DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — Sept. 4, 2008) – The NASCAR Nationwide Series begins a new era when its new car goes on track for the first of two scheduled tests Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 8-9, at Richmond International Raceway. Wednesday, Sept. 10, will be a rain date.
Each of the four series manufacturers – Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota – will be permitted to bring two cars. The drivers are to be announced but will be representative of their specific manufacturer.
“The goal of this test is for the manufacturers and participating teams to start laying a foundation for the transfer phase from the current car to the new car in the Nationwide Series,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition.
The cars will be on track in their current stages of development and the test data will be shared among the manufacturers, teams and NASCAR.
“We’re still in the process of approving the cars,” Pemberton said. “This wasn’t a quick process on the NASCAR Sprint Cup side and it won’t be with these cars. We’ve also been talking to teams and they’ve indicated they’d be better suited budget-wise to spend a full season building cars instead of a mid-year transition.
“We’ve had this style of chassis for more than two years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and many questions have already been answered,” he said. “In applying the new car to the Nationwide Series, we fully anticipate the teams to be as competitive and resourceful as possible throughout the developmental process.”
The schedule for both days is as follows: the garage opens at 7 a.m.; the morning sessions will take place from 9 a.m. – noon and the afternoon sessions will be from 1 – 5 p.m. The garage closes at 5:30 p.m.
There will be a press conference following Monday’s morning session in the media center beginning at 12:15 p.m. Pemberton; Joe Balash, NASCAR Nationwide Series director; and Brett Bodine, NASCAR’s director of cost research are among those scheduled to be available to the media.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series’ new car is also set to test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Oct. 13-14.
NASCAR Nationwide Series New Car Test At Richmond International Raceway
Dates: Monday, Sept. 8 through Tuesday, Sept. 9 (Rain date: Wednesday, Sept. 10)
Garage Opens: 7 a.m.
Practice: 9 a.m. – noon
Break: noon - 1 p.m.
Practice: 1 - 5 p.m.
Garage Closes: 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 8 – The garage will open to the media at 9 a.m. A NASCAR competition press conference will be held from 12:15 – 12:45 p.m. in the infield media center with scheduled participants to include Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition; Joe Balash, NASCAR Nationwide Series director and Brett Bodine, NASCAR director of cost research. The infield media center will be open with internet access from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Drivers will be asked to be available for interviews both days during the lunch break from noon – 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 9 – The garage will open to the media at 9 a.m. The infield media center will be open with internet access from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
