HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- There will still be a Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway -- just without the thunder.

Track president Robin Braig said Saturday that NASCAR has assured him that the promotional element of the two weeks of testing that historically precede the Daytona 500 will not be affected by the ban on testing that the sanctioning body announced this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The ban encompasses all tracks that host Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Truck Series and Camping World touring events.

“

Now, maybe without the testing going on, we can make those events more exciting for the fans and more exciting for the drivers and everybody involved.

”

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

"The commitment they made to us, which was really brought forth by the drivers and the owners and the crew chiefs, was that we will still come to Daytona. We will help you promote that race. They asked us to let them get through this weekend, but we're going to have some kind of Preseason Thunder celebration," Braig said.

"It's going to have a little less thunder, but we're going to have the drivers and the teams of all three sanctioning bodies, Cup, Truck and Nationwide. We'll have them all there, and we'll have our fan zones and have our fan forums and our auctions and music and entertainment. We'll put our own cars on the track if we have to, with the Richard Petty ride and drive program. So they promised us a marketing platform that clearly can't replace the smell of Sunoco fuel and the new cars and the drivers in the cars. But given the situation, the scenario everybody finds themselves in, we think it's a good compromise."

Teams from all three of NASCAR's national series traditionally test at Daytona in January. While the sessions are primarily to help drivers and crew chiefs prepare their cars for Speedweeks, the facility also schedules a number of off-track activities to help build momentum toward the sport's biggest race. The Sprint Cup sessions particularly attract a great deal of media. Daytona has allowed fans to watch from the grandstands for free, with the option of an upgraded purchase ticket that also includes a track tour and admission to the Daytona 500 Experience.

"It was never a big money-maker," Braig said. "It's all about the marketing noise that [the media] creates for us, and the local buzz. For example, Speed TV probably had four or five shows they were going to do from there. Those are the things you can't put a price tag on."

The revised format sounds similar to the old Winston Cup Preview, an annual fan festival in Winston-Salem, N.C., that was conducted when R.J. Reynolds was the series title sponsor. Dale Earnhardt Jr., for one, likes the idea.

"We will go to Daytona probably and still have the fan-fest type of deal down there," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Now, maybe without the testing going on, we can make those events more exciting for the fans and more exciting for the drivers and everybody involved. I think that would be good to look at that opportunity to really turn that event into something special like it used to be back when it was in Winston-Salem. I think drivers would appreciate being a part of it."

Braig said he believes the full version of Preseason Thunder will return in 2010. Another change for 2009 will be additional race weekend practice sessions, at Daytona and elsewhere, to help teams make up for the track time lost in the testing ban. "Every track will try to find more track time for drivers," Braig said, "so our race schedules will change a little bit."

More
• NASCAR bans testing at sanctioned tracks for '09