Notes: Fox finds home with Pettys after years at Yates (cont'd)

Yates pressing on

Yates Racing's two current cars appeared at Preseason Thunder sessions at Daytona and Las Vegas with a paint scheme no owner wants to display: custom-made decals saying "SponsorYates.com." (read more)

David Gilliland, the defending Daytona 500 pole winner who said at California he hadn't given up hopes of defending that honor, despite the speed shown by a number of Toyota Camrys at Daytona testing, said the team's plan was to race, whether or not sponsorship is signed.

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"I've asked that question -- I ask it every week, but they've told us we're gonna race and we've just got to get out and perform," said Gilliland, who'll team with Yates newcomer Travis Kvapil. "We've got these first five races to get out and do the best we can, and I feel really good about our chances. Like I said, our testing has gone well.

"We do have some great [sponsorship] leads and we're very close on some stuff, but as far as they've told me, we're racing both cars all year. We've been close [on sponsorship] for a while and hopefully we can get something shored up here shortly."

Don't split on me

While at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. raised a seldom heard question about cars' front splitters as a possible reason for concern, although none of the seven drivers who crashed on the racetrack cited losing front-end grip as a reason. (read more)

Earnhardt was asked his biggest concern about the current chassis on intermediate tracks like Vegas or California.

"Just trying to get a car where it wants to be as far as the splitter [because] the splitter gets on the ground [and the car] goes up the racetrack," Earnhardt said. "You got to get that splitter off the ground but as close as possible to get the maximum downforce that you can get from the car, so it's a real fine line right there trying to adjust those two things [and] having them both. It's hard to have one without losing the other.

"The other [standard] car, it traveled what it traveled, and that's what you shot for. If you got close to that you were happy [and] the car was fast [and] that's all that mattered.

"Now you got that splitter [and] it don't go nowhere -- you can't grind it off [like a valance panel]. You need to get the car traveled down as much as you want, but the splitter touches the ground and it's terrible -- blows the whole corner -- so it's kind of a challenge."

Former Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil described the sensation in even more detail, but at least he said it wasn't unexpected on his No. 28 Yates Racing Ford.

"That's part of the package," Kvapil said with a shrug. "There are guys that are coil-binding [springs], there are guys that are using bump-stops, it's just finding that package to limit your [front-end] travel.

"If you make a change, you're going to over-travel the car and you're going to land on that splitter, and basically the front tires aren't on the racetrack and you're sliding the nose. I did it here -- you drive off in the corner and it just don't turn, you're on the brakes, you got the wheel to it and you're just going up the track.

"It's just something you've got to be aware of, and for me, I like to know what they're changing so I can know what to expect and try to feel it out. We try to do all that homework at the shop, on the K-rig and the seven-post and those type machines."

Stop pushing

After half a day's testing at California (speeds), two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson's nightmare continued, as his No. 48A Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was 38th on the time sheet. That was more than twice as bad as Johnson was in two days of testing at Las Vegas (speeds) earlier this week, when he was 15th, 15th, 18th and ninth in four sessions.

"Aero balance is the thing we're struggling with the most," Johnson said at lunchtime. "From my driving style and the way we used to put bodies on the cars, we had a lot of front downforce. With these cars, with the wing on the back we don't have that. I've been having a terrible problem with a push -- at Las Vegas and here, this morning."

Johnson said he would have a serious conversation after his media briefing with his teammates, including Jeff Gordon, who was eighth at California's first session and in the top 10 half the time at Vegas. (Continued)