CUP: Spoiler Tests Going Well At Charlotte

Sprint Cup

CUP: Spoiler Tests Going Well At Charlotte

So far so good for the new spoilers at Charlotte Motor Speedway...

Mike Hembree | Posted March 23, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes the No. 88 Chevy onto the Charlotte Motor Speedway on the first day of a two day test of the new spoilers for NASCAR Sprint Cup cars. (Photo: Getty Images)

Drivers expressed satisfaction with speeds and car stability Tuesday morning as NASCAR began a two-day test of rear-deck spoilers at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Charlotte NSCS Testing Speeds Afternoon Session Day 1

Charlotte NSCS Testing Speeds Morning Session Day 1

The metal spoilers, which will replace the rear-deck wings that debuted when NASCAR introduced the Car of Tomorrow, will be used in competition for the first time this weekend at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. The first significant run at a fast track, however, will be April 18 at Texas Motor Speedway, and Tuesday and Wednesday tests this week at CMS will provide significant information about possible performance at that track.

“The car is driving very well,” said Kurt Busch. “It feels very stable with the spoiler on. The biggest difference is that the car has a lot more drag, so it’s going slower down the straightaway, but we’ll probably maintain good speed in the corners.”

Speeds were generally in the expected mid-180s range. Juan Pablo Montoya had the morning’s top speed – 185.976 mph. Sam Hornish, David Reutimann, Brian Vickers and Jamie McMurray followed in the top five.

Forty-seven cars ran laps in the morning session.

“It feels a bit different with the spoiler,” Kasey Kahne said. “There’s a little more drag down the straightaways. But it will all change so much when we come back to race here (in May). Right now there’s a lot of grip and everybody’s pretty quick.

“So far I haven’t felt a big difference. The car probably handles pretty similarly (to the wing configuration). When you get side by side and racing people, that’s when it will be a bigger difference.”

Teams ran single-car runs in the morning session.

Kevin Harvick said his team was using the test session to gather information that should be beneficial in shop simulations.

“The car looks a lot better,” he said. “It looks like you would expect a car to look in NASCAR racing. It’s what our sport was built around. We need to make it look cool and fast and appealing to the eye. That’s the first thing everybody went after, to get it back to the basic look.

“As far as the racing, there’s really no way to tell. The first real answer will be at Texas.”

Photo Gallery: Charlotte Spoiler Test

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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