Roush Slams Top Chevy Teams

Jack Roush, a Ford team owner, ripped the three top Chevrolet teams for violating the spirit of NASCAR’s testing limits, naming owners Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress and Joe Gibbs. And Roush said that those three were using non-Goodyear tires for their extra testing. Two Chevy teams have just ordered another 100 sets of B.F. Goodrich tires for testing, according to one top crew chief.

Said Roush: “NASCAR, with Goodyear, decided we couldn’t ‘own’ our tires. 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 are four or five (major) tests, and ‘That’s what you get, that’s what you’ve got.

“I’ll name names – the Hendrick organization, the Gibbs organization and the Childress organization – have been testing these cars multiple times a week on tracks outside of NASCAR’s control with tires that were not Goodyears for the most part. The teams were going around NASCAR’s policy.

“I didn’t do that. But two weeks ago I hired six people and dedicated a tractor-trailer and gone public and said ‘OK, I’m going to get in the testing game too.’

“The minor teams don’t have test programs… which even made the difference between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ greater.

“The testing deal is wide open. Everybody is testing as much as they can afford to."

Jeff Gordon said that it's Roush's own problem if his teams aren't testing as much as Chevy teams.

"We're not doing anything wrong," he said. “We're testing at tracks that aren't NASCAR tracks; and we're not using Goodyear tires.

"I would admit it's definitely played a role in getting us where we are. And if the Roush teams aren't doing that, that's their mistake." Winston Salem Journal