Single-car testing of NASCAR’s Next Gen race car resumed Tuesday and Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway with Roush Fenway Racing driver Chris Buescher behind the wheel.
“Obviously, Daytona single-car is not the most fun kind of testing, but a lot was learned,” Buescher said, as quoted in a NASCAR.com article. “I’m glad I did it, even if it’s as little as going back and looking at the car we have at Roush that we’ve been working on and sitting in and trying to figure out what we feel like is the right thing to do from my input where the pedals and stuff need to be. Definitely a good test for me. I’m glad I got to drive the thing before we start testing late next year. I’m glad I got the opportunity.”
This week’s test was the first for the next generation of NASCAR Cup Series car on a superspeedway and follows two days of testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway with drivers Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. in November. Testing at Charlotte included one day on the facility’s Roval and a day on the 1.5 mile oval and was, to date, the only multi-car testing of the Next Gen car.
A primary goal of the Daytona test was establishing a baseline speed for single-car runs. That goal was met on the first day of testing.
“We did that early in day one, then spent the rest of the test trying some new things on steering and also doing some ride-height sweeps just to get some sensitivities in the car to ride height,” Probst said. “Nothing surprising, and all good as far as the development of the car.”
Testing of the new car began in October 2019 in anticipation of a 2021 competitive debut. But after a pause in testing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR pushed the competitive debut of the car to 2022.
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