All that Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus could do on Sunday morning at Fontana was talk. Credit: Autostock

All dressed up and nowhere to go

New procedure makes Sunday mornings church-like in garage

It's Sunday morning, 8 a.m., a glorious, sunny Southern California day, and the California Speedway garage is -- to borrow (and slightly alter) a line from Alan Jackson -- as quiet as a Monday morning church.

But unlike the temple in Jackson's sonnet, this church isn't empty.

It may be quiet like Monday, but it's packed like Sunday.

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NASCAR's new impound procedure -- which forbids teams from wrenching on their race cars from the moment their qualifying lap concludes until the race begins the following day -- will be used at 12 tracks in 2005, and has drastically changed the race-day landscape of the Cup Series garage.

And depending whom you ask, it may or may not be for the better.

"I don't like this impound deal. When we're here for three days it's awfully boring," Chad Knaus said. "We come to the racetrack to work on the race cars, and here we can't even touch them. That's no fun at all."

Sunday mornings in years past produced a garage abuzz with movement. The roar of priming engines filtered through the paddock throughout the morning, up until time to push the cars to the starting grid.

Crew chiefs mingled, talked tendencies, pored over notes.

Crewmen worked feverishly, incorporating information gained in Happy Hour to tweak the car to perfection, racing the clock to make precise adjustments to the final race setup.

Not anymore. It's quiet now. Eerily so.

Not that folks aren't busy. Target Dodge crew chief Jimmy Elledge spends the morning packing his crew's travel bags on the transporter.

"What else am I gonna do?" he snarls.

It's the same scene on the other side of the garage. Team Lowe's crewmen David Bryant and Kenny Briggs are trading barbs, burning cigarettes and sharing laughs. Car chief Ron Malec is chatting up my wife. Others hang out, expressionless.

Imagine Knaus' annoyance. He is, to say the least, impatiently impounded.

Amid the lull, an old adage pops in my head: This Sunday silence is deafening.

"If they condense it down to two days I'm all for the impounding procedure, but to come out here to work for three days and not even be able to work on your car, that's no fun at all," Knaus said. "Wastes a lot of time."

"I'm with that idea," Elledge said. "Sign me up."

It seems two-day shows are in order. So why not do it?

Cash, of course.

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To NASCAR's credit, one team owner, who wished to remain anonymous, did tell me it is the tracks who are unwilling to implement two-day shows, not the sanctioning body.

A longer weekend means more concessions and memorabilia sales. More hotdogs and popcorn. More beers. More hats and t-shirts. And another full day of parking fees.

Plus, they may have sold sponsorships contingent on three-day shows. They're running a business. You can't fault them.

"It's a well-known fact that NASCAR would love to go to two-day shows, across the board," said spokesman Jim Hunter. "But NASCAR has to make everyone happy. So, say a track has sold a sponsorship for Friday pole day. We'd be taking that money away from the track."

So get used to it, folks. It's hurry-up-and-wait Sundays for the foreseeable future, at least at California, Atlanta, Bristol, Phoenix, Richmond, Pocono, Michigan, New Hampshire, Daytona (the Pepsi 400 in July), Watkins Glen, Kansas and Darlington, and possibly others if NASCAR sees fit.

It's a cost-cutting measure, and it should work. It reduces time on the track, which means less tires. And the future possibility of needing less crewmen at the track on Friday and Saturday could save some cash in the long run.

That is, if you believe you can save teams money in the first place. (I don't).

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. likes the impounding procedure, says it requires less work. But Earnhardt also says teams are at a greater disadvantage competitively, due to lack of post-qualifying practice.

"They're making all these changes, and change is good. But the thing about it, we're all going to pick and grind at everything they do," Earnhardt said. "And actually it's a lot less work. Guys are going to complain, but the less anybody has to do in life the better they like it.

"So it's nice, and it does save money. Regardless what anybody says, it doesn't cost as much money to come down here and race when you don't have that much racing on the track, and that much changing of oils. That's smart.

However, Junior has some reservations.

"But I'm not sure if these are the tracks we should do it. Maybe at the short tracks, mile tracks maybe. But these tracks, you'd like to have more understanding about your car in race trim after qualifying. Maybe they should do one hour, then qualifying, then another hour. That'd be awesome."

So he's completely cool with his guys showing up at 6 am, standing around all morning?

"If they want to come hang at the bus, they're more than welcome," Earnhardt chuckled. "We could all hang at the bus. It'll be hard not to get into a case of beer, though, at that point! The hell with it!"

Some would agree, Junior.

Marty Smith is a senior writer for NASCAR.COM. His column runs on Thursdays.