Two-time Richmond race winner #11-Denny Hamlin is one of four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers scheduled to take part in a one-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday, March 29 at Richmond International Raceway. Also expected to participate in the test are Joey Logano (Team Penske #22 Ford), Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing #16 Ford) and Danica Patrick (Stewart-Haas Racing #10 Chevrolet). Tuesday’s Richmond test is one of two single-day tests by the tire supplier for 2016. A one-day test is also scheduled for Tuesday, May 17 at Michigan International Speedway. The Richmond test is scheduled to run from 10:00am-5:00pm/et. According to track officials, the grandstands will be open and fans attending the test should enter through Gate 70.(NASCAR.com)(3-29-2016)
UPDATE: In the never-ending quest to improve the racing in the Sprint Cup Series, former Chesterfield resident Denny Hamlin and three other drivers spent Tuesday at Richmond International Raceway testing new tire compounds for this year’s Toyota Owners 400, which is a month away. All NASCAR teams use the same tires, provided by Goodyear. It’s occasionally a contentious issue, as past races have been marred by tires that disintegrated or exploded after a few laps of use. There were no such complaints on Tuesday, though, as the assembled drivers came away pleased with what was offered. Hamlin, a Manchester High graduate, said the tires handled much better than the ones offered in 2015.’Last year it didn’t seem like the track rubbered up a whole lot,’ he said. ‘I definitely feel like we have improvement – we got a little bit faster on the frontside and a little bit slower on the backside. So we’re very encouraged by that.’
‘It was a lot of fun,’ Joey Logano said. ‘They really rubbered up the racetrack. As a driver we all want to see that, and that also puts on a great race for the fans. We want to have cars that can move around and be able to pass people by going to a different lane.’ It was also the drivers’ first glimpse at a changed facility. Thousands of seats have been removed along the backstretch at RIR, leaving an empty opening where there were once grandstands. The testing was conducted over the lunch hour, which is standard procedure for the teams, but reflected race conditions for the first time in several years. This year’s spring race will be held in the early afternoon, instead of its traditional nighttime start.(Richmond Times-Dispatch)
