Phoenix to host Goodyear tire test

Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive,” Darian Grubb, crew chief for Denny Hamlin‘s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team, disclosed that there will be a test and discussed the positives and negatives of testing during the season.

“We found out yesterday that we’re actually going to have an extra day at Phoenix turned into a 2015 tire test after we do our team test out there. So that’s going to be interesting right before we go to Talladega and the stressful week, a lot of our guys are going to have to stay out there and do a third day of testing just for Goodyear and NASCAR. So it’s exciting because it gives you a chance to get ahead on next year’s stuff, but it’s also tough to be able to concentrate on this year and start working on next year as well.”

Hamlin’s team is planning on testing at Phoenix “the week after next” and will also be testing at Homestead “two weeks after that,” Grubb said. Hamlin is still in the championship hunt as the Chase heads into the Contender Round at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Grubb was also asked about the 2015 rules package that was announced last week. Among the changes announced are a reduction in horsepower and a ban of team-facilitated testing for next season.

“I really think it’s a good direction. I wish we had gone a little farther with the downforce reduction, but it is what it is and we’re going to go out there and we’re going to race hard. From what we saw at Michigan and how racy the cars were and how the drivers were physically having to drive the car, I think the direction is for sure going to be the right thing. I think racing will become a lot closer, and the driver is going to have more of a chance to mess up and jump the cars loose and guys diving inside. Hopefully they’re going to have more talks in the future and go even further with the downforce reduction and give Goodyear some freedom to be able to give us more grip in the tires and more falloff and make pit strategy and things like that a lot more of a game to play. Any time you open up the rulebook for crew chiefs to have a little more chance to work and a little bit more freedom to make your car better than the other guy, we all thrive on that because we all want to find that advantage. The more that goes, the happier we’re going to be and hopefully the racing gets even better because of it.”

For a team eliminated from the Chase, working toward 2015 is at the forefront of their mind. Matt Puccia, Greg Biffle‘s crew chief, discussed with “The Morning Drive” the tests the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing team has lined up.

“(We’ve) got a lot of stuff to do for 2015 in the next month and a half, two months that really we’re working hard on now,” Puccia said. “We’ve got a Homestead team test that we’re going to use this year. Maybe we’ll work on some stuff there. There’s a Goodyear test that we’re going to go to and work on the rules package this year. I think we’ve got Charlotte they’re talking about this year and California maybe. So really going to start strapping down here and start working on ’15 here.”

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