Test shows no issue with carbon monoxide in car

SONOMA, Calif. -- The good news is that NASCAR testing for possibly unsafe carbon monoxide levels inside Sprint Cup cars during races has revealed that no such problem exists.

The bad news for the drivers who were worried about it is that the heat is on for this Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

Temperatures at the track during practice and qualifying for the race on Friday soared above 100 degrees. Some relief is expected by race time on Sunday, with a high temperature of 87 degrees predicted -- but the high on Friday was supposed to be in that range also and it ended up being closer to 102.

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Denny Hamlin

Hot in here

Drivers like Denny Hamlin have complained of not feeling well after race, so NASCAR tested carbon monoxide levels at MIS.

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Two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said drivers and NASCAR officials have known all along the inside of the new car the Sprint Cup Series has gone to full-time this year is hotter than the car it replaced. But he added that he was pleased to learn heat sensors are being placed in some of the new cars to monitor just how hot it can get, which should in turn enable teams to learn more about what they can do to keep their cool.

"I'm excited to see what's going on," said Johnson, whose No. 48 Chevrolet was one of several cars tested last weekend during practices and the race at Michigan. "We've been through some testing to make sure the levels aren't too high in the car, and my stuff all looked great last weekend.

"We've known this car is hotter. We saw some of that last year and as the summer months are coming along this year, it's really showing up. So I'm happy to see the open-mindedness that we have with it."

Of course, NASCAR officials have insisted all along that the real issue was having teams start to utilize all the options for circulating air in the cockpit that are available to them in the new car. Johnson and Denny Hamlin, another driver whose car was tested at Michigan, admitted that they have worked with their teams to find those sorts of solutions on their own.

"Just last weekend alone, we made a lot of gains on our own to help bring the temperature down in the car and it really made a difference," Johnson said. "So that's good stuff."

Hamlin was one of the drivers who complained the loudest about heat inside the cockpit after the recent race at Pocono. He also suffered from heat exhaustion following a race earlier in the season at Texas.

"We as a team worked on our ventilation at Michigan," Hamlin said. "And really, our problems have only been at intermediate tracks. Where we have a right-side window [open] on the shorter tracks, I've never really had heat issues or carbon monoxide issues. But we worked on our ventilation -- and when I got out of my car at Michigan, my [carbon monoxide] level was zero.

"I think we improved it as a team and I felt a whole lot better. So basically, the ventilation stuff was on us."

Spokesman Kerry Tharp said NASCAR regularly tests the heat levels and carbon monoxide levels inside cars, and will continue to do so. He said nothing was found amiss in any of the cars tested last weekend at Michigan.

Earlier, Sprint Cup series director John Darby insisted strongly that teams needed to explore all the options available to them to better cool and circulate the air inside the new car. That seems to be what is happening now.

"We just added a couple right-side fans -- so it blew the air outside inside the car. Kind of mixed it up a bit," Hamlin said. "We run an [air conditioning] unit, but I really never requested any driver fans [previously]. Most everyone has fans inside their cars. I've been running without them and finally we just got to a point where it was like, 'Let's try to do everything we can to help the comfort level.'"

In the end, it sounds like it mostly has evolved into a simple case of common sense prevailing. And that will need to be the case again this Sunday when temperatures will be near 90 at best and possibly very similar to the higher ones recorded on Friday.

"Every race I've ever raced here has been a hot race. The hottest race so far was Pocono, and I felt pretty good after the race compared to others," said Kasey Kahne, the polesitter for this Sunday's event. "It's all about bringing a racecar to the track that can help keep you cool."