FanHouse JohnDarby

I first noticed the phenomenon last week at Darlington, and boy, was it ever noticeable in Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race XXIV at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

That phenomenon? NASCAR Sprint Cup cars driving down the straightaway sideways.

Yes, the "Car of Tomorrow" was designed to reduce the amount of tweaks that a team could do to the body and frame settings of the car as it traveled down the track. NASCAR wanted to rope in the gray areas of the rulebook that permitted teams to essentially build a race car that resembled a wave more than an arrow.

Teams trying to find the newest edge with the new car design have seemingly stumbled across a way to make a car faster by jogging the rear end out to the right side of the car, causing a "crab walk" effect as it drives down the straightaway. Literally speaking, if one was to stand in front of the car, you could plainly see the right rear tire.

NASCAR -- outfoxed on the rules for its new car -- has decided to take a stance and force the teams to take out the awkward rear ends to a certain degree.

Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said Saturday that teams will get a memo, likely this week, telling them to "clean up" the way they're turning their wheels to help the cars handle better.

"They need some of that, but there are some of them that have pushed it," Darby said.

Good for NASCAR on this one, I say. Frankly, the dirt track-type look on the straightaway isn't very visually appealing.

But I do think NASCAR is probably just getting to the tip of the ice berg in terms of the new car.

The first western swing of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2008 campaign hits full stride Monday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The second scheduled stop of the Preseason Thunder testing sessions will offer drivers their first opportunity to turn laps at Vegas in the new model of NASCAR race cars. Sprint Cup Series director John Darby thinks that's nothing but a good thing.

"The good part of it is we're not all worried about it," said Darby, referring to the flurry of criticism that followed last years new car testing.

"All that's behind us."

The test -- it runs Monday and Tuesday at LVMS -- will also give the drivers a better idea as to what the new car feels like without a restrictor plate on the motor and in the exact specifications that the teams will come back with in March for the third race of the year.

A travel day is scheduled for Wednesday as teams make the trek towards California Speedway in Fontana, site of the first "normal" race following the Daytona 500 in February. Once they've arrived, the garages will be open for any work teams need to get done before testing on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday's session runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. while Friday's goes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- local times of course.

Darby said that because of the new car's design requirements, many teams will bring two cars total out west instead of swapping in the middle of the week like years past when teams would build track-specific cars. The new car has much fewer tolerances as a cost-saving measure.

Check back at NASCAR Fanhouse throughout the week for recaps and speeds or bookmark NASCAR Testing for complete testing coverage.

Though Joey Lagano has enjoyed some big-time props from NASCAR veteran Mark Martin, he might not be able to find his way into the Sprint Cup Series for a while.

The 17-year-old driver from Connecticut has turned heads for awhile after Martin referred to Lagano as the "real deal" when he was just 15. In 2008, Lagono -- with a contract as a developmental driver for Joe Gibbs Racing -- is scheduled to compete in some Nationwide series events after his 18th birthday in May.

But NASCAR might have other plans, such as increasing the age limit of it's premier Sprint Cup series to keep younger drivers out. Sources in NASCAR have apparently confirmed that the rule is being considered to the Charlotte Observer's David Poole, who supposes the move is intended to increase strength of the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series:

"There are concerns that young drivers are being moved up through the ranks too soon, and that more time in the second-tier series would give them time to develop their skills on the track and to mature off of it.

Such a change could, theoretically, also bolster interest in the Nationwide and Truck series, since it would ensure that promising young drivers could build fan followings and attract sponsorships while competing at those lower levels."

I couldn't agree more. In the past few years, numerous young drivers have been elevated to the Sprint Cup series with limited success. Allowing them to develop more skill and more of a following could only be a good thing.

New Daytona Gear Rule Might Raise Speeds

Following this week's testing at Daytona, NASCAR was a little uneasy with the RPM's that cars were turning.

In the internal combustion process, water doesn't burn too well. Actually, it doesn't burn at all.

Denny Hamlin's Chevrolet engine tried to burn water Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and the result wasn't pretty. Martin Truex Jr. slammed into the No. 11 as it stalled leading the field to a restart, Kyle Busch spun through the grass, and Carl Edwards unbelievably jumped five spots on the start.

Hamlin's car didn't stumble because of a lack of Sunoco racing fuel in the tank, but rather a fuel pump filled with water that had somehow made it into the team's fuel canisters. When Hamlin hit the gas, the pump fired more water than gas, causing Hamlin's engine to sputter.

Dave Blaney and race-winner Jimmie Johnson also found trace amounts of water in their systems during post-race teardowns.

Only Hamlin and Blaney had significant performance problems as a result, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team suspects water caused Junior to fall back at the start of Sunday's race.

NASCAR apparently can't quite figure out where the water came from, mainly because it affected different manufacturers on different teams.