NASCAR and Goodyear officials, along with three Sprint Cup Series teams, return to Michigan International Speedway Tuesday to test a low downforce aerodynamic package scheduled for use at most venues where the series will compete in 2016. Teams and drivers scheduled to participate are: #11-Denny Hamlin, #25-Chase Elliott, and Chris Buescher in the #17. “The real key at Michigan is to see “¦ what the top speeds are and understand that,” Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said Saturday at Kansas Speedway. We (tested) low downforce at Michigan in 2014; had a test up there and had a number of different (aero) packages and low downforce was one of them. We were pretty conservative at that point. So we’ve got some data to go off of and we’ll go back in the spring (of ’16) to confirm.” NASCAR officials announced last week that a low downforce package, similar to the one used at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway earlier this season, would be put into play for the bulk of the races in 2016. Decreasing the area of the leading edge of the spoiler and radiator pan will lessen the amount of downforce on the front of the cars while a shorter spoiler will similarly impact rear downforce. No major changes are expected for the sanctioning body’s superspeedway rules package, which will be used at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. Tuesday’s test is expected to consist of individual 10- and 25-lap runs in morning and afternoon sessions. According to Michigan officials, the Turn 1 grandstand seats will be open for fans with no admission charge.(NASCAR.com)(10-20-2015)
UPDATE: NASCAR tested its 2016 base package that will be used during the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at Michigan International Speedway on Tuesday, enlisting the help of three future superstars. Drivers Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher and Erik Jones tested the super-fast, two-mile racetrack, helping engineers look at max speeds and corner speeds to determine the best tire combination for when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to the racetrack in June. Characteristics of the lower downforce rules package means more off-throttle time for drivers and decreasing corner speeds. This generates more passing zones over the entire track, and allows for multiple tire combinations to be levered.(MIS)(10-21-2015)
