It's Drafting
Day at Daytona 1/18/06
© Oak Park Journal photo by Dan Peters
The Boys Are
Back In Town Again. Nextel Cup drivers test
New cars for 2006 Daytona
500, Toyota announces expansion into NASCAR Cup and Busch Series in 2007
by Dan Peters
Wednesday, January 18, 2006. While NASA was attempting to launch a high
powered rocket at Cape Kennedy, The NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers concluded
a two week test session at the World
Center of Racing, the Daytona International Speedway.
On this day, The NASCAR drivers had to contend with the similar weather
conditions, cool temperatures and high winds as did the NASA engineers
at the Kennedy Space center. No delays here,
the testing went on as planned.
New crews and New Cars had their first chance to test, and today
draft in packs for race conditions in February of this year. The
new Ford Fusion and Monte Carlo proved to test well these past few days
at Daytona. The Dodge Charger, well, is still looking for the same
success as the other makes.
Dale Jarret's
Crew pushes his New Fusion to the Garage
© Oak Park Journal photo by Dan
Peters
The
preseason visit to Daytona proved to be a productive trip for 2004
series champion Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge),
who took advantage of the three-day opportunity to work
with a new team for the first time in his NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series career.
Busch spent this test session, which included the even-ranked teams of
the 2005 car owner point standings (as of July 15, 2005), getting to
know his new teammates.
On Wednesday morning, when drivers began drafting in packs around the
speedway, Busch posted the 23rd-fastest lap at 47.931 seconds (187.770
mph). Although he wasn't at the top of the
speed charts, Busch says he felt great about his time on the track.
"I am very happy," Busch said. "It's obviously new, and things
are so different. It's fun, really, to smile and walk around with a
Miller Lite suit on, knowing the guy in charge is Roger Penske."
There is some pressure on Busch as he makes his debut with the
legendary Penske Racing South team that experienced decades of success
with Rusty Wallace. As he adjusts to Penske's Dodge, Busch has plenty
of reasons to be optimistic. Daytona
International Speedway, the sport's biggest stage, has been a
strong point for the 27-year-old Las Vegas native.
In 10 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series starts at Daytona, Busch has four
top-five finishes, including runner-up finishes in the 2003 and 2005
Daytona 500.
With his new team, Busch now combines his knack for Daytona success
with the experience and resources at Penske Racing South. During the
off-season, Busch says he's already been made
to feel right at home with his new organization.
One of the key relationships of Busch's inner circle will be crew chief
Roy McCauley, who oversaw a nine-race NASCAR Busch Series schedule for
Ryan Newman in 2005, resulting in six
wins.
"I am always looking forward to challenges to expand my mind
for one thing and to obviously get up to the same level as Roy
McCauley," said Busch. "I think they've had success on the
[NASCAR] Busch Series level, now it's time to see if we can
do it at the [NASCAR NEXTEL] Cup level. It'll be a challenge
but we'll see what we can do."
Kyle Busch Set for Sophomore Season. The 2005 Raybestos Rookie of the
Year and the youngest driver to win a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race,
Kyle Busch (No. 5 Kellogg's
chevrolet), wrapped up his Preseason Thunder test session as
one of the fastest drivers of the week.
Kurt & Kyle
Busch Discuss testing with their new teams.
© Oak Park Journal photo by Dan
Peters
With the series next test session at his hometown track, Las
Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch expects to be well-prepared for
the 2006 season. "Coming out of the end of last year, being
able to get into the off season and get a new standard started
here, we have a lot of work that we've had to do throughout
the wintertime, "said Busch. "We've been able to focus on
brand new race cars right out of the box. It's all about trying
to just get going and there's not much we can do to try to
figure out what the sophomore club is, what works, what
to fix. We just have to try to prepare ourselves [as best
as possible] for the season." Mental games: Jamie
McMurray envisions
success with Roush Racing Jamie McMurray (No. 26
Crown Royal Ford) is another driver who came to Daytona
with a new team for the first time.
McMurray said he's nervous about the upcoming season, but
fully confident driving for a former championship-winning team.
"Racing, regardless of what people say, is a mental sport, "said
McMurray. "If you believe you can win, if you're in a car that
can win, you more than likely will. If you have a negative attitude,
typically you don't get very good results. So the fact that all of my
teammates won last year and the team I'm with has won, I
don't know that I view it as pressure because, for me, everyone
in the garage area has that. Whether they're in a car that's capable of
winning or not, they all want to and there's pressure to win."
