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Sprint Cup
CUP: NASCAR Close To Finalizing Daytona Package
Jeff Gordon has the fastest speed in the final round of Daytona testing…
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton is pleased with how the switch to electronic fuel injection is going. (Photo: Getty Images)
Sprint Cup preseason testing ended at Daytona International Speedway Saturday afternoon with NASCAR saying it has a good handle on a workable rules package for February Speedweeks.
Officials made numerous modifications during three days of testing at the 2.5-mile track with the aim of lessening driver dependence on the tandem drafting that have ruled racing at Daytona and Talladega in recent events.
NASCAR and track officials seemed pleased with the results of the three days after drivers ran in single-car, double-car and pack formations. NASCAR compiled stacks of data during the test runs and expects to issue a final rules package for Speedweeks soon.
“So far, so good,” NASCAR vice president Robin Pemberton said Saturday. “You know, we know that when we come out of here, there will be some loose ends we have to tie up and probably get all of our information together and come up with our final plans for Speedweeks. But, all in all, everything is going according to plan.”
There is the expectation that Speedweeks events – particularly the featured Feb. 26 Daytona 500 – will see more traditional pack racing and less tandem drafting, although the cars’ setups remain such that the two-car draft could decide the race over the closing laps.
“If I had to guess right now and they lined us up to race, I’d say that you’d see a pack for most of the day,” said Denny Hamlin. “You’re going to see breakaways here and there, but I think that for the most part the pack can run fast enough to keep up with the two-car tandem.
“The two-car tandem will get out there a little bit, but I think that if you get a big-enough pack with 20 or 30 cars they will eat up a tandem pretty quick.”
Hamlin said the pack drafting really grabs drivers’ attention.
“It’s fast,” he said. “When we went out there for that draft session yesterday (Friday), immediately you started thinking, ‘Wow, if we wreck this could be big.’
“That’s the consequences that we know that could happen. We’re all about making a better show for the fans, and I feel like they like to see pack racing. They don’t like to see the cars strung out as much as it was with the tandem, and I think speeding these race cars up is going to do that.”
Saturday’s runs ended at 5 p.m. with Jeff Gordon atop the afternoon speed chart at 200.562 mph. Following were Penske Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and AJ Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne and Hamlin.
The dangers of pack racing were illustrated quickly in Saturday afternoon’s final session as Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were involved in an accident at the back of the pack. Burton’s car was most seriously damaged. Although Earnhardt Jr.’s car received only minor damage, he drove teammate Jimmie Johnson’s car later in the afternoon.
After that incident, pack racing disappeared for the rest of the session.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Officials made numerous modifications during three days of testing at the 2.5-mile track with the aim of lessening driver dependence on the tandem drafting that have ruled racing at Daytona and Talladega in recent events.
NASCAR and track officials seemed pleased with the results of the three days after drivers ran in single-car, double-car and pack formations. NASCAR compiled stacks of data during the test runs and expects to issue a final rules package for Speedweeks soon.
“So far, so good,” NASCAR vice president Robin Pemberton said Saturday. “You know, we know that when we come out of here, there will be some loose ends we have to tie up and probably get all of our information together and come up with our final plans for Speedweeks. But, all in all, everything is going according to plan.”
There is the expectation that Speedweeks events – particularly the featured Feb. 26 Daytona 500 – will see more traditional pack racing and less tandem drafting, although the cars’ setups remain such that the two-car draft could decide the race over the closing laps.
“If I had to guess right now and they lined us up to race, I’d say that you’d see a pack for most of the day,” said Denny Hamlin. “You’re going to see breakaways here and there, but I think that for the most part the pack can run fast enough to keep up with the two-car tandem.
“The two-car tandem will get out there a little bit, but I think that if you get a big-enough pack with 20 or 30 cars they will eat up a tandem pretty quick.”
Hamlin said the pack drafting really grabs drivers’ attention.
“It’s fast,” he said. “When we went out there for that draft session yesterday (Friday), immediately you started thinking, ‘Wow, if we wreck this could be big.’
“That’s the consequences that we know that could happen. We’re all about making a better show for the fans, and I feel like they like to see pack racing. They don’t like to see the cars strung out as much as it was with the tandem, and I think speeding these race cars up is going to do that.”
Saturday’s runs ended at 5 p.m. with Jeff Gordon atop the afternoon speed chart at 200.562 mph. Following were Penske Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and AJ Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne and Hamlin.
The dangers of pack racing were illustrated quickly in Saturday afternoon’s final session as Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were involved in an accident at the back of the pack. Burton’s car was most seriously damaged. Although Earnhardt Jr.’s car received only minor damage, he drove teammate Jimmie Johnson’s car later in the afternoon.
After that incident, pack racing disappeared for the rest of the session.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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