NASCAR is holding a meeting with Nationwide Series owners next Tuesday to discuss a variety of issues for 2011. While NASCAR has taken an informal poll of owners and principals in the Nationwide garage to gauge the sentiment of competing against Cup drivers in the feeder tour, series director Joe Balash says, “We’ll discuss everything we have on the table” at an off-site location. Some current Nationwide owners are delaying next season’s rosters until NASCAR solidifies its rules. With a new car for 2011, rising costs and a shrinking pool of sponsors, full-time owners have a difficult time competing against Sprint Cup regulars and are looking for relief. Several scenarios have been proposed, including not allowing drivers in the top 35 in the Cup point standings to compete under the same point structure as the Nationwide-only teams. That would carry over to the next season for the first five races of the year, which are based on this season’s final top 35. Under that system a driver such as Elliott Sadler, who is expected to drive for Kevin Harvick Inc., full time in 2011, would not be eligible for Nationwide-specific points until the tour rolls into Texas Motor Speedway on April 8. Another concept being kicked around is limiting Cup drivers participating in NNS to just one practice session for that race. With the new NNS car going into full effect in 2011 — and no additional testing expected other than extra practice at Daytona during Speedweeks in February — Nationwide regulars would have a better opportunity to get up to speed.(Fox Sports)(10-8-2010)
UPDATE: Nationwide Series team principals met with NASCAR at the U.S. National Whitewater Rafting Center in Charlotte for two hours on Tuesday. But the itinerary wasn’t what the teams expected. A memo was sent to team owners with the agenda stating “we will provide follow-up from our meetings in August.” Yet instead of the town-hall type of events that have been held this season even with the Nationwide teams two months ago there was approximately 15 minutes of NASCAR’s vice president of competition reiterating information that has been on the table for the last two months. The only newsworthy information offered to teams was the possibility of NASCAR limiting teams to 10 chassis for the full-time roll-out of the new car for 2011, changing restrictor plates for manufacturers and the potential for retaining leftover tires from races. The elephant in the room whether Sprint Cup drivers would compete under the same points system as Nationwide Series-only drivers was never broached. There was no question-and-answer session that followed. What followed was 90-plus minute marketing seminar from Nationwide which had been put on the back burner for the second series sponsor since March.(Fox Sports)(10-13-2010)
