New car 'very, very important' for Nationwide Series

New car 'very, very important' for Nationwide Series


By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(June 30, 2010)

After more than three years of work, countless hours in the wind tunnel, millions of dollars spent by teams and manufacturers and numerous on-track tests, the new NASCAR Nationwide Series car debuts this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
The Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang and Toyota Camry usher in a new era in the series, an era NASCAR hopes creates a new identity for the Nationwide Series, as well as improves safety and decreases cost over time.
The Subway Jalapeno 250 is the first of four races for the new car—don't call it the "car of tomorrow," NASCAR insists—in 2010, with a full implementation next year. Many Nationwide Series teams fought the rollout of the car, and NASCAR backed off initial plans to use the car full time this season.
But after grumblings and complaints about the costs of the switchover, 44 cars are entered for this weekend's race, one more than a full field.
"We think it's very, very important for the Nationwide Series," Nationwide Series director Joe Balash said. "We've been working on that project for a number of years now to try to put together what we feel is the best package to move the series forward, to continue to help us in all our safety aspects and to continue to tighten the competition on the racetrack. And that car is basically the formula that we put together to do that. We're pretty excited about that launch in Daytona."
The chassis is based on the Sprint Cup version of NASCAR's "certified chassis," with a few modifications. NASCAR has said more than half of the Nationwide chassis certified in its research and development center have been converted Cup cars.
Since the new car is more tightly controlled than the older car, NASCAR hopes teams will need fewer chassis in their fleets. Also, since variations of the new car are smaller, the field eventually could run closer together.
"We were worried about falling behind some of the Cup-affiliated teams," Braun Racing's Jason Leffler said. "But I think that the playing field is pretty level, which is going to be a help to us."
As for the race itself, drivers and teams face some unknowns. At a two-day test at Daytona in May, only about half the field showed up, and the largest draft pack was a little more than 20 cars. Drivers reported the cars being a handful, though crew chiefs and engineers worked to get them to handle better
"The complaints of the (Cup) COT when it first came out were how tight it is so they took that, they fixed it for the Nationwide car now, and it's pretty unbelievable," driver Trevor Bayne said. "I think the Daytona race is going to be a lot of crazy stuff happening just because they are so free.
"We were looking at our data from the test and we had more wheel to the right than I did to the left sometimes, but they're fun to drive and I think it's going to go back to making the cars handle rather than just go fast even at those superspeedways. They're still easy to adjust, so I think it's going to be good racing."

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES :IT'S A BRAND NEW CAR N NOTES

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES




It’s A Brand-New Car!

Just like the winning contestant hearing the announcer’s exclamation for the big prize on a game show, the NASCAR Nationwide Series will exude that same excitement this week when the new car makes its official debut.
After three-plus years of design, testing and back-and-forth discussion with series teams about the proper rollout time, it’s come down to Friday night at Daytona.
More than 100 chassis have been certified at the NASCAR R&D Center and as of Monday, June 28, 45 new cars were on the entry list. The goals for the new car – closer competition, safety enhancements and creating a specific identity for the series – are included in the buzz that surrounding the models. Fans and drivers alike are eagerly awaiting the Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang, along with another new model in the series, the Chevrolet Impala. Toyota will continue to race its Camry, but its new-car model fits right into the look of cars that are on the road today.

No. 3 Rides Again

The debut of the new car will be heightened by a blast from the past as two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet made famous by his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., especially on the high banks of Daytona.
Dale Sr. won seven times in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Daytona, which leads all drivers. He also won 22 times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series in the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet, with eight of those victories coming at Daytona.
Dale Jr. is second with five NASCAR Nationwide Series victories at Daytona including two in this race. One of his five Daytona victories came in the No. 3.

Seems Like Forever To Trevor

It only took 31 races – not even a full NASCAR Nationwide Series season – but for teenager Trevor Bayne, it probably seemed like forever.
Bayne, 19, cracked the top 10 in the NASCAR Nationwide standings for the first time in his career following his best-ever fifth place finish last Saturday at New Hampshire.
He’s the fourth teenager in the last three seasons (Joey Logano and Bryan Clauson, both 18 in 2009 and 2008, respectively and James Buescher, 19, earlier this year) to rank in the top 10 in points. He’s also the 12th different driver in 16 races this season to occupy the 10th position.
Bayne has a top five and two top 10s in his last two races. He has unfinished business at Daytona, where he was 41sts in the season-opener, due to an accident on Lap 7.