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NASCAR's test of new Nationwide car should be learning experience
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Monday, November 02, 2009
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TALLADEGA, Ala. – NASCAR’s test of the new Nationwide Series car at Talladega Superspeedway today will be important to the teams and very important for NASCAR.
It will be the first time for the new cars on a high-banked 2.66-mile superspeedway after earlier tests at the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway and 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
The test runs from noon to 6 p.m. EST. Participating in the test will be seven teams: Three Chevrolets (Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing’s Jeff Burton, JR Motorsports’ Kelly Bires), two Fords (Roush Fenway Racing’s Colin Braun and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.), one Dodge (Penske Racing’s Justin Allgaier) and one Toyota (Michael Waltrip Racing’s Trevor Bayne).
Those seven consist of a mix of veterans and rookies. NASCAR, which will debut the car in four races next season starting with the July race at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, will be looking at the tapered spacer hole size on the carburetor as well as some suspension components, springs, shocks and a shorter front splitter, said series director Joe Balash.
NASCAR still has not set the rules for the new car. In addition to Daytona, it will be used in August at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway, in September at Richmond and in October at Charlotte.
“We’re looking to learn what the car is,” Allgaier said. “We weren’t involved in the first test [at Richmond] last year. We want to understand how the car works. The air will be really important. These cars have a completely different look than the other ones.
“That’s going to be important. Unfortunately, we don’t really know for sure whether this is going to be the finalized rendition of what this thing is going to look like or not.”
The teams are eager to see how the car reacts at a track such as Talladega.
“You can do a lot of work in the wind tunnel and with simulation work, but at the end of the day, you still have got to put the car on the track and see how they perform,” said Ford Racing engineer Bernie Marcus. “I’m not concerned how they run by themselves. The main issue is how stable they are in traffic and what speed they want to achieve.”
The teams were given strict aero numbers to hit in the wind tunnel – only three horsepower of drag and just a few pounds of downforce separate the cars – but more leeway on the body design for more brand identity, said Chevrolet’s Nationwide Series program manager Shane Martin.
“The cars look significantly different, and really aero-wise, they were able to match them very well,” Marcus said. “We’re better matched than over on the Cup side right now, which is good. It took us longer to achieve.”
Martin said he hopes there is a two-day NASCAR test in Daytona around March next year to get ready for the debut.
“We’re just collecting data and getting a feel of the aero-balance of the car, running alone and with others and using it as a stepping stone,” Toyota Racing Development President Lee White said. “It’s not a competition. We all want to get to Daytona and be safe.”
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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