Jarrett and Bowyer lead the Wednesday morning test session.
The all-new Ford Fusion continues to post some impressive numbers at
Daytona. Dale Jarrett (No. 88 UPS Ford) turned the
fastest lap on Wednesday morning, in the draft, at 47.565 seconds
(189.215 mph). Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Clint Bowyer (No.
07 Jack Daniel's chevrolet) was second-fastest by
just a fraction of a second on Wednesday morning, at 47.587 seconds
(189.127 mph). Complete times and speeds for each
day's test sessions are available to media members at
www.nascarmedia.com.
Preseason testing continues, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup teams headed West NASCAR
Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder at Daytona concludes Jan. 20-22 with
the NASCAR Busch Series
test session.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers, meanwhile, will continue their
preseason preparations with their next test session Jan. 30-
Feb. 1 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Jamie McMurray
Takes time to pose with a fan during testing.
© Oak Park Journal photo by Dan Peters
NASCAR announced today the Car of Tomorrow will begin competition in
2007 DAYTONA BEACH, Florida. NASCAR announced today, January 23. 2006
that the Car of Tomorrow
will begin competition in 2007. Teams will use the newly-designed race
car for 16 events next season, beginning with the spring race
at Bristol Motor Speedway, currently the fifth event on the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series schedule. A five-year project overseen by
NASCAR Vice President for Research and Development Gary Nelson, the Car
of Tomorrow offers
important safety and performance upgrades. It also addresses
cost reduction, providing teams with a more efficient car to
produce and tune.
"The Car of Tomorrow represents one of the sport's most significant
innovations, and we feel everyone involved in
NASCAR will experience the benefits," said NASCAR President Mike
Helton. "No subject is more important than safety, and
while the Car of Tomorrow was built around safety considerations, the
competition and cost improvements will prove vital as well."
Aside from Bristol events, teams will use the Car of Tomorrow
in 2007 events at Phoenix International Raceway, Martinsville Speedway,
Richmond International Raceway, Dover
International Speedway and New Hampshire International Speedway.
It also will see action at Darlington Raceway, the fall event at
Talladega Superspeedway and road-course events at Infineon Raceway and
Watkins Glen International.
With the exception of the 2.66-mile Talladega track and the two road
courses, all tracks where the Car of Tomorrow will debut in 2007 are
short tracks.
The 2008 Car of Tomorrow implementation schedule includes 26 events,
adding both races at Daytona International Speedway, California
Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Michigan International
Speedway, the spring eent at Talladega and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The New Ford
Fusion at Daytona. The #16 Ford Fusion of Greg Biffle on Pit Road
During Testing at Daytona.
© Oak Park Journal photo by Dan Peters
Teams
will run the entire 2009 schedule with the Car of Tomorrow,
adding both events at Atlanta Motor Speedway,
Lowe's Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, plus
events at Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Las
Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The rollout schedule could be sooner.
"All of our engineering staff and each of the teams and manufacturers
that contributed will now be able see the product
of their hard work in competition," Nelson said. "Many of the
obvious safety and competition benefits have been a topic since
the beginning of this project. We think one of the major benefits
is yet to be realized as the car owners begin to build a more
cost-efficient race car."
The next round of Car of Tomorrow on-track testing will be scheduled
following Speedweeks in Daytona, with officials from the NASCAR
Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., refining car
components ad performance baselines.
NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow
The Car of Tomorrow is a collaborative effort, with Nelson's
team leading the way. Manufacturers, teams and industry
suppliers all contributed during the design phase, with
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams and drivers offering important feedback
during the latest round of on-track testing.
NASCAR's prototype car, built by the Research and Development staff, is
driven by Director of Cost Research Brett Bodine, a
former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competitor and team owner.
The Car of Tomorrow began as a design five years ago, progressing
through simulation, laboratory and wind tunnel
tests. Of primary significance are the safety innovations: the
Car of Tomorrow is four inches wider and two inches taller
than current NASCAR race cars.
The driver compartment, or roll cage, has been shifted three
inches to the rear. The driver's seat has been shifted four inches
to the right, allowing more protection from a driver's side impact.
