NASCAR Expands 2014 Preseason Thunder

NASCAR just released news on what their plans are for the 2014 Preseason Thunder at Daytona will include, and it looks pretty cool for all involved.

Rather than my glamoring it up with how I feel about it... here's the press release that just landed in my inbox!

via press release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 25, 2013) – Preseason Thunder, the annual test session held at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the season-opening races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, will expand in 2014 to include all three NASCAR national series – the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Kicking off the “Road to Daytona” which culminates with the 56th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 23, 2014, Preseason Thunder testing begins Thursday and Friday, Jan. 9-10, with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series participating in two days – and four sessions – of on-track activity. NASCAR Nationwide Series testing will follow on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 11-12, with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series testing on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 13-14. All test sessions are scheduled to run from 9 a.m.-Noon ET, and again from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. ET.

“Preseason Thunder at Daytona offers teams an opportunity to prepare for one of the most important race weekends of the season,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “Races at Daytona International Speedway are unique to NASCAR competition, and Preseason Thunder will not only give all three of our national series an opportunity to test, but will allow us to settle upon a rules package that will benefit our teams and provide the best on-track action for our fans.”

“We’re looking forward to hosting all three of NASCAR’s national touring series for Preseason Thunder,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “Having the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series teams join the stars of the Sprint Cup Series in testing the high banks will ignite plenty of excitement for the start of the new NASCAR season.”

In addition to the on-track action, NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway announced the return of Preseason Thunder Fan Fest, a fan-favorite event featuring driver question-and-answer opportunities, autograph sessions and more. The Preseason Thunder Fan Fests are scheduled on Thursday night, Jan. 9 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Saturday night, Jan. 11 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

The schedule of driver question-and-answer and autograph sessions will be finalized closer to the event. Tickets for Preseason Thunder, which include the autograph session wristbands, will be available for purchase on Monday, Nov. 18 by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Fans can watch each day’s testing at no cost from a section of the Oldfield Grandstands on the Daytona International Speedway frontstretch.

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Preseason Thunder And Reign: Talk Of Gen-6 Car Rules Day 1

 

Preseason Thunder And Reign: Talk Of Gen-6 Car Rules Day 1

Defending Daytona 500 Champ Tops Charts; Excitement Builds For New Car Debut

via press release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 12, 2012) – New faces with new teams and new cars were on display during Day 1 of Preseason Thunder at Daytona, but one storyline dominated – the Gen-6 car is sleek and fast.

Defending Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth, with new team Joe Gibbs Racing, was fastest in the first practice with a top speed of 192.757 mph and second-fastest in the afternoon session with a top speed of 195.385 mph. Teammate Denny Hamlin topped the speed chart in the second practice (195.712 mph) in his Gen-6 Toyota Camry.

Following Thursday's afternoon session, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton spoke about how the collective effort of the industry has been key to the Gen-6 car's development.

"We have been working on this car for nearly two years and we have been at the track on and off for well over a year in different stages and forms and configurations of the car," Pemberton said. "Because of the depth of everybody, throughout our entire industry, we were able to take these things and put a long lead time in them and develop a better product."

John Darby, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series director, reiterated the positive feelings about the new car, and was particularly impressed with the close competition during Thursday's test.

"When you look at the enormity of the project … and basically putting three brand-new models of race cars out on a race track … and put speeds up that are within a tenth of a second of each other – it is an incredible, incredible effort," Darby said. "I truly believe there is not another racing series in the world that could accomplish what these guys did since we left Homestead."

As far as competition goes, the Gen-6 car received high marks. But so too did the look and feel of the Toyota Camry, Chevrolet SS and Ford Fusion as they hit the high banks of the World Center of Racing for the first time in advance The Sprint Unlimited on Feb. 16 (SPEED, MRN Radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio) and the 55th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 24 (FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio).

"Everybody is super excited about this race car and what it brings to our sport and the identity that it brings back to the passenger cars you see on the roads," said Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing. "This is my first time I've been in it. I didn't do the Charlotte test so it was fun to get out there and see what it was all about. They're certainly cool looking. [It's great] to see everybody's cars down here and be back to racing."

Carl Edwards hopes to use Preseason Thunder to kick start 2013 after a disappointing 2012 season. Edwards missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup after finishing second in 2011.

