Las Vegas Motor Speedway Test Enhances Intermediate Track Rules Package
Kobalt 400 to Feature Newly Introduced Aerodynamic and Chassis Changes
Daytona Beach, Fla.
(Mar. 6, 2014) — Forty-eight drivers from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series turned laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Thursday to further build upon
the 2014 intermediate-track rules package that was formalized late last year.
Serving
as the first official NASCAR test with the new 2014 rules package in
place, today’s four-hour session allowed teams to prepare
for Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the series’ first
visit to a 1.5-mile track in 2014 – and beyond.
Included in the new intermediate track rules package are various physical
changes to
the car that were determined after much collaboration between NASCAR,
the teams and the manufacturers. Based in part on two lengthy test
sessions at Charlotte Motor
Speedway in October and December, NASCAR implemented chassis and
aerodynamic adjustments into the setup specifications to encourage more green-flag passing and side-by-side racing.
Changes to
the package include statically setting the race car ride height, a
square leading edge on the splitter, side skirt and rear fascia
adjustments and an eight-inch rear spoiler.
A 43-inch by 13-inch radiator pan rounded out changes for 2014.
Fresh
off his win at Phoenix International Raceway last Sunday, Kevin Harvick
was at the top of the speed charts at the conclusion
of today’s test session. The No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet logged a
total of 42 laps with a top speed of 190.148 mph.
“We
were three or four tenths off [at the start of the test] and had to
kind of abort on what we were doing and go a different route,” said
Kevin
Harvick, who won last week’s race at Phoenix International Raceway.
“The next route was not as good and the third route finally wound up
being good. I think those are good things that are, for us, important
because it gives us direction when we go to other
mile and a half race tracks so we don’t have to do like we did today.
We can get to what has been working for us and just go straight from
there to progress that package to make it even better.”
“There’s
a bit of a learning curve,” said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR vice
president of innovation and racing development. “The
package we put together is going to be used on all the tracks except
the superspeedways, so at Phoenix we began to see a glimpse, but
obviously since that’s only a mile track, the speeds are a lot lower.
They could probably only harvest maybe 30 to 40 percent
of the capability of the package, so really this will be the first race
where we get to see they can fully exploit the aerodynamic and chassis
changes.”
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