Posted on by Staff Report

FINAL PRACTICE | Full results | Best 10-lap averages

Polesitter Matt Kenseth showcased the speed of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota once again, as he topped the leaderboard at 186.361 mph during the final Sprint Cup Series practice Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

A pair of Stewart-Haas Racing drivers had some misfortune in final practice. While Kurt Busch‘s No. 41 Chevrolet showed speed early and he finished the session third (185.797 mph), he found trouble at the end of the session, as a right-front flat tire caused him to drive through the grass out of Turn 4 with just seconds left in practice.

Kevin Harvick, who was second-fastest in practice earlier this morning, briefly brought out the caution late in the 50-minute session, as his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet grazed the wall. After tending to the damage, Harvick made another run and ended the session 13th-fastest (184.780 mph).


Kyle Larson was second-quickest, his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet the fastest among non-Chase drivers with a top speed of 185.842 mph.


Rounding out the top five were two Chase drivers: Hendrick Motorsports‘ Chase Elliott (185.752 mph) and Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Kyle Busch (185.535 mph), respectively.

Charlotte winner Jimmie Johnson (23rd-fastest) was the slowest driver among the 12 Chase competitors, clocking in a best lap of 183.880 mph. Johnson was also the slowest Chaser during morning practice and Friday’s Coors Light Pole qualifying session.

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track Sunday for the Hollywood Casino 400 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

PRACTICE 2 | Practice 2 results | 10-lap averages

Paul Menard topped the speed charts in Saturday’s opening Sprint Cup practice at Kansas Speedway with a speed of 184.672 mph in his No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Right behind him was Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet at 184.376 mph.

Rounding out the top five were Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet, Chase Elliott in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Sprint Cup Series points leader Jimmie Johnson was 25th-fastest with a speed of 181.714 mph in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Johnson was the slowest Chase driver in this session.

Posted on by Staff Report

Practice 1: Results


Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin (C) 3 12 186.256
2 13 Casey Mears 1 10 185.041

Practice 2: Results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch (C) 1 10 182.530
2 27 Paul Menard 1 10 181.964
3 19 Carl Edwards (C) 16 25 181.930
4 42 Kyle Larson 14 23 181.592
5 14 Tony Stewart 1 10 181.370
6 1 Jamie McMurray 19 28 181.028
7 11 Denny Hamlin (C) 1 10 180.975
8 20 Matt Kenseth (C) 19 28 180.946
9 3 Austin Dillon (C) 18 27 180.860
10 2 Brad Keselowski (C) 21 30 180.595
11 21 * Ryan Blaney # 14 23 180.335
12 16 Greg Biffle 25 34 179.901
13 24 Chase Elliott # (C) 20 29 179.575
14 6 Trevor Bayne 22 31 179.469
15 5 Kasey Kahne 13 22 179.367
16 31 Ryan Newman 18 27 179.199
17 95 Michael McDowell 5 14 178.752
18 23 David Ragan 10 19 177.826
19 44 Brian Scott # 9 18 176.984

Practice 3: Results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick (C) 1 10 183.740
2 14 Tony Stewart 1 10 183.490
3 18 Kyle Busch (C) 1 10 183.346
4 24 Chase Elliott # (C) 1 10 183.208
5 20 Matt Kenseth (C) 1 10 182.690
6 42 Kyle Larson 20 29 182.534
7 27 Paul Menard 1 10 182.483
8 5 Kasey Kahne 35 44 182.422
9 3 Austin Dillon (C) 1 10 182.393
10 2 Brad Keselowski (C) 1 10 182.371
11 11 Denny Hamlin (C) 1 10 182.144
12 31 Ryan Newman 1 10 182.004
13 41 Kurt Busch (C) 32 41 181.903
14 1 Jamie McMurray 34 43 181.813
15 48 Jimmie Johnson (C) 1 10 181.773
16 78 Martin Truex Jr. (C) 6 15 181.768
17 88 Alex Bowman(i) 24 33 181.642
18 22 Joey Logano (C) 23 32 181.612
19 21 * Ryan Blaney # 21 30 181.127
20 19 Carl Edwards (C) 28 37 180.788
21 10 Danica Patrick 1 10 179.888
22 7 Regan Smith 1 10 179.836
23 23 David Ragan 1 10 179.544
24 34 Chris Buescher # 18 27 179.322
25 83 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 179.074
26 95 Michael McDowell 5 14 178.930
27 43 Aric Almirola 25 34 178.599
28 46 Michael Annett 15 24 173.901

* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above charts. (C) indicates driver is in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Standings | Chase Grid | Photos from the day

SHOP: Busch gear


KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Busch‘s domination of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway was about the only predictable thing that happened in the first race of the Round of 8 in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase.

