As many as 16 Winston Cup teams may have used traction control this season, #54-Todd Bodine says. And he says he’s been beaten this season by the illegal but virtually undetectable technology that keeps a car from spinning its rear wheels: ‘Yes, unequivocally yes. I’ve heard numbers that up to 16 cars in here have it. The funny part is the guys who win with it and then forget they have it, and they can’t do the burnout. So they stop, switch the (ignition) box, and then do the burnout. It’s happened three times in Busch this year with two different drivers.’ Traction control – standard equipment on many passenger cars – has long been a no-no in NASCAR. It was also a no-no in Formula One until inspectors finally gave up trying to police it. Some Winston Cup teams want NASCAR to legalize it, too, since it has proven impossible to police. ‘They’re almost undetectable,’ Bodine says. ‘There is one the driver himself can put in and take out when he gets in and out of the car. I don’t know exactly how they all work, but I know they’re hard to find. ‘They’ve caught people, but the people they’ve caught, they’re not going to say anything about. That’s just the way they do it.” So what’s NASCAR to do, just ignore it? ‘It’s almost to that point’ Bodine says. ‘It’s either that, or do like ASA and NASCAR puts the ignition boxes in the car itself,’ Bodine says. The penalty for using traction control? ‘You would definitely be thrown out of NASCAR,’ car owner Jim Smith says. ‘No fine. Just indefinite suspension. Pack your stuff up and go home.’ However Smith concedes he’s been hearing numerous reports that traction control is widespread, particularly on the Truck tour. ‘There are even systems out there you can operate with your cellphone,’ Smith added. Car owner Jack Roush dismisses all the talk: ‘I’m like the dog that never heard the whistle, so I’m not getting fed. It looks to me like people are organizing a snipe hunt. I doubt NASCAR is missing anything, certainly not with the teams they inspect. If there were an opportunity, it would be for a team that wasn’t torn down after a race.(see full story at the Winston Salem Journal )(8-11-2003)
