DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 5, 2010) – NASCAR today announced the addition of a verification tire test for the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car on May 18-19 at Daytona International Speedway, in addition to some key rule changes for the 2010 season.
The test will verify the type of tire Goodyear will provide for the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car for its first race, set for July 2 at Daytona. That will be the first of four events for the new car this season. Others include Aug. 14 at Michigan International Speedway, Sept. 10 at Richmond International Raceway and Oct. 23 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The new car is targeted for full integration into the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2011.
“Since this is an open test, there will be plenty of opportunities for the teams to get the information necessary to dial their cars in for the upcoming new car events,” said Joe Balash, director of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. “This also will be a final verification of our shock, spring and engine packages for the new car.”
The new car previously has tested at Talladega Superspeedway, Richmond and Charlotte. A rain date, if necessary, will be May 20.
The tire lease program will remain the same in 2010 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series with these new options available to teams:
• Tires will continue to be transferred between events with the same D-codes as recommended by Goodyear.
• The transfer of tires between the different national series at combination events with the same D-codes will be permitted.
• At track, Goodyear will provide surplus tires. Goodyear will notify teams weeks in advance of availability.
Additionally, NASCAR announced that beginning with the 2010 season-opening race at Daytona on Feb. 13, the NASCAR Nationwide Series will institute crew member limits similar to the program the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series utilized last season.
Teams will be limited to 15 crew members for each event, including the driver, crew chief, spotter and seven over-the-wall team members each race weekend throughout the season. Teams also will not be required to provide a scorer.
“The crew limits are a direct result of the continuing dialogue we have with our series owners to reduce at-track costs,” Balash said. “The program was successful in the truck series and we anticipate that same result.”
Another change involves the sealed-engine rule. This year, a team will run no more than two consecutive races without using an engine previously sealed by NASCAR officials. This excludes events at Daytona and Talladega. Last year, teams were to run no more than three consecutive races without using a sealed engine.
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