Testing at Talladega on Monday UPDATE 4: Officials are making plans for a Monday test at Talladega Superspeedway that could impact future events at stock car racing’s biggest speedways. Several Winston Cup teams are expected to participate in test runs with the goal of studying alternatives to the current rules package used at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. “We’re talking about it, and right now we don’t know at what level it will be,” said Kevin Triplett, NASCAR’s director of operations, Wednesday.(more at the Greenville News)(4-19-2001) UPDATE: NASCAR will hold a major rules test here Monday, with hopes to find new aero rules for the July 400 at Daytona. But only one team will apparently be able to provide a car and driver, because these teams have to be loaded and on the road to California on Monday night for next weekend’s Napa 500. The test will involve what is described as “a bigger car,” with a larger “greenhouse” and wider front fenders. NASCAR has also scheduled a second test here for May 6 and 7, with all Winston Cup teams invited. That session will be open to the media, as part of a surprising new NASCAR public-relations campaign to repair the sanctioning body’s image, bruised by negative reaction to the secrecy in handling the Dale Earnhardt investigation(Winston Salem Journal)(4-21-2001) UPDATE 2: Chip Ganassi Racing and Hendrick Motorsports each will participate in a NASCAR test Monday at Talladega Superspeedway. Another test with more teams is likely in early May as NASCAR officials search for aerodynamic solutions so the cars are not bunched so close during races at Talladega and Daytona. Drivers have complained about the rules for the restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega since the Daytona 500. They say the aerodynamic rule changes made last year have tightened the pack and led to the 19-car crash at Daytona where Tony Stewart ‘s car flipped down the backstretch(Roanoke Times)(4-22-2001) UPDATE 3: Only Chip Ganassi Racing will test today at Talladega Superspeedway as NASCAR examines possible aerodynamic changes for Talladega and Daytona. Hendrick Motorsports planned to test but had to withdraw. Sterling Marlin will drive in the test. Although it will be only one car, NASCAR director of operations Kevin Triplett said the test would be helpful in showing series officials what might work(Roanoke Times) UPDATE 4: The following are comments from Gary Nelson, NASCAR Winston Cup Series Director, regarding Monday’s test by NASCAR at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Sterling Marlin, driver of the #40 Coors Light Dodge, participated in the test. Several ideas were experimented with that included various width and height changes to the rear spoiler and front fenders. The concentrated effort was on the green-house area in which a steeper-higher angled windshield and higher and wider green-house were used. The green-house is the area above the door-tops, cowl and deck-lid and contains the roof and all of the windows. “What we did today was a continuation of a test we conducted last year and actually several tests we’ve conducted over the last couple of years, where we tried a wider green-house area. Many well-respected teams offered a few suggestions to try and (Chip) Ganassi’s team and Sterling (Marlin) did a great job in preparing the parts and components needed to conduct the test. “We ran about 50 laps with speeds ranging from 182 to 187 mph. The test was conducted without the use of the current aero-package that the teams used in last fall’s race at Talladega and both restrictor-plate races this season (Daytona 500 and Talladega 500). “As we move along, the theory behind putting a wider and taller green-house area on the cars, should have given us another step in our ideas of enhancing the safety of the cars, while keeping the level of competition on the same playing field. However, the results we received were not promising. While the test did not provide us with any immediate answers, we will still study what we learned and possibly regroup to organize another test to continue to build on the theory of a bigger, less aerodynamic green-house.”(NASCAR PR)(4-23-2001)
