Roush upset with NASCAR approach to COT testing

CONCORD, N.C. -- As if he wasn't busy enough already, now Jack Roush is venturing into the media consulting business.

Asked about his Roush Fenway Racing operation's state of readiness as the Nextel Cup Series prepares to run the Car of Tomorrow full-time next season, Roush took the opportunity to suggest a story line for those who cover the sport. Then he launched into a monologue that basically proved his point, but also provided strong evidence that perhaps his organization simply wasn't forward-thinking enough when compared to the other big teams in the Cup Series as they all prepared for the 2007 racing season.

"There's the potential for a lot of editorials for you guys. I can't believe you're missing it, but NASCAR came back and with Goodyear decided that we can't own our tires," Roush said at Lowe's Motor Speedway, where his race teams were preparing for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.

"They were going to stop us from taking tires home because they did not want us to test these cars. They were going to start everybody on the Car of Tomorrow on an even basis, saying there were four or five tests -- whatever it was -- and that's what you get, that's what you've got.

"Well, the teams that have been successful and I'll name names -- the Hendrick organization, the Gibbs organization and the Childress organization -- have been testing these cars multiple times a week on race tracks that were outside of NASCAR's control, with tires that were not Goodyears for the most part because they won't sell the tires. So Goodyear is sitting on top of millions of dollars worth of tires that are growing obsolete and hard in their warehouses -- and the teams were going around NASCAR's policy and their intention by buying other people's tires and going to race tracks."

While all that may be true, it's also true that those race teams weren't technically breaking any established NASCAR rules and that Roush Fenway Racing could have been doing the same thing. Roush admitted as much.

"I got behind on that," he said. (Continued)