In winning his fourth XFINITY race at the 1.5-mile track, his ninth of the season and the 85th of his career — extending his own series record — Busch led 150 of 200 laps, passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez after a restart with 13 circuits remaining.

“It was a hard-fought battle,” said Busch, who had surged to a lead of 7.961 seconds before the first caution slowed the field on Lap 57. “Seemed like it was going to be easy for us. We had a super-fast car, and when we were out front, I could take it easy on those long runs and we could drive away.

“The car would turn so well. A lot of things were trying to work against us at the end of the race. We were able to persevere and do the right things and have lucky restarts and be in the right grooves and not get caught up in the melee that was happening.”

Suarez had reason to be elated with his eventual third-place finish. An unexplained “popping” sound in his No. 19 Toyota accompanied a loss of horsepower, and Suarez settled for a hard-won result after Elliott Sadler passed him in the closing laps for the runner-up spot.

Because Suarez led laps and Sadler didn’t, he and Sadler leave Kansas tied for the Chase lead, but Sadler owns the tie-breaker due to higher finishes.

“I’m proud of my race team,” Sadler said. “We just kept working on the car and getting it better and better. I’ve got to do a better job trying to outrun that 18 car (Busch). He’s really good, and he knows how to manipulate the air. But I’ve got to keep trying.”

Blake Koch finished ninth — third among Chase drivers — despite a late flat tire, the adverse effect of which was diminished by a timely caution, one of 10 during the afternoon. Koch is seven points behind the two Chase leaders.

Chaos gobbled up the remaining five Chase contenders. A tap from Brandon Jones turned Chaser Justin Allgaier sideways and ignited a six-car wreck that also eliminated Darrell Wallace Jr., who crashed out in 33rd-place. In a severely damaged car, Allgaier soldiered to a 14th-place result and left Kansas tied with Erik Jones for the final transfer spot into the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jones ran up front through the vast majority of the race, but his No. 20 Toyota was turned into the Chevrolet of Ty Dillon when NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Larson made an aggressive move after a restart on Lap 183.

Jones pitted with a cut tire and finished one position behind Allgaier, one lap down.

“He (Larson) said it was his fault,” Jones said after talking to Larson on pit road. “He owned up to it, got me ran over. It is what it is… He just said he got a good start and there was no hole there, nowhere to go with the run he had just got into my left rear and turned us. It’s a shame, we both had fast cars.”

Ryan Reed salvaged a 16th-place finish despite a loose plug wire that kept him down on power until his team could troubleshoot the problem on pit road. After contact in heavy traffic on Lap 176, Brendan Gaughan took a wild spin through the infield grass and came home 31st, 18 laps down.

Both Wallace and Gaughan will have yeoman work to do when the Chase resumes at Texas Motor Speedway after a two-week break for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (Nov. 5, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Chase Grid | Starting lineup for Sunday’s race 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch was dealt a blow — literally — to his Chase hopes in Saturday’s final practice for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
 
With mere seconds left on the clock in the third and final practice session of the weekend, Busch’s right front tire blew out, sending his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet careening into the infield grass. The front end of his entry took significant damage, enough that he’ll be forced to drive a backup in the Hollywood Casino 4000 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App), the middle race of the Round of 12.
 
The 2004 Sprint Cup champion qualified 15th for the race, but will start from the rear as a result of moving to a backup.
 
The car had shown speed in practice, landing second on the leaderboard in the opening session at 194.119 mph and was third in the final go-about at 185.797 mph before settling in the grass.
 
Busch, fifth in points, is one of the 12 Chase drivers vying for a spot in the next round, set to begin after the elimination race on Oct. 23 at Talladega Superspeedway. Only Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson has secured a spot into the Round of 8, thanks to his win last week at Charlotte.
 
While it’s a disappointing turn of events for the veteran, the team tweeted out a pretty encouraging statistic for him.

Busch’s overall history at Kansas isn’t favorable, however, as he has just seven top-10 finishes in 21 career starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, leading just 20 laps since 2011. That said, he does have three straight top 10s and placed third here in May.

Busch’s teammate Kevin Harvick also found trouble during the 50-minute practice session, as his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet brushed the wall and brought out the caution. Harvick got back on track after repairs, coming up 13th-fastest in the field.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

MORE: Bowyer brings fan to tears with surprise | SHR to switch to Ford in ’17


KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The emails are already starting to hit his inbox.

“Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Ford driver, Stewart-Haas Racing,” the mocked-up, soon-to-be-sold merchandise reads.

With six remaining races in the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season — the one in which Bowyer drives the No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet — it’s hard for the veteran not to look ahead to next year, when he’ll replace the retiring Tony Stewart.

“Certainly, it’s always natural to start thinking about next year. You better be this time of year no matter if you are moving or staying the same and nothing changes,” Bowyer said Friday at Kansas Speedway, site of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“That is how far in advance you have to look in this sport and work. All the organizations are lining themselves up and gearing up for next year, all the while, there is a lot of racing left to do in 2016.”

It’s a trying request for Bowyer not to start licking his chops thinking about his soon-to-be ride when he’s struggled with an ill-performing car most of the season and has a mere three top-10 finishes, by far a career low.

ANALYSIS: Bowyer, HScott playing catch up

It doesn’t help to stem the anticipation any when he sees his future teammates battling for wins and titles. Last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway is a prime example, according to the 37-year-old Emporia, Kansas native.

“I look over and I see all the Stewart-Haas cars up front, qualified well, Danica (Patrick) was fast, all the cars raced well,” he said. “Those are the things that you look at and get excited for next year. But, hey, you’ve got an opportunity to come back home and race and compete in front of your hometown crowd. Like I said, there is plenty of racing to do and things to accomplish this year. We’ve got to cap it off well and start to get focused on next year.

“It is exciting. … An email came across my phone and I look over and its No. 14 merchandise approvals for next year. You are like ‘holy cow,’ it’s becoming reality. It’s fixing to pick up in a big way.”

There’s basically nowhere to go but up in his impending season with SHR, as a tumultuous 2013 campaign with Michael Waltrip Racing set his career on the path of a winless downward spiral in which his performance declined from every measurable aspect — a year after finishing runner-up to Brad Keselowski for the Sprint Cup Series title. Last year’s announcement that he’d replace the three-time champion Stewart at season’s end was the first good news he’d had to share publicly since the birth of his son, Cash.

RELATED: Baby No. 2 on the way for Bowyer

Apart from the increase in performance he can expect from an organization that took home the 2014 title with driver Kevin Harvick, that has five wins this season and put three drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, SHR offers Bowyer a welcoming environment in which he’s already comfortable with their top-tiered talent, many of which are longtime friends of his.

“Just a great outfit over there, everybody from the top to the bottom; the teammates, I’ve worked with Kevin (Harvick) for many years. I’m looking forward to Kurt (Busch). Kurt is the one that I’ve never really known a lot about. Always raced against him, but never worked with him in any way, shape or form. Danica, I’m closer to her than probably some of the others, so I’m just looking forward to it. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be a neat atmosphere and something that 10 years into this thing one of the best opportunities ever is at your doorstep and fixing to happen.

” … Just looking forward to being in a situation where you can go out and know that if the equipment is there that you will have a good weekend. That is all you can ask for as a race car driver.”

While it’s likely that Bowyer will have to wait until next year to finally win a Sprint Cup race at his home track, he knows that there were valuable lessons he’ll take away from a frustrating season.

“I think I’ve learned a lot from the racing on the race track and I’ve learned a lot about myself (this year),” he said. “This isn’t easy and I think hopefully we can get back in (the media center) and there are going to be these seats filled again.

“And I’ve got a beer in my hand because the trophy is sitting right there, right? That is what we do this for.”

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Chase Grid

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The first round of the first Chase for NASCAR’s XFINITY Series trimmed the field of championship hopefuls from 12 to eight.

The three-race subset also served as a learning tool for those who advanced to the second round, which begins Saturday with the Kansas Lottery 300 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) here at Kansas Speedway.

“I learned that in the first race of the first round the intensity level was very high,” Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota) said Friday. “It was definitely more high than what I was expecting.”

Elliott Sadler (JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet) won the Chase opener held at Kentucky Speedway. Suarez was a close second, won the following week at Dover and finished third last weekend at Charlotte, unofficially taking the mantle of Chase favorite with four races remaining.

“I thought everyone was going to go out there to try to be consistent and to try to make it for the next round and that wasn’t the case,” Suarez said. “Everyone was going for the win and everything got a little crazy in the first race in Kentucky.

“But, honestly I’m very proud of everyone …. We had three races with three top-three finishes which I think is something really good for the first round. We have to do exactly the same thing for the second round and after that try to put ourselves in a good position for Homestead and pull everything we have for that last race and the most important race of the year.”

Sprint Cup Series regular Joey