DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — The temperature hovered near 90 degrees Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway, and there were plenty of drafts in the air.
But not the Atlantic Ocean variety.
Instead, it was drafting among NASCAR Nationwide Series new cars, the second day of a two-day test in preparation for its inaugural points race there on July 2 – the Subway Jalapeno 250 powered by Coca-Cola.
That event is the first of four points races for the new car in 2010. The others are at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 14, Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 10 and Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 15.
When teams return to Daytona in July, they’ll have a full day on track on Wednesday, June 30 prior to the first official practice on Thursday, July 1.
“This afternoon, most of the teams came out to do a large drafting run,” said Joe Balash, NASCAR Nationwide Series director. “We had most of the cars that were here go out and take turns leading the pack, running the inside lane and outside lane, trying to work their way up through the field.”
On Tuesday, teams spent most of the day in single-car runs, making adjustments to prepare for their first drafting opportunity late in the afternoon.
Some cars began Wednesday with single-car runs while others continued to draft. Following the lunch break, Balash and other NASCAR officials on site asked teams to be prepared to draft as a large pack for just over 15 minutes.
“I think we’ve got a lot of adjustments left in the car,” Balash said. “We had differing comments from the drivers as I walked through the garage and talked to them. To some drivers, the cars are loose and to some, they were tight during the drafting session.”
Carl Edwards (No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford) had his first opportunity in the new car at Daytona on Wednesday and agreed with Balash, specific to further adjustments. “If we can get the cars tuned a little better, (get) the balance better and then maybe that practice day on Wednesday before we come and work on the cars a little more, hopefully they'll be a little bit more predictable,” the 2007 series champion said.
Overall, Balash gave the test a positive review. “I think we’re headed in the right direction with everything we’ve had going on in the test session,” he said. “We’ll be ready when we get back down here in July.”
Reed Sorenson (No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota) posted the fastest lap of the two-day test in the Wednesday afternoon session with a time of 47.919 seconds/187.817 mph. Joey Logano (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) was the fastest in the morning drafting session with a lap of 48.328 seconds/186.227 mph, while Sorenson alsoturned the quickest single-car lap in that session at 49.846 seconds/180.556 mph.
NASCAR Nationwide Series racing resumes May 29 with the Tech-Net Auto Service 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race will be broadcast on ABC beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
May 19th, 2010 - PM Session Draft
1 32 Reed Sorenson Tyt 47.919 187.817
2 33A Kevin Harvick Chv 48.147 186.928
3 01A Mike Wallace Chv 48.343 186.170
4 99 Trevor Bayne Tyt 48.378 186.035
5 18B Kyle Busch Tyt 48.380 186.027
6 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Frd 48.490 185.605
7 16 Brian Ickler Frd 48.496 185.582
8 12A Justin Allgaier Dge 48.502 185.559
9 20A Joey Logano Tyt 48.513 185.517
10 66 Steve Wallace Tyt 48.551 185.372
11 11 Brian Scott Tyt 48.578 185.269
12 38 Jason Leffler Tyt 48.611 185.143
13 22A Brad Keselowski Dge 48.628 185.079
14 62 Brendan Gaughan Tyt 48.640 185.033
15 60 Carl Edwards Frd 48.643 185.021
16 5 Landon Cassill Chv 48.678 184.888
17 98 Paul Menard Frd 48.721 184.725
18 7 Steve Arpin Chv 48.831 184.309
19 15 Michael Annett Tyt 48.960 183.824
20 70 Shelby Howard Chv 49.375 182.278
21 34 Tony Raines Chv 50.548 178.049
AM Single Car Speeds
1 32 Reed Sorenson Tyt 49.846 180.556
2 1 Mike Bliss Chv 49.979 180.076
3 7 Steve Arpin Chv 50.187 179.329
4 5 Landon Cassill Chv 50.204 179.269
5 99 Trevor Bayne Tyt 50.353 178.738
6 70 Shelby Howard Chv 50.386 178.621
7 15 Michael Annett Tyt 50.404 178.557
8 22A Brad Keselowski Dge 50.460 178.359
9 34 Tony Raines Chv 50.561 178.003
10 88 Greg Sacks Chv 50.633
