Gordon passed over for testing session

AVONDALE, Ariz. --Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler will test for Goodyear next week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, leaving Jeff Gordon wondering what he has to do to get selected for one of the sessions.

The Indy test will be the fourth Goodyear session this year. Although their purpose is to help the tire manufacturer select which compounds to use at that track, the sessions create extremely valuable track time for the teams.

"I would like to get a call from Goodyear to do a tire test because they haven't called us to test for a while," Gordon said. "I feel like we have paid the price a little bit. We have called them and asked them why we aren't tire testing."

Hendrick Motorsports officials aren't sure when Gordon, a four-time series champion, last participated in a tire test but feel confident he did not participate in one in 2005.

Rick Heinrich, product manager for Goodyear, said the tire company was not intentionally excluding Gordon from tests.

"We definitely look for drivers who are fast, give good feedback and are good at the track we are testing, and he's good just about everywhere," Heinrich said. "He's certainly good everywhere and someone we would want to be included in a test."

But who Goodyear wants isn't always enough.

Goodyear tries to spread the tests out to as many teams as possible, get at least one representative of every car model, and often takes input from NASCAR. For example, NASCAR doesn't want drivers competing in the Chase for the championship to participate in a tire test because it gives them an advantage over the rest of the title contenders.

Jimmie Johnson, Gordon's teammate, was recently involved in the tire test in Charlotte, N.C., which makes getting Gordon to one a lesser priority for Goodyear because they don't want to include a Hendrick team every time.