Five NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series teams completed a rain-dampened two-day Goodyear tire test at Sonoma
Raceway yesterday.
Intermittent rain fell at
the raceway both Tuesday and Wednesday, but Marcos
Ambrose, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers were able to
log approximately nine hours of track time over the two days.
“Goodyear had a pretty stout
tire here last year, and they want to improve on it if they can. They came here
with some different compounds to try, and a good mix of teams and drivers to
get feedback,” said Ambrose, who started from the pole in Sonoma in 2012. “We
also get a chance to set up the car up with the new technical regulations,
which is helpful for the team. Ninety-five percent of the time was getting
tires dialed in for Goodyear, and then the rest of the time was for us to see
what we’ll need when we come back.”
The two-day test marked the
first Goodyear Sprint Cup Series tire test of the year, and is currently the
only scheduled road-course test. Goodyear worked closely with the teams
and drivers to develop a durable race package
while giving teams the appropriate amount of grip.
“It’s always
great to do some type of preparation for road racing. Typically we do it at
tracks back east that are fun and give us some information, but not accurate
information like the track we actually race on in Sonoma,” said Gordon, who has
posted five Sonoma victories. “This is definitely something that we’ve been
looking forward to because I love the road courses, but any kind of data and
information we can get before we come to the race is always beneficial.”
NASCAR returns to Sonoma
Raceway June 20-22 for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. For more information, visit
www.RaceSonoma.com/NASCAR or call 800-870-RACE.
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