The first signs of a new racing year will be engines firing in Daytona Monday as NASCAR tests for 2007 begin. Around half of the Nextel Cup teams will test their new racing equipment, and in some cases their new driver, Monday through Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona is the first stop on the NASCAR tour and some of the race teams will run two races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Speedweeks at the Florida home of NASCAR will kick off with the Rolex 24 sport car race on Jan. 27th.
Some of the teams scheduled to run tests next week include Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick. Ricky Rudd is also signed up to test the Robert Yates machine vacated by Dale Jarrett at the end of the 2006 season.
It is a three-day test session allowed under rules limiting the practice at speedways where NASCAR events are run. The rules currently only allow test runs at seven of the 22 tracks where teams compete during the season.
Other Nextel Cup teams will get a chance to try out their stuff in a second session of testing scheduled Jan. 15 through 17 at the speedway. The Busch and Craftsman Truck teams will also have their own test sessions at the track before the first NASCAR race of the season.
The green flag for NASCAR fans will be the Budweiser Shootout, a special race for the fastest drivers in time trials from the previous season, on Saturday, Feb. 10th, at Daytona. There are at least 20 drivers expected to run the 70-lap race.
Fifteen drivers earned their starting spots in the Shootout as pole winners from last year. Other drivers have guaranteed starting spots as past winners of the special event.
Stock car fans will also get a little double-dip of action as the ARCA/ReMax Series begins their new season on the same day as the Budweiser Shootout. The ARCA teams will run a 200-mile event to accompany the Nextel Cup special event.
The two Saturday races will be followed by qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 11. The starting lineup for the Daytona 500 will be refined after two qualifying races (Twin 125s) on Thursday, Feb. 15. Drivers that ran qualifying laps are split into two groups and have the chance to race their way into the main event.
There is another racing daily double the next day. Daytona International Speedway will host both the Craftsman Truck Series and International Race of Champions on Friday, Feb. 16.
The trucks will run 100 laps in the first of their 25 races for the 2007 season. The series began running at Daytona in 2000.
The Busch Series begins the final season using that name on Saturday, Feb. 17 with a 200-mile run. Busch drivers also have four days allotted for tests at Daytona this month.
The big deal comes the next day with the Daytona 500. It is 200 laps of almost 200-mile-an-hour-bumper-to-bumper-high-speed mechanical ballet. The dancer with the best dancing (drafting) partner often comes up with the top prize for what is one of the most important races on the schedule.
It really doesn’t seem like drivers have had a lot of off time during the so-called off-season. Those that participated in the Busch or Craftsman Truck Series awards had two more weekends absorbed with activities and some teams have been testing at tracks where NASCAR testing limits do not apply.
Not all drivers will be attending the Daytona practices. Word is that Tony Stewart will have substitute drivers checking out his No. 20 again this year. Stewart skipped the January tests in 2006 and still led 20 laps and finished fifth in the Daytona 500.
The official tests of the Nextel Cup teams are mandated by NASCAR. The speedways where test runs will be allowed in 2007 include Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Lowes Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
“NASCAR received input and recommendations from each of the crew chiefs that was valuable to our decision making process,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president for competition. “The seven tracks that were selected provide the teams with a wide variety of layouts, surfaces, and track characteristics that should provide them with an opportunity to have success in 2007.”
A two-day test session for all teams is set at Las Vegas on January 29 and 30. The teams will test at Bristol at the end of February.
Teams are sometimes able to find speedways that do not host NASCAR Nextel Cup races to run their tests. Hendrick Racing has been using Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina to try out their machines recently.
Several drivers will also stay busy with appearances at the 2007 Sprint Sound & Speed Festival, January 12 and 13 in Nashville, Tennessee. Cale Yarborough, Junie Donlavey and Richard Childress, Jamie McMurray, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., David Stremme and Aric Almirola are joining Richard Petty, Kyle Petty, and Ryan Newman in the special fundraiser.
Country music stars will be teaming up with the drivers to raise money for the Victory Junction Gang Camp run by the Petty family in North Carolina. Last year’s event raised over $300,000.
Information concerning the festivities is available at the event website www.soundandspeed2007.com .
The Sound & Speed festival is promoted as a celebration of music and motorsports. Fans may attend sessions with drivers and country music artists, bid on music and racing memorabilia, enjoy interactive attractions and listen to performances by some of country music’s top stars.
There is also a chance to look over some of the new paint jobs on many of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars that will be on display.
High Speed TV:
Friday January 5
4:00 p.m. Desert Racing—Outdoor
8:00 p.m. Lawn Mower Racing—Speed
Saturday January 6
10:00 a.m. Truck Stop—ESPN2
2:00 p.m. Bodine Bobsled Challenge—Speed
7:30 p.m. Late Model Dirt Racing—Speed
Sunday January 7
9:00 a.m. Beyond The Wheel—Speed
12:00 p.m. Charlotte Summer Shootout—Speed
7:00 p.m. NASCAR Victory Lane—Speed
8:00 p.m. The Speed Report—Speed
10:00 p.m. Michael Waltrip Racing—ESPN2
The Allan Vigil Ford 120 will return January 27th on Newstalk 750 WSB Radio and www.wsbradio.com. For more information visit www.captainherb.net.
