NASCAR won't budge on Roush Fenway's 4-car limit

With teams scrambling to find sponsorships and raise enough money to run full schedules in this economic crisis, Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith thinks NASCAR should reconsider its four-car limit in the Sprint Cup.

Not a chance, according to NASCAR president Mike Helton.

"We have not changed our mind on this," Helton said. "As a matter of fact, it's probably stronger than it's ever been, and we believe it's the right thing to do. That move of a cap of ownership on cars ... was a piece of a bigger puzzle."

Roush Fenway will have five Sprint Cup cars this season for the final time before it has to meet NASCAR's car cap in 2010.

Smith, speaking to reporters at the Sprint Cup media tour, believes the recession will make it difficult for that divested fifth car to survive with a smaller team.

Smith also speculated sponsors may be hesitant to stick around if the car is transferred elsewhere.

"It's some vision that was misplaced about how to get new owners in the business," Smith said. "It's a difficult business to be in. Economically, it's very difficult even in the best of times. It takes a lot of capital to get people trained and engines developed. Frankly, it requires cooperative combinations to be able to make it work."

Helton said multiple-car teams are not guaranteed success and could hinder NASCAR during an economic downturn.

"Imagine what it would be like if an owner who had eight or nine teams had financial problems and shut his garage down?" Helton said.

But owner Jack Roush feels he's been unfairly singled out as the only team with more than four cars. Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, David Ragan and Jamie McMurray will drive for Roush Fenway this season.

"They'll have to think if changing their mind or losing face is offset by the fact that a sponsor might stay in and we may have one more team in the series," Roush said.

Smith said the fifth car's destination would likely be Yates Racing, which has an alliance with Roush Fenway. Several teams have since joined similar partnerships.

"Owners of multiple cars that know how to operate race teams, in general, perform better than other people," Smith said. "So there is a deeper competitive field even though there are fewer owners. That gets jeopardized when you begin to shrink the top owners."

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HALL OF FAME:@ NASCAR announced its new Hall of Fame, scheduled to open next year in downtown Charlotte, N.C., will have five inductees a year.

A 20-member nominating committee will determine the list of no more than 25 candidates. That committee will then join 27 other former drivers, owners, crew chiefs, media members and other officials. A 48th ballot will represent the results of a nationwide fan ballot.

To be eligible, former drivers must have competed 10 years in NASCAR and be retired for at least three years. Non-drivers must have worked at least 10 years in the industry.

"With the excitement already building about the physical layout of the Hall of Fame, this will add to the excitement on another front, regarding this impressive, historic project," NASCAR chairman Brian France said. "We have established an orderly induction process that is inclusive, involving various industry constituencies — most importantly, the fans."

The first induction is scheduled for May 2010 when NASCAR comes to the Charlotte area for the All-Star race and Coca-Cola 600.

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NEW ENGINES:@ After three years of work, Doug Yates has helped complete a new Ford racing engine, the first in decades for the car maker.

The engine, which will be slowly phased in this season, was unveiled Thursday. Yates and Roush Fenway Racing have an engine alliance.

"To be able to go in and design something from a clean sheet of paper is really cool. But we had a lot to learn to get there," Yates said. "We ended up with what we feel is technically a better product."

The engine features an improved cooling system that will allow the engine to run hotter and a redesigned layout that Yates hopes will produce more power.

The engine will not be used at Daytona, but could be put on some Fords later in the season.

"The guys that are on the bubble with points, we're not going to take as much risk," Yates said. "If a guy is 300 points in the lead or 300 points from making the Chase, you might take some risk in that car."

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DIVERSITY:@ NASCAR, much maligned for its lack of diversity, is beefing up a program it hopes will bring more minorities to the sport.

Twelve drivers will compete in various lower-tier racing series in 2009, with former Dale Earnhardt Inc. president Max Siegel taking over the initiative.

More than 200 minority and female drivers applied for one of the spots in the program.

"The expansion to 12 drivers and 11 teams is a great sign of opportunities that continue to be created for young diverse drivers," France said. "We look forward to the leadership of Max Siegel and know he will help bring Drive for Diversity to the next level."

NASCAR has no minority drivers in its top-level Sprint Cup.

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RAGAN'S HOPES:@ David Ragan is entering only his third full season in Sprint Cup, set to drive the No. 6 Ford with new sponsor UPS.

But Ragan was collecting praise from nearly everyone on Thursday, even as he searches for his first victory after finishing 13th in points in 2008.

"David Ragan will be as good as anybody's been in this business. He's the real deal," Roush said.

Added his teammate Edwards: "David's got the whole package."

With Roush saying he believes all five of his cars can qualify for the season-ending Chase for the championship, there's plenty of pressure on the 24-year-old Ragan.

"We know we're another year or so from winning that championship," Ragan said. "But we're pretty close at winning a lot of races."

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EDWARDS VS. BUSCH:@ Edwards, honored as the driver of the year by the National Motorsports Press Association, is looking forward to renewing his not-so-friendly rivalry with Kyle Busch. The drivers combined for 17 Sprint Cup wins and several verbal jousts in 2008, although Jimmie Johnson won the points championship.

"If you're mad at somebody, don't like someone, it just makes it more fun to beat them," Edwards said. "You have to be careful. If they outrun you, you can't get down about it.

"Really, the best thing for me personally is I kind of race everyone the same. That ends up being the best. As hard as it is sometimes, that's worked pretty well for me."