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Sprint Cup
CUP: Time To Get Busy
Cars will take to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway Jan. 12-14...
The 2012 Sprint Cup season officially kicks off with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 26. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
This off-season has featured some startling surprises, everything from Kurt Busch moving to Phoenix Racing to two of the top three finishers in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings getting new crew chiefs for 2012 and Danica Patrick preparing for her first Daytona 500.
What it hasn’t had so far is cars on track.
Fortunately, for action-hungry race fans, that changes this week with Daytona Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 12-14.
SPEED and SPEED.com will offer 21 hours of live coverage from Daytona during the three-day test session, with SPEED televising the on-track action live from all afternoon sessions and SPEED.com streaming the morning sessions.
SPEED.com will stream the morning test sessions from 9 a.m. to noon each of the three days, with SPEED televising the afternoon sessions from 1-5 p.m.
Historically, Daytona isn’t a place where testing yields major changes to cars or setups. Because aerodynamics are at such a premium, cars tend to race at Daytona the way they arrive: If they are fast in testing, they are fast in the Daytona 500 and if they don’t have speed in testing, they won’t have it in the race. In that case, teams have been known to go back and re-body cars that don’t test well.
This year, though, Daytona testing presents an entirely new set of challenges and opportunities for the drivers and race teams. Seven of the top 15 drivers in points in 2011 have changed either teams or crew chiefs. Plus, the rules package this year is radically different, with smaller radiator openings, larger restrictor plates and no communication between drivers on the radio — all of which is designed to break up the two-car draft.
As a result, during this week’s Daytona test, teams will be trying to learn new personnel, adjust to different rules and figure out who they will be working with during Speedweeks.
“The sport is so competitive that it's not just about seeing how fast your car is now, it's trying to figure out the strategies and techniques we have to use as drivers with the bump drafting and playing the chess game to figure out where you've got to be at the right time,” said Tony Stewart, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.
Stewart, of course, will be one of the drivers with new personnel this year. Greg Zipadelli, who was Stewart’s crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing for a decade, is the new competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing, while another JGR alumnus, Steve Addington, is Stewart’s new crew chief.
While SHR is a championship organization looking to fine tune its operation, other teams, drivers and crew chiefs are looking to step up in 2012. And Daytona will be their first public opportunity to show what they have.
AJ Allmendinger, the newly hired driver of the No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge, is one of those who will be in the spotlight this year.
“I know there's a lot of pressure there to go out there and perform, but for me if I didn't feel like I could do that I'd just be wasting everybody's time and then I wouldn't be here,” said Allmendinger. “I feel like I'm at that level to take that next step and be a winner and be a championship contender, and obviously this organization showed that this year that they can do that.”
Allmendinger’s replacement at Richard Petty Motorsports, Aric Almirola, is equally excited to get a second chance in NASCAR’s top division after losing his prior ride when Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates merged and downsized its number of cars in 2009.
“To have the opportunity to get in as good of equipment as I’m getting in now, I’m really excited about it,” said Almirola. “I feel like I’m a way better race car driver than I am now than I was three years ago, so I feel like I’ll be able to make the most of this opportunity.”
This time of year, everyone is optimistic about the upcoming season.
Starting Thursday, though, the reality checks will begin as cars get on track at Daytona.
“There's very few things that we really can work on as far as drivability is concerned,” said Denny Hamlin prior to last year’s test. “I think everyone's car is going to drive good. But when it comes to Speedweeks it's going to be very interesting because I think it's going to be survival.”
Stay tuned to SPEED and SPEED.com for all the action from Daytona.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER TESTING: During the Jan. 12-14 test sessions at Daytona International Speedway, fans can submit questions and comments through Twitter @SPEED (http://www.twitter.com/speed) using the #daytonatesting hashtag.
What it hasn’t had so far is cars on track.
Fortunately, for action-hungry race fans, that changes this week with Daytona Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 12-14.
SPEED and SPEED.com will offer 21 hours of live coverage from Daytona during the three-day test session, with SPEED televising the on-track action live from all afternoon sessions and SPEED.com streaming the morning sessions.
SPEED.com will stream the morning test sessions from 9 a.m. to noon each of the three days, with SPEED televising the afternoon sessions from 1-5 p.m.
Historically, Daytona isn’t a place where testing yields major changes to cars or setups. Because aerodynamics are at such a premium, cars tend to race at Daytona the way they arrive: If they are fast in testing, they are fast in the Daytona 500 and if they don’t have speed in testing, they won’t have it in the race. In that case, teams have been known to go back and re-body cars that don’t test well.
This year, though, Daytona testing presents an entirely new set of challenges and opportunities for the drivers and race teams. Seven of the top 15 drivers in points in 2011 have changed either teams or crew chiefs. Plus, the rules package this year is radically different, with smaller radiator openings, larger restrictor plates and no communication between drivers on the radio — all of which is designed to break up the two-car draft.
As a result, during this week’s Daytona test, teams will be trying to learn new personnel, adjust to different rules and figure out who they will be working with during Speedweeks.
“The sport is so competitive that it's not just about seeing how fast your car is now, it's trying to figure out the strategies and techniques we have to use as drivers with the bump drafting and playing the chess game to figure out where you've got to be at the right time,” said Tony Stewart, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.
Stewart, of course, will be one of the drivers with new personnel this year. Greg Zipadelli, who was Stewart’s crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing for a decade, is the new competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing, while another JGR alumnus, Steve Addington, is Stewart’s new crew chief.
While SHR is a championship organization looking to fine tune its operation, other teams, drivers and crew chiefs are looking to step up in 2012. And Daytona will be their first public opportunity to show what they have.
AJ Allmendinger, the newly hired driver of the No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge, is one of those who will be in the spotlight this year.
“I know there's a lot of pressure there to go out there and perform, but for me if I didn't feel like I could do that I'd just be wasting everybody's time and then I wouldn't be here,” said Allmendinger. “I feel like I'm at that level to take that next step and be a winner and be a championship contender, and obviously this organization showed that this year that they can do that.”
Allmendinger’s replacement at Richard Petty Motorsports, Aric Almirola, is equally excited to get a second chance in NASCAR’s top division after losing his prior ride when Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates merged and downsized its number of cars in 2009.
“To have the opportunity to get in as good of equipment as I’m getting in now, I’m really excited about it,” said Almirola. “I feel like I’m a way better race car driver than I am now than I was three years ago, so I feel like I’ll be able to make the most of this opportunity.”
This time of year, everyone is optimistic about the upcoming season.
Starting Thursday, though, the reality checks will begin as cars get on track at Daytona.
“There's very few things that we really can work on as far as drivability is concerned,” said Denny Hamlin prior to last year’s test. “I think everyone's car is going to drive good. But when it comes to Speedweeks it's going to be very interesting because I think it's going to be survival.”
Stay tuned to SPEED and SPEED.com for all the action from Daytona.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER TESTING: During the Jan. 12-14 test sessions at Daytona International Speedway, fans can submit questions and comments through Twitter @SPEED (http://www.twitter.com/speed) using the #daytonatesting hashtag.
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