More "crush-ability" is built into the car on both sides, ensuring
even more protection.
The Car of Tomorrow exhaust system is another safety
innovation. It runs through the body, diverting heat away from
the driver and exiting on the right side. Another important Car
of Tomorrow feature is performance how the car handles in
traffic and reacts to downforce. The project represents the latest move
by NASCAR to reduce current cars'aerodynamic dependence, and several
innovations have addressed it:
The windshield is more upright, designed to increase the
amount of drag, thereby slowing the cars. The more box-like
front bumper, which is three inches higher and thicker, catches
air rather than deflecting it, another way to slow the car.
The air intake is below the front bumper, which eliminates
the problem of overheating.
Wind-blown trash can cover current car grilles, blocking air flow.
Several components both those built into the Car of Tomorrow
and those being tested will make the car easier to drive in traffic.
Some of those components also are bolt-on, bolt-off pieces that teams
can use to tune their cars, making them cost-efficient as
well. Those include:
The
splitter, a flat shelf below the front bumper that can be adjusted.
A wing, like those commonly used in
sports car series, also
is a possibility. It fits on the car's are deck lid, in the same spot
where the spoiler is bolted.
The spoiler, a NASCAR staple, is a
straight line on the Car
of Tomorrow, rather than curved, as on current cars. A straight spoiler
yields more stability in traffic.
"We designed this car to run for a long time, at road courses, short
tracks, intermediate-sized tracks all the way to Daytona, Nelson
said. You would be able to run the same foundation car, the
frame, the cage, the body, all of the components that today are
being swapped around as the cars are purpose-built for certain types of
tracks. We're eliminating that with this car."
New NASCAR
Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry to compete in NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series in 2007
NASCAR and Toyota announced Monday,
January 23, 2006 that the manufacturer plans to expand
its racing program by competing in the Nextel Cup and Busch
series starting in 2007, fielding the Toyota Camry model.
The expansion will follow three years of Toyota competing in the
Craftsman Truck Series, and will result in all three of NASCAR's
national series having four manufacturers competing, as Toyota
will join Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford. NASCAR welcomes Toyota to the
greatest auto racing in the world," said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian
France, who made the announcement at NASCAR's Research and Development
Center in Concord,
N.C.
"Toyota's entry into the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the NASCAR Busch
Series is good for drivers, teams and the fans. This move provides for
even more intense competition on the
track between drivers and manufacturers, which will provide
more excitement and fan interest. Toyota's entry also provides more
options for drivers and teams, which will increase the competition
between manufacturers." "It's a great pleasure to announce
Toyota's entry into the NASCAR Nextel Cup and NASCAR Busch Series with
the Toyota Camry," said Dave Illingworth, senior vice president and
chief planning and administrative officer for Toyota Motor Sales,
U.S.A., Inc.
Next year, 2007, will be a special year for Toyota in more ways than
one. Toyota will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in the United
States, and we will be joining the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, America's
premier racing series.
"Toyota has been an important part of the U.S. motorsports community
for almost 25 years.
We've competed and won in different series and on tracks across
America. Toyota drivers and teams hve won championships in a variety of
different series. But, if you want to compete against
the best in America, that means NASCAR.
"We look forward to February of 2007 when the green flag waves to start
the Daytona 500 and the starting lineup features the
Toyota Camry."
Illingworth, who joined Bill France in making the announcement, said
more information -- regarding possible sponsor and driver lineups --
will be released Tuesday night, during a media gathering at Lowe's
Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
This year, Toyota is celebrating its 24th year of participation in
American professional auto racing. Toyota drivers and teams have won
championships in IMSA, CART, IRL and off-road racing. They have won
such historic events as the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of
Sebring, the Baja 1000 and the Indianapolis 500.
Toyota moved into NASCAR in 2000, fielding the Celica model in the
Goody's Dash Series. The following season, Robert Huffman gave Toyota
its first NASCAR victory, at Kentucky Speedway.
In 2003, Huffman gave Toyota its first NASCAR championship by capturing
the Goody's Dash title.
In 2004, Toyota entered the Truck Series with the Tundra -- in
the process becoming the first new manufacturer in one of NASCAR's top
series in more than 50 years. In two seasons of Truck competition,
Tundra drivers have recorded 13 victories
and 18 poles.
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