DW questions Goodyear's testing

Fox analyst Darrell Waltrip has something to say. He usually does. Yet, whether you like him or not, he's worth listening to, such as his beef with Goodyear's testing policy.

I talked to Waltrip (and also ESPN's Dale Jarrett) for a story that will run Saturday about their take on what they've seen in the first three races of the season from Dale Jr.'s start to Jeff Gordon's rise to surprises and a few other things.

One interesting thing Waltrip mentioned was Goodyear's tire testing policy. Goodyear (with NASCAR's help) has always tried to spread it out among teams. That's become more important this year with testing banned at NASCAR tracks. Thus, teams that do the Goodyear test are the only NASCAR teams to drive at a track before a race weekend. That can be an advantage.

So, the tire testing policy is perfect in these days, right?

No, Waltrip said.

"The heat they took last year at Atlanta and a couple of other places, I just don't think they can afford to do that,'' Waltrip said of Goodyear spreading its tire tests among Cup teams. "I think they've got to forget about what's fair and worry about building a tire that will perform and make the drivers happy. They've got to get off this spread-it-around kick.

"I could get on a political rant if I'm not careful. Why does it have to be fair? Who decides what's fair? What's fair is when you put a product on the race track that everybody likes. That's fair. Not who did it and how many times they've done it. That's not fair. We're competing here. You've got to put your best foot out there every week and if it means using those same four guys every tire test to get good tires, then more power to them.''

At Goodyear's Las Vegas tire test in December, it used Carl Edwards (Roush), Mark Martin (Hendrick) David Stremme (Penske) and Brian Vickers (Red Bull). For its tire test in January for this weekend's race in Atlanta, Goodyear used Greg Biffle (Roush), Juan Pablo Montoya (Earnhardt Ganassi), Sam Hornish Jr., (Penske) and Scott Speed (Red Bull).

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