It might be tough for the race fans in Elkhart Lake, Wis., to imagine right now, but June and the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America isn’t that far off. And in two weeks, a car on the track will make that event seem even closer. Similar to the one-car/one-team tests at Autdromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal prior to the series’ first races there in 2005 and 2007, respectively, NASCAR will conduct a test at Road America on Wednesday, March 24 to gather data to share among teams that will compete there this summer. Road America replaces the former event at the Milwaukee Mile on the 2010 schedule. NASCAR has turned to Roush Fenway Racing and crew chief Mike Kelly to conduct the test while road-course ace BorisSaid will be the driver. Said has 20 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts to his credit and 14 of those have come on road courses. He’s collected two poles and six top-five finishes in those races. His best result was a second-place finish in the 2006 event in Mexico City from the pole. He’s run in each of the three races in Mexico City and Montreal, however, he won’t compete in the June 19 event at Road America. That factor is a must for the test driver. Jeff Burton and Richard Childress Racing handled the Mexico City test while RCR and Terry Labonte were on point for the test in Montreal. Neither driver participated in the inaugural races at those tracks.(NASCAR PR)(3-9-2010)
UPDATE: NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers who’ve never seen Road America owe big thanks to Boris Said. The NASCAR part-timer and Trans-Am champion not only did the initial testing and data acquisition Wednesday for the inaugural 200-mile race June 19 at the 4-mile road course, he also drove and narrated a video of a lap to help them learn the track. Said lapped in about 2 minute 21 second, hitting top speeds in the high 170 mph range in the morning while blowing off a winter’s worth of dust. He said he expected to see 1:19s on a clean track. For perspective, the Trans-Am track record, set last September, is 2:05.981 for an average of 115.675 mph. The ALMS P1 pole lap was 1:48.216 and the GT2 class pole was 2:06.950 (114.792).(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(3-24-2010)
UPDATE 2: Said, a road-course ace who has competed in each of NASCAR’s three national series, drove a car provided by Roush Fenway Racing today at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn track in Elkhart Lake, Wis., site of the Bucyrus 200 presented by Menard’s. Data compiled from the test will be available to teams in advance of the June 19 event. Said and the Roush Fenway Racing crew collected information that included gear selections, shock travel, braking, RPM and acceleration. Said, who has competed on the Road America course more than 20 times over the last two decades in various series, also narrated a video of laps around the track that will be shared with the teams. NASCAR officials also were able to gather logistical information for the teams. Said noted that the track is a very technical course and that “managing brakes will be a key. I hit about 170 mph on the straightaway; 43 of these things in Turn 5 is going to be fantastic. The afternoon session included longer runs on fresh tires and a full fuel cell, followed by a few short runs to complete the test.(NASCAR PR)(3-24-2010)
