Daytona Beach,FL (Sports Network) - Thirty-four Sprint Cup Series teams began
a three-day test session on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.
Teams are familiarizing themselves with the new sixth generation or "G6" race
cars for the upcoming season. It's the first time the car has turned laps
around this 2.5-mile superspeedway. The season-opening Daytona 500 is
scheduled for February 24.
The most recent test with the new Sprint Cup car occurred last month at
Charlotte Motor Speedway. Several teams did not participate in that two-day
test session there. Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer, who finished
second in the championship Chase point standings this past season, turned his
first laps in the car.
"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," Bowyer said. "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 to see everybody's cars down here and be
back to racing."
Matt Kenseth, who is now the driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing,
was fastest in the morning session with a lap at 192.757 mph. Kenseth won last
year's Daytona 500 in his final season with Roush Fenway Racing.
Marcos Ambrose, in his No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, was second
quickest at 192.736 mph, followed by Danica Patrick, who is running a full
schedule in Sprint Cup this season after a partial schedule in the series last
year. Patrick's top lap in her No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet came in at
192.583 mph. Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Paul Menard
rounded out the top-five.
Reigning series champion Brad Keselowski was 31st on the speed chart.
Most drivers did single-car runs while some did two-car drafts during the
session.
Driver/owner Tony Stewart said he was impressed with the car after his first
time in it.
"We have a lot of work to do to get all three teams ready for the year with
the new body changes, so far so good," Stewart said. "The big thing is just
getting here and seeing the new look of the cars. I think it really looks
good. It's nice to see."
Patrick confirmed during a press conference on Thursday at Daytona that she
will not compete in the Indianapolis 500 for the second year in a row.
Scheduled for May 26, the Indy 500 takes place on the same day as the 600-mile
Sprint Cup race at Charlotte.
"I can confirm to you today that I will not be doing the Indy 500," Patrick
said. "I am just going to do the Coke 600. The team and I decided to focus on
Cup. It's going to be plenty of work as it is. It's going to be important for
me running for the championship full-time for the first time to really keep
myself focused with the Cup car. But if I do the Indy 500 moving forward it
will be with (sponsor) GoDaddy."
While Patrick is expected to compete in Sprint Cup full-time, she is working
on plans to run a partial schedule in the Nationwide Series this season. Last
year, she finished 10th in Nationwide points, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for
JR Motorsports. There has been recent speculation that Patrick will compete in
select races for Turner Motorsports.
"I know there have been some reports that have come out about running for
Turner," she said. "We are definitely talking to them trying to figure it out
and we are definitely working on that, but there has been nothing signed yet.
The exact dates, the races and the sponsor have yet to be confirmed for all
that."
Sprint Cup teams resume testing at Daytona on Friday and conclude on Saturday.
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