Cup Teams Test at Las Vegas

The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series organizational test of the year kicked off Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

A total of 16 drivers descended on the 1.5-mile track for the test and that list included:

Ty Dillon (Germain Racing), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing), Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing), Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing), Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing), Cole Custer (Go Fas Racing), Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing), Kasey Kahne (Leavine Family Racing), Kyle Larson (Cup Ganassi Racing), Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), Darrell Wallace Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports and William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports).  Justin Allgaier (Chevrolet), David Ragan (Ford) and Drew Herring (Toyota) are testing for each manufacturer.

Rookie Wallace Jr. was the first driver on track for the test and rookie Byron topped the morning session with a lap of 28.678 seconds, 188.298 mph. Both were driving the new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Those in the Ford camp are anxious to get to work on the coming season in hopes of closing the gap the manufacturer had last year chasing Toyota and the perceived Chevrolet advantage this season with the debut of a new Camaro body style.

Also the opportunity to test at Vegas, one of several 1.5-mile tracks on the schedule has added to the test’s importance.

“It’s been a fun track for us as of late and now we have two races here it seems to justify us coming here and putting a little extra effort into this one… with it close to starting off the season and then having such an important effect on the back half of the season,” Keselowski said. “We are glad to be here.”

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch, who was the fastest Ford driver in the morning and afternoon session, stressed the added importance of running well at LVMS since the track now has two Cup dates on its schedule including an event to open the playoffs in September.

“It’s going really well,” said the Stewart-Haas Racing driver.  “We went through some sequences and the car has speed. It’s really similar on the balance for us with our Ford because we didn’t get a new body upgrade or anything in the off-season. Now it’s just a matter of settling in with my new crew chief Billy Scott and this group on the No. 41 car.”

“It’s never translated to that home field advantage. I have always struggled here in Vegas. I have qualified well over the years, but I haven’t raced well. I’m looking to turn that around. This is huge for our track here in Vegas to kick off NASCAR’s playoffs. It will be warm out in September and it will be a new exciting fell for our sport to kick it off on a stage such as Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I’m really happy for the track and the town to have two dates.”

As for the Chevy brigade and the new Camaro, early assessment is favorable. But most drivers understand it will take time to fully understand the nuances of the new body style.

“I feel like we have some pretty good speed and good balance with our new Camaro ZL1,” said Larson, who was the fastest in the afternoon session with a lap of 188.403 mph in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. “It doesn’t seem too much different than the other car. Maybe it will be different once we get in traffic, but in a test you don’t really get to simulate that.”

Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon believes the change in body will bring huge benefits to his team in its quest for improved performance in 2018.

“I think all the hard work that was put in by Chevy and their engineers and all the race teams is going to pay off,” Dillon said. “We definitely have some things to learn with this car as the year goes on. Driving it for the first time I got a smile on my face.”

AM Session

PM Session