NASCAR held an open testing session at Phoenix International Raceway Wednesday, and nearly 1,000 race fans were in attendance to watch some of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ best on the track. Drivers who participated in the testing session included Chase for the Sprint Cup Contenders #41-Kurt Busch, #24-Jeff Gordon, #20-Matt Kenseth, #2-Brad Keselowski, #31-Ryan Newman and #78-Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitors #1-Jamie McMurray and #17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also took part in the session.
With the new testing format, drivers like Kenseth understand the importance of time on the track. “I don’t know that your exact setup that worked out today will work when you come back in November, but you still learn a lot,” Kenseth said. “We don’t get much track time anymore so this gives us a few days out here to gather some data and see what the track is like and try to work through some things.”
The testing session is the last chance for teams to gather data on track before the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 on Nov. 15. The Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 is the final race in the Eliminator round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. After the race, the field of championship contenders will be trimmed from eight hopefuls to the final four drivers that will race for the championship the next week. Fans were asked by PIR to make a $5 donation to Phoenix Raceway Charities for admission to the testing session. Phoenix Raceway Charities is a Donor Advised Fund under The NASCAR Foundation, and its mission is to accelerate the development of children in Arizona by supporting education, children and families of our military and military veterans, and life enrichment programs for children and families in our community.(PIR)(10-15-2015)
