HAMPTON, Ga. — It’s never too early to get a jump on next season and that was the case for teams at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Thursday.
The track hosted seven teams for a NASCAR open team test on the 2016 rules package. The teams at Atlanta were: the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing team with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team with David Ragan, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team with Ryan Blaney, the No. 22 Team Penske team with Joey Logano, the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports team with Chase Elliott, the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team with Kurt Busch and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team with Aric Almirola.
The 2016 rules package is similar to the rules packages that were in place this year at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway where reduced downforce was prevalent. Next year’s base package includes a 3.5-inch spoiler (currently 6 inches), a 0.25-inch front leading splitter edge (currently 2 inches) and a 33-inch wide radiator pan (currently 38 inches; it was 28 inches at the Darlington and Kentucky races).
Like many drivers, Almirola, who finished 12th at Kentucky and 11th at Darlington, is a fan of the direction the sport is heading. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver compared and contrasted the setups in recent years.
“I just think as they pull the downforce away and stuff, it allows me to drive my race car a little more,” Almirola said during a media availability during a NASCAR open team test at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“The more downforce that we have had the last couple of years, it really puts us drivers in a box. If you have a really good car, you run good. And if you have a bad car, you run bad and it’s really hard to make any difference inside the car because everybody is carrying so much throttle.
“So as we have transitioned to this lower downforce, I think its been an improvement for our sport but its been an improvement for me as well. Because I feel like I can make a difference now and when our car is not handling as good as we want it to. I can kind of do some different things in the cockpit and lift earlier. I can use more brake. All things that you can’t do when you are running close to wide open.”
Chase Elliott, who will be driving the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the sport’s top series in 2016, believes that this package should be just the first step.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction. Keyword, step,” the defending NASCAR XFINITY Series champion said. “I don’t think we need to be satisfied and happy with the location that we’ve landed at right now. I think we need to continue to try and improve and get better.
“There’s always room for improvement, definitely, on our side, trying to get better from a driver’s perspective, try to make the cars drive better. Also, from a package standpoint, trying to put on a good show for the fans. I think this is a great step and I think this is the direction we need to go in.”
The morning portion saw teams making short runs, while the afternoon saw some teams going out for extended runs. There was a brief delay in the afternoon for a sprinkle of rain but after about a 20-minute stoppage, cars were back on track.
Atlanta hosts the second race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on Feb. 28 and the first race of the year that will use the new rules package. The season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 21 will not be using this package since it’s a restrictor-plate track.
“We’ve run Kentucky. We’ve run Darlington,” Almirola said of the 2015 races that used a reduced downforce package. “We got a pretty good idea of what to expect. Coming back here for the second race of the year, you will really know where everybody stacks up to start the season.”
A two-day Goodyear tire test that had been scheduled at the track for Oct. 27-28 was moved to next week, Nov. 3-4, due to bad weather in the area. Teams from Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing are scheduled to take part.