their money. You certainly don't see many Toyotas and Hondas in the parking lot at a NASCAR race, just as you don't see many American cars in the parking lot of an F1 race.]