‘Bigger’ car tested at Kansas UPDATE: In an attempt to make racing safer and better, NASCAR has been looking into making the “greenhouses” of Winston Cup cars larger. An experimental car with a bigger greenhouse took to the track for the first time this week, and the track was Kansas Speedway. Those taking part in the test said things went well. Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates has been recruited by NASCAR to help develop a test car. That car was at Kansas Speedway on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ganassi driver Jimmy Spencer was driving it, and NASCAR’s managing director of competition Gary Nelson was monitoring the tests. Andy Graves, team manager for Ganassi, said, “It was a pretty successful test.” Graves said the car was loose at first, but “We got mechanical grip to bring it back.” Mechanical grip is applied with shock absorbers, springs and tires. The greenhouse of the test car is 2 inches taller and 4 inches wider than that of a standard Winston Cup car.(more at the Kansas City Star)(5-9-2002) UPDATE: NASCAR officials got their first feedback from this week’s testing at Kansas Speedway of an experimental Winston Cup car with an enlarged “greenhouse.” And the feedback was mostly positive. “We’re on the right track,” NASCAR vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter said. “The drivers said it was OK.” The car with the bigger greenhouse — which is the part of the car surrounded by the windows — was tested on a race track for the first time by Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Despite the positive results of the test, Hunter said, don’t expect to see the car in a race this year. He said the earliest that such a car would see race conditions would be early next year. “We’re shooting to have the bigger car at the earliest, in February at Daytona,” he said. “At the latest, Talladega or Daytona later in the year.”(Kansas City Star)(5-10-2002)
