July 4, 2008 10:02 pm EDT

New Nationwide car on hold
By Bob Margolis, Yahoo! Sports

Smaller team owners urged the delay of the new car. (AP)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Yahoo! Sports has learned that NASCAR officials have notified team owners in the Nationwide Series that they will delay the introduction of the next generation Nationwide Series race car by one year.

According to NASCAR spokesperson Ramsey Poston, the reason for the change is because testing and development is still needed before the car is approved for competition.

The underlying reason for the decision however, is that the economic impact of having to build new cars at this time would be a hardship for all of the independent teams of the Nationwide Series.

The decision was, in part, based on NASCAR officials meeting individually with smaller team owners to gauge their reaction.

Those owners had been urging NASCAR to delay the introduction of the new car, despite its improved safety features.

At a time when teams in the Sprint Cup Series are experiencing funding difficulties, Nationwide teams are finding the sponsorship environment even more difficult, despite their comparatively smaller operating budgets.

A one-year reprieve, making the introduction at the start of the 2010 Series, would give those teams additional time to budget for the changeover, estimated to cost in the millions of dollars.

An official announcement is expected in two weeks.

Veteran motorsports writer Bob Margolis is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR reporter. Send Bob a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Friday, Jul 4, 2008 10:02 pm, EDT

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