NASCAR Cup Series

Will no-testing rule put single-car teams at bigger disadvantage?

Published Dec. 4, 2014 1:55 p.m. ET

Larry McReynolds

Obviously, this no testing rule is virgin territory for everyone in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Even though the crew chiefs have relied on the engineering staff in the past, I think they will rely on them even more so in 2015. They are in somewhat of a catch-22 situation, though.

They don't want to build up too much of an inventory of cars just in case something isn't right, because as I mentioned the other day, they really won't know where their program is with the new rules until they get into the second, third and fourth races of the season.

This is where those alliances that some of the single-car teams have with the mega-teams pay even bigger dividends. These single-car teams are going to have to maximize their resources better than ever, and being able to get some engineering help and data from the bigger teams is a huge plus.

Trust me, if you are a single car team out there on that island, as I call it, with no alliance with a bigger organization, and only have limited resources and now no on-track testing, well, you are going to be pretty lost when the season starts.

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