Four teams are scheduled to take part in a Goodyear tire test test Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Those teams are Hendrick Motorsports (#5-Kasey Kahne), Furniture Row Racing (#78-Martin Truex Jr.), Richard Petty Motorsports (#43-Aric Almirola) and BK Racing (#23-JJ Yeley). Tuesday’s session is closed to the public. There will be an open test Wednesday at the track. Charlotte Motor Speedway officials state that teams expected to test that day include Kahne, Truex, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray and about half a dozen other teams. Wednesday’s session is open to the public. Gates open at 9:00am. Testing is scheduled to run from 9:00am-12:00pm and from 1:00-5:00pm/et. The next scheduled test is April 7-8 at Richmond International Raceway. Four teams will test there. Each will have one car. Those teams testing will be Stewart-Haas Racing, JTG Daugherty, Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing. That begins a busy test period. Tire tests are scheduled April 13-15 at Kentucky Speedway and April 27-29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.(NBC Sports)(3-10-2015
UPDATE: There are 11 drivers (and teams) scheduled to drive in the Charlotte test [Wednesday]: #11-Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), #43-Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports), #17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing), #4-Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), #22-Joey Logano (Team Penske), #5-Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports), #1-Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing), #78-Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), #15-Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing), Brian Scott (Richard Childress Racing), #95-Michael McDowell (Leavine Family Racing)(NBC Sports)(3-11-2015)
UPDATE 2: More than one dozen NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams spent Wednesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, validating information gleaned from simulation programs while testing on a track and a tire that they will see approximately two months from now. The open test, part of NASCAR National Series Unified Testing Program for 2015, provides one team from each Sprint Cup organization the opportunity to participate. It is the second open test conducted this season, following NASCAR’s elimination of private team testing at the conclusion of 2014.
“Just being able to try things and look at the data acquisition and see exactly what it did,” Keith Rodden, crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne said of the advantages of the test. “Because on a race weekend we don’t get to run those sensors so you always have some questions. When I run tests, I try to make big changes, I don’t try to “Happy Hour’ it and try to run fast. I don’t really care what (speeds) we’re running today “¦ we’re trying to make big picture changes, do things to the car to make it act differently. Being able to look at that data that comes right off the car when we come in is really valuable.
Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s Vice President for Innovation and Racing Development, said such open team tests were helpful to the sanctioning body, but primarily for the teams’ benefit. Three elements, he said, stand out. Unlike previous tests conducted prior to the ’15 testing program, teams did not test at tracks where Sprint Cup races were held, and they tested on tires that likely wouldn’t be used. That combination limited the amount of knowledge that could be gained. Stefanyshyn also said such tests are able to be conducted in a more cost-efficient manner for teams “and we provide them with a higher level of service as they do all this.”(NASCAR.com)(3-11-2015)
