It's the off weekend for all three of the top NASCAR series, and we have a chance to take a deep breath before the tulips come up and the circuit starts making its spring stops. Atlanta turned out to be a bit of a bust after the 47 crew members goofed and put 3/4 of the field a lap down before the first 200 miles of the race was completed, so I think we are all ready for Bristol, which is never boring.

Obviously the off week is not really any break for the teams. They still have 32 races in front of them, and plenty of development work to make headway on. Off weeks are traditionally a time to go testing and this year is no different. A popular destination for test teams this week was a track known as "Little Rock". Little Rock is a Martinsville clone circuit that was built in the infield of the old Rockingham Speedway, which was traditionally the second race of the Cup season. The testing rule states that teams cannot test at any tracks that are on the Cup, NW, and truck schedules. Rockingham is not on any of them, so it is game on. I have never been to Rockingham or "Little Rock", but I have heard that Little Rock is an excellent reproduction of Martinsville, complete with asphault straights and concrete corners. Here is a pic of when it was getting built.

Martinsville is so unique and requires such a different car build, that if you do not test, you are going to be screwed for the race. The brake heat buildup is so great, that there will be some interesting air ducting strategies to keep the brakes and the tires cool. Drivetrains also take alot of abuse, and I would not be surprised to see teams doing long runs to test rear gear durability. If you fry the gear or the brakes in the middle of the race, it doesn't matter how fast your car was.

On the performance side of the spectrum, you will see alot nice details in the cars to get the weight out of them. Obviously there is a minimum weight rule, but there is an advantage to being able to put more weight down low in the frame rails. Some of these details you will not be able to see. Last year Red Bull was busted for having a roof that was made of steel that was too thin. There is a technique where you can acid dip steel panels to remove a few thousandths of an inch of material. This does not sound like much, but with the roof panel being so large and so high on the car, it is a significant advantage if you can get away with it. A couple of years ago, one of the acid dipping companies actually put adds in the bathrooms at the Martinsville race, so it was only a matter of time before someone got busted. The only way to check steel thickness when it is on the car is to use a electronic metal thickness gauge, and I would expect an official to have one in hand again this year.

Enjoy the week off and get ready for a good stretch of some of the more unique racetracks that are coming up in the next month or so.