NEW TESTING POLICY -- New for 2006 is a policy that sets a schedule for when and where Nextel Cup tests are to be conducted. The scheduled tests will be the only opportunities teams will have to test at Nextel Cup tracks. There will be six test locations: Charlotte, Daytona Las Vegas, Richmond, Homestead-Miami and Indianapolis. Teams still will be able to schedule tests at facilities that do not play host to Cup events, such as Kentucky.

LESS IMPOUND RACES -- The number of impound races will be drastically reduced for 2006. NASCAR will impound the Nextel Cup cars at five races: both Talladega events, both Richmond events, and the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. NASCAR used the impound rule at 21 of 36 races in 2005. The rule was consistently criticized throughout the year as vastly different weekend schedules led to confusion and large amounts of downtime.

FOUR-CAR LIMIT -- NASCAR has announced a program that will cap the number of cars under one ownership group. The four-car cap program starts in 2006 and NASCAR is working with groups that control more than four cars to establish a reasonable timeline for compliance. The four-car limit will extend to owners and any affiliate group, which includes situations where one or more of the car owners is entitled to receive, or actually receives, any financial consideration based upon the performance of the cars entered by the other car owners, or has any revenue sharing or ownership stake in the team.

GOODYEAR TIRE IMPLANTS -- Goodyear will install computer chips in its Eagle racing radial tires and Wrangler radials to be used in the Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck series in 2006. The Radio Frequency Identification unit -- about three inches long and consisting of an antennae that's about the diameter of heavy-duty dental floss with a quarter-inch by eighth-inch chip in the center -- will be used to track inventory initially, though its uses can be expanded to other areas in the future. The tires, which previously were tracked using bar codes on the "stickers" affixed to the new tires, will be traced using the "RFID" chips implanted in the rubber's sidewall.