The first western swing of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2008 campaign hits full stride Monday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.The second scheduled stop of the Preseason Thunder testing sessions will offer drivers their first opportunity to turn laps at Vegas in the new model of NASCAR race cars. Sprint Cup Series director John Darby thinks that's nothing but a good thing.
"The good part of it is we're not all worried about it," said Darby, referring to the flurry of criticism that followed last years new car testing.The test -- it runs Monday and Tuesday at LVMS -- will also give the drivers a better idea as to what the new car feels like without a restrictor plate on the motor and in the exact specifications that the teams will come back with in March for the third race of the year.
"All that's behind us."
A travel day is scheduled for Wednesday as teams make the trek towards California Speedway in Fontana, site of the first "normal" race following the Daytona 500 in February. Once they've arrived, the garages will be open for any work teams need to get done before testing on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday's session runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. while Friday's goes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- local times of course.
Darby said that because of the new car's design requirements, many teams will bring two cars total out west instead of swapping in the middle of the week like years past when teams would build track-specific cars. The new car has much fewer tolerances as a cost-saving measure.
Check back at NASCAR Fanhouse throughout the week for recaps and speeds or bookmark NASCAR Testing for complete testing coverage.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-03-2008 @ 12:19PM
Rusty Price@therustygourmet.com said...
I can already smell the burning rubber and feel the ache in my neck as I snap my head from left to right following my favorite driver rocketing by the grandstands. Racin'! There is nothing like it!
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