"I couldn't be looking forward to it more," Edwards said. "I think it will be an exciting year for me. I would like to put last year out of my memory and not think about it too much. Not in the last few years have I been this excited to go racing. I think it is probably because my offseason has been a little longer than most. I didn't go to Vegas [for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion's Week] so I have been ready to go."

The drivers rounded out Day 1 at Daytona International Speedway with Fan Fest. Fans were treated to driver fan forums, show cars and displays, music and photo opportunities with the 2013 Harley J. Earl Daytona 500 trophy and autograph sessions.

Teams will be back on track for testing tomorrow at 9 a.m. Tomorrow's media availability includes: Dale Earnhardt Jr. 12:05 p.m.; Matt Kenseth 12:20 p.m.; Jimmie Johnson 12:35 p.m.; Greg Biffle 12:45 p.m.

Daytona Preseason Thunder Speeds & Indy 500 News For Danica Patrick

The gang is at Daytona for Preseason Thunder testing and they're playing with the new car bodies.  NASCAR is calling the new body the Gen-6, though, as I see floating around the Twitter-verse, I'm not sure what or where the first 5 versions were!

Today Danica Patrick's folks posted speeds on her Facebook page and they reported that:

Preseason Thunder Day 1 Results - Danica was 3rd in the morning session at 192.583 mph, and 7th in the afternoon session at 192.934 mph.

The second day of the three-day test is scheduled Friday with a 3-hour morning run (9AM-Noon EST on SPEEDTV.com) and a 4-hour afternoon run (1PM-5PM EST on SPEED).

On her FB account she also confirmed she will NOT BE competing in the Indy 500 this year.

-Bruce

JEFF BURTON Preseason Thunder Interview

Here's some insider news from one of the many press interviews held at Preseason Thunder at Daytona last week:

Jeff Burton will be driving the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing racing this year.

They're pretty excited about the upcoming year though like everyone else, still holds a bit of reservation with the no testing rule. Despite that, they feel their engine program has improved and they feel good about coming to Daytona, despite the unknowns.

He touched on how though we've been hearing about the proving grounds in relation to questions about the testing ban, it's was interesting to hear that the proving grounds are nothing new to the major players (teams) and that teams are headed to Rockingham and anything else they can do to get some testing under their belts.

And as I've observed and about to mention, he put out there that this is not a literal testing ban, but it's more a testing restriction. So teams will still be testing, but it's just seems so much more apparent due to the lack of track time the fans are used to seeing at Daytona.

Burton also noted how other facilities are looking to update their tracks with the intent of now being usable as a testing area.

The one thing Jeff sees as to what the team needs to improve on is speed. They need to lead more laps and be in the position to win more races.

He added it's not just about throwing money at the car, but it's also in the hands of the driver as "The drivers have a huge play in how fast our cars go, so we have to be willing to look at ourselves and try to find a way to be better, as well."

This in my mind would equate to how aggressive or not one would be hitting the corners, coming out of the corners, the meticulous approach to ones line. They all play a factor. It's been my experience that the less aggressive one is at the front of a fuel run, and you get to run without a yellow interrupting your fuel run, then there is a slight reward at the end of the fuel run as far as how much your tires have fallen off. It's not the most aggressive approach, but it has it's merit. This is just one example I can think of off the top of my head.

On Carl Edwads winning the championship this year: "The question is from a competition standpoint, have other people narrowed the gap, have they become complacent? Carl is going to drive hard and drive very effectively, but this sport is a moving target. You know, it's hard to go into a year and pick a team, but if you had to pick a team, the 99 team would certainly be one of those that you would pick."

Another insightful conversation with Jeff Burton folks.

source: nascar media; photo: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr. At Preseason Thunder

NASCAR SprintCup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. at a news conference Saturday at Preseason Thunder Fan Fest at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)





The press was joined by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and they chatted about the Daytona 500 and your 2009 season with the No. 88 Chevrolet.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR. is looking forward to going into the season 2009 season and pragmatically has the same perspective I do about things when he said that "It will get here when it gets here," because we still have a few weeks and a Super Bowl to watch. He too is curiously wondering how the testing ban will affect everyone though he feels it won't really affect his team / organization.

With no testing, he basically indicated that "That really only takes a couple laps really to get reacclimated," and "it should just be like an old shoe, you know, your favorite pair of slippers or whatever."

