Fourteen NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams kicked off a two-day organizational test Monday at the repaved and reconfigured Kentucky Speedway. The 1.5-mile track will host all three NASCAR national series ‘ Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck ‘ next month (July 7-9). In addition to the repaving, the track has also undergone a change in Turns 1 and 2, where the banking has been increased from 14 to 17 degrees. The width of the pit road exit lane has also more than doubled, from 14 feet to 30 feet. As a result, the racing surface in those turns is now narrower, shrinking from 74 to 56 feet. The banking and width of the racing surface in Turns 3 and 4 remains unchanged. The increased banking will likely mean that cars will be carrying more speed coming onto the backstretch and as they rush into the third turn. That change, combined with the current aerodynamic package used this past weekend at Michigan International Speedway and slated for use here next month, could make for some dicey moments.
‘It’s definitely going to make Turn 3 more challenging,’ Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Sprint Cup champion, said. ‘I think that’s already one trend that we’ve developed with this particular package ‘ this car is looser getting into the corner, which it should be with the spoiler cut off the back of it. Monday morning’s lap times started off in the 31- to 32-second range on the new asphalt before beginning to creep down. A handful of drivers had slipped into the 29-second range prior to the lunch break.(NASCAR.com)
