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02.02.09

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The start of the 2009 Sprint Cup season is just around the corner and there are many changes to outline in preparation for the start of the season. We will examine some the changes that we'll see and some we won't when the engines fire up at Daytona in February.

Driver Changes

We have several team changes and new drivers for the 2009 season. A handful of teams shut down due to economic woes and lack of sponsorship; some teams merged and contracted to stay competitive; and a handful of rookie drivers are ready to take their shot at the Rookie of the Year Award. Also, some driver/team swaps have taken place. Among the most notable are the Tony Stewart, Mark Martin and Casey Mears defections.

DRIVER	NEW TEAM	OLD TEAM
Casey Mears	No. 07 Richard Childress Racing	No. 5 Rick Hendrick Motorsports
Mark Martin	No. 5 Rick Hendrick Motorsports	No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Reed Sorenson	No. 10 Richard Petty Motorsports	No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing
David Stremme	No. 12 Penske Racing	No. 64 RWI (Nationwide Series)
Tony Stewart	No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing	No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
Joey Logano	No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing	No. 18 JGR (Nationwide Series)
Clint Bowyer	No. 33 Richard Childress Racing	No. 07 Richard Childress Racing
Ryan Newman	No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing	No. 12 Penske Racing
Bobby Labonte	No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing	No. 43 Petty Enterprises
Marcos Ambrose	No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing	No. 59 JTG (Nationwide Series)
Scott Speed	No. 82 Red Bull Racing	No. 22 Bill Davis (Truck Series)
Paul Menard	No. 98 Yates Racing	No. 15 Dale Earnhardt Inc.
A.J. Allmendinger	No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports	No. 84 Red Bull Racing

Testing Moratorium

The biggest change in 2009 that will have an impact on competition is the NASCAR-imposed ban on testing. In November 2008, NASCAR announced it would enforce a strict ban on testing for all three major racing series and two regional series for the 2009 season. This was done to help teams manage cost in light of the financial troubles the economy is experiencing. The suspension of testing should save teams millions of dollars, and the impact on competition should be easy to identify. Even more now than ever, veteran drivers will be placed in an advantageous situation. The ban on testing will likely hurt younger drivers who don't have years of experience on the circuit's many tracks. Veteran drivers should benefit from this rule change by comparison. From a fantasy racing perspective, we should be able to look more closely toward drivers' historical statistics at various tracks. Hot streaks will still factor in our analysis, but historical data should be more dependable than ever with the new testing ban.

Substance Abuse Policy

In light of some recent incidents regarding drivers in all of NASCAR's top three divisions, the sanctioning body announced in September last season that it will use random drug testing in 2009. All drivers, team members and NASCAR officials will be drug screened prior to the start of the season, and all will be subject to random drug testing throughout the season. NASCAR's substance abuse policies have been strictly enforced over the years, but the testing guidelines have been gray at best. This rule change is a step in the right direction and should head off any problems with drivers, team members or officials before they get too far into the sport. NASCAR has always been rigid but fair in its substance abuse policies, and now it has a good framework for testing for all participants in the sport.

Sprint Cup Rule Changes

NASCAR seems quite satisfied on the rules front. After last season's major shakeup to the qualifying format, the sanctioning body has decided to leave most things alone in 2009. Here is a brief summary of a few proposals that were floated during the past year, but that won't hit the rule books this season.

- NASCAR officials won't alter the minimum age limit for drivers in the Sprint Cup series for the 2009 season. Series officials discussed raising the minimum age limit from 18 to 21 but decided against it.

With so many young drivers like Joey Logano entering the circuit upon turning 18, there had been some talk in the last couple seasons about raising the age limit. NASCAR decided against it, so 18 will remain the mark for Sprint Cup racing for the foreseeable future.

- Despite several requests from teams and drivers, NASCAR hasn't planned any changes for the current stock car this season. The COT has been in use for two full seasons, and teams are beginning to adjust to the new stock car. However, NASCAR doesn't plan any technical changes to the basic car in 2009.

The new stock car has been a source of complaints among many drivers in the Sprint Cup garage area. It doesn't handle as well as the old car, and that is partly the intention of NASCAR. Although many drivers have lobbied for changes to make the cars handle better, don't expect to see the sanctioning body jump on those requests. Teams that can adapt best to the ill-handling cars will be the ones winning races and championships, at least in the short run.

Schedule Changes

No tracks were dropped or added to the 2009 Sprint Cup Schedule. The schedule still maintains the 36-race format that has been the status quo for a few seasons now. NASCAR has introduced four off-weeks this year, necessitating some date swapping. Here are a couple of race dates that were affected:

- Week 25 (Sept. 6, Labor Day Weekend) is now the second Atlanta race. This was the second race at Fontana, Calif., last season. This race date has been moved.

- Week 30 (Oct. 11) is now the second Fontana race. This used to be the second Talladega race weekend. This race has moved to accommodate the change.

- Week 33 (Nov. 1) is now the second Talladega race. This is the spot formerly held by the second Atlanta race that moved to Week 25.

- No other changes were made to last season's schedule, but the Chase for the Cup lineup of tracks changes due to the three race-date shuffle. Atlanta was dropped from the Chase lineup and Fontana added.