In regards to comparing the old car to the new car, he was asked "How is the new car different here to rate in the draft strategy wise?" and Dale said that "This car is a little bit more difficult to move through the pack." The new car punches a bigger hole when two or three cars get lined up which effectively eleminates the the center lane which used to be an option in the past. The center lane effectively makes it harder on the car to "get any grip out of the car." due to less downforce.

He did say the reason the racing is so much better at the end of the 500 is "The great thing about the 500, though, is it starts in the daytime and ends at night, so when the sun goes down the temperature goes down, the grip comes up a little bit, so the racing right at the end of the race it's a whole lot better than what you've seen all day long."

Dale was asked about a lifetime supply offer of BBQ from Memphis barbecue and his reply kind of cut to the quick, at least for Memphis BBQ:

Basically he said those kind of deals get under your skin because even though he hasn't been there in quite some time and probably won't be in the area for any time soon, they use his name to try to sell tickets and get a "plug for no damn reason." But the Rendezvous dinner was his favorite and that Memphis has great barbecue ribs

He was asked if he evernamed any of your race cars: "Yeah, just for fun. We used to name them all the time. I built some street stocks. My granddaddy Robert G. used to name his race cars all the time. I had the Mach 5 and the car I raced at Myrtle Beach and the late models I built from the ground up, we called it Wild Eyed Crazy Mary." A Pearl Jam song name.

In regards to his first year with Hendrick or his take on the DEI Ganassi merger, he was real happy how the season started but the 2nd half of the season was a bit of a disappointment. As far as the merger is concerned, "I'm pretty happy, I think, for them." Dale says no one can get a word out of Mark Martin about it... "He's like talking to a rock."

"I don't know what they're doing, but I hope that it's good. Merging has always been pretty decent for everybody that I've seen it happen to. Chip has some real strong views, and he's a tough, tough, tough competitor. He's got a reputation, and I think that will be good for them because he's certainly visible at the racetrack, and that's good as an owner for them, and Teresa didn't really like coming to the track and didn't want to be around the racetrack. So now they've got one of the owners that will be at the racetrack. A driver has questions and he needs to talk to an owner sometimes on a Friday night or a Saturday, so that will be good."

When asked about all the people he's met, who is the one person you've come across that you were really surprised to find out was a NASCAR or a racing fan? His take was that he really appreciated LeAnn Rimes for being so kind to me and her husband was a big fan, and she, too, is a big fan, and they're just really really she was always just really pleasant.

Dirks Bentley is a big fan and that was great and they've become pretty good friends. But there are a lot of different people.

He was asked the inevitable about the Car of Tomorrow what he thinks it will take to win Daytona this year. Dale Earnhardt Jr said he's got to be fast, like the 18 and the 11 were last year and you need to handle good.

It's all about making the right choices near the end of the race but that every battle for position is a potential battle for the win.

When asked about the Bud Shootout this year and NASCAR's expanding into 28 entries Dale was hoping to avoid this particular question, but he said:

"I don't like the new format. You had a race for guys who won poles, you had a race for guys who won races in the middle of the season, and now neither one of those are hardly recognizable. I haven't asked NASCAR why they changed it, so I don't feel like I can rightfully say much without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves for their reasons. But apparently there were some reasons they changed it, and it's obviously better for the manufacturers with this new format for the Shootout. But it's less about why the race was started in the first place.

It just sucks because I'm such a historian of the sport, and I just like all the history and I like all the cool things about the history, and I like looking back on the guys who were in this race in the '80s and '90s and why they were in it and how they got in it and who missed it the next year and made it the next year. I don't know, just sort of things change. Maybe there's nothing wrong with this new format. Maybe I just hate change. I like the old format.

On Aric Almirola having no guarantees after Daytona and the 8 car being in question for the rest of the season he says he's emotionally connected to the number and he hopes the No 8 can run all year. As far as Almirola, because he's had to put off this season. He's been pretty excited the last couple of years looking forward to this season and now it's up in the air.

"So much has changed in the last six months in this sport, in the last 18 months a bunch has changed, and I just hope we can get all settled down somehow and start having a little bit of order around here and start rebuilding, everybody getting some stability financially to where we can have more expectations than we have questions."

That wraps up some of the material he touched on yesterday in Preseason Thunder! Hope you enjoy

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