Daytona Beach, FL – After a short one-and-a-half-month break, day preseason test session at Daytona International Speedway.
From Thursday to Saturday, teams will familiarize themselves with NASCAR's new rules package for the February 26 season-opening Daytona 500. A number of revisions have been made to the Sprint Cup cars for Daytona, including a smaller capacity in both the radiators and overflow tank.
In addition, the radiator inlet will be moved up closer into the front center bumper area. The springs on the cars will be softer and the rear spoiler smaller. The restrictor plate has been modified to 1/64 inch larger than the plate size used for the 2011 Daytona 500.
"This is an opportunity we are providing to the competitors to implement and test the new Daytona rules package for 2012," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said. "It's a chance for them to get comfortable with the cooling package, the smaller spoiler and to practice drafting for next month's Daytona 500."
NASCAR recently revised its restrictor-plate racing package after gathering data from test sessions at Talladega Superspeedway last October and then Daytona the following month. The sanctioning body is hoping to minimize and perhaps eliminate two-car tandems, which has become an unpopular style of racing at restrictor-plate tracks.
"This three-day test will allow the engine tuners for these teams to be able to work with their engine packages and see how they relate and react to the new cooling regulations," Pemberton added.
Due to the two-car pairings as well as a newly-paved surface at Daytona, last year's Daytona 500 featured a record 74 lead changes among 22 drivers. The 2011 spring race at Talladega produced a NASCAR-record tying 88 lead changes.
Teams will also have an opportunity to work on their preparations for the Daytona 500 as well as the Budweiser Shootout event and the twin qualifying races for the 500.
"With the rule changes especially with the grill opening, we have a lot of things we want to test and try to get prepared to win the Daytona 500," Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. said. "It's also important for me and [teammate] Clint [Bowyer] to get time together and draft. I believe we are going to have to switch a lot in the draft with the rule change, so we really need to be on the same page rather quickly and understand how each other thinks. It's a good time to get a feel for how he does things and the same for him as to how I do things."
Bowyer and Mark Martin have joined Michael Waltrip's team for the 2012 season. Both drivers will use this test session to help develop team chemistry.
"These tests aren't incredibly important from the car hardware side," Martin said. "It's more important for us as a new group working together to work through the areas like communication, flow, learning everyone's names, routines and things like that. That's really the critical part of the test."
Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports), Kurt Busch (Phoenix Racing), A.J. Allmendinger (Penske Racing), David Reutimann (Tommy Baldwin Racing) and Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports) are also those drivers with new rides this year.
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