NASCAR discusses drug policy and new car
05/26/09 NASCAR officials talked about their drug-testing policy, the new model Sprint Cup car and marketing initiatives with drivers and owners during their first of two closed town-hall meetings today at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. NASCAR Chairman Brian France and NASCAR President Mike Helton led the meeting, which also was attended by NASCAR Executive Vice President Lesa France Kennedy and seven other NASCAR officials. NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter said there were more than 50 drivers, owners and team representatives in attendance.
“I think today was a really great step toward Brian, Lesa and all those folks answering questions and taking some criticism and explaining why some things are like they are and giving everybody a chance to speak up," Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said following the first session. “I think if we can do more of these … we can see that we all can work together to make this thing better. There’s a lot of smart people in that garage area."
Both Hendrick Motorsports’ Mark Martin and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman said they received information that clarified NASCAR’s drug policy, especially when it comes to the testing and prescription medication.
“I feel much better now than I did before the meeting, and I’m much more comfortable than I [was] after talking to [NASCAR drug-testing administrator] Dr. [David] Black."
Newman said there was talk about the chassis, the tires, weight distribution in the cars and the engines.
“It was interesting to hear different people’s opinions about the speeds of the cars, what the racing would be like if we didn’t have as much horsepower," Newman said. “In the end, to me personally, it’s important to have driver control. Driver control is what we’re out there to see.
“Mr. Helton said that a true sport is where the athletes can do things that people on the street can’t. The more we have control of the cars as drivers, the better the racing."
The agenda was very broad and included talk about NASCAR’s demographics, Newman said. He said drivers were not told what to do or say following the meeting.
“In the end, it was all about what we can do in the future to have another meeting like this to have an impact as well," Newman said. “In the end there was no answers, but we talked about things we needed to talk about."
Another thing that the drivers and owners might have felt more comfortable about was that NASCAR seems to be more open to input from drivers and owners.
“It’s a new form of communication for us and for them," Hunter said about the open forum. “I think it was very positive. There was a lot of give and take, open forum, speak up, give us your opinion, and we got a lot of opinions. … Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new form of communication. We haven’t had this type of meeting in the past. Maybe once several years ago at [Joe] Gibbs [Racing]. We will do more of this. We had some great input."
NASCAR officials will meet with another group this afternoon.
“No solutions," Martin said. “A lot of great ideas. And I’m really expecting NASCAR to formulate little groups to really drive a lot of different issues, sort of task-force groups that would include the drivers and the owners."
Hunter said while there are many short-range and long-range decisions that need to be made on a variety of issues, there was no one issue that NASCAR was looking for answers on to make any immediate decisions.
“We’re in a tough economic environment for everyone in this industry, and now is the time for all of us to get together," Hunter said. “We have some very, very talented people. On every team, there is someone who can bring something to the table in the way of ideas and in the way of what we might do to make this sport better, and that’s our goal." Scenedaily.com