Youngren experiences tire-sniffing dog

During Scott Youngren’s 2004 Irwindale Speedway season, he was part of an experiment with a tire-sniffing dog. Prior to the March 20 races, a canine named Sinbad sniffed the Lucas Oil Super Late Model and Auto Club Late Model cars to detect soaked tires. Although the tire-sniffing dog was only an experiment and was not used in subsequent races, Sinbad’s determinations proved to be accurate. “I think it’s the best thing they’ve ever done,” Youngren said on the use of a tire-sniffing dog. Soaking tires with certain liquids softens the tire, providing more grip for the car but adversely affecting tire mileage and the tire’s structural integrity.

Although tire soaking is illegal on most if not all asphalt race tracks, such cheating is difficult to detect. “The tech rules are always a little behind the racers,” said Doug Stokes, the director of communications at Irwindale Speedway. An electronic detection device requires not only a butane torch but also a quiet room and a trained ear to discern the difference in the pitch of the machine’s electronic squeal.

The concept of a quiet room at an auto racing facility increases the difficulty of using that device to determine illegal substance on tires. Impounding the tires for subsequent inspection is not a solution to the need for a quiet area.

“After the race most of the stuff has burned off,” Stokes said. Ed Branch, who is in charge of Irwindale Speedway’s tire program, felt that if special dogs could be trained to detect drugs or explosives they could be trained to detect tire-soaking substances.

Branch contacted Interquest Detection Canines in Pasadena, and dog handler Scott Edmonds indicated that such detection was possible. “We did an experiment with it,” Stokes said. Edmonds, whose parents often attend Irwindale Speedway races, began training Sinbad, a 10-year-old Belgian Malinois who had been retired from bomb-sniffing duty.

Prior to the March 20 race Sinbad participated in several training sessions at the track, both on hot afternoons and on cool nights.

The training sessions included both doped and non-doped tires, and Edmonds was not made aware of which tires were doped.

During the testing Sinbad was 100 percent correct in sorting out the doped tires from the legal ones. On March 20 Sinbad sniffed the tires as the Super Late Models and Late Models left the weighing station and lined up for qualifying.

He stopped at four cars, indicating that the tires were likely soaked. The four drivers and their crew chiefs were offered four new tires and immunity, and they were then privately asked if they had been soaking tires.

All four drivers confirmed Sinbad’s detection.

“They gave indication that he might have been right,” Stokes said. “The dog was four out of four,” Youngren said.

“The dog did his job.” When Youngren was a rookie in 2002, he was accused of cheating once he began having success.

After one accusation his tires were confiscated; the tests came back negative but took 3 1/2 weeks.

“The dog is much more quicker and accurate.

They put people away in jail for a lifetime based on a dog,” Youngren said. “It was really fun to see,” Stokes said.

“It won’t be part of tech, I guarantee you, but it seemed to work very well.” Irwindale is a NASCAR-sanctioned track, and NASCAR officials were informed in advance about the experimental inspection.

The track did not plan to use Sinbad for the entire 2004 season.

“It was only a one-time deal,” Stokes said.

“We just tried it to see if it would work.” NASCAR has neither approved nor disapproved tire-sniffing dogs. “NASCAR’s going to look into it,” Stokes said. “I think it’s great,” Youngren said.

“It would be neat if they brought it back.” The experiment was received with interest from other racing entities. “Got a lot of people’s interest, including the guys from the Wind Tunnel and all that stuff,” Stokes said. Dave DeSpain, a host of the Wind Tunnel show on television’s Speed Channel, was one of the people who inquired about Sinbad’s testing. Stokes is unsure about Irwindale’s future plans to use a tire-sniffing dog.

“I’m not sure where we go from that,” he said. “Don’t be surprised if they bring it back out,” Youngren said.

“You can’t get much better than a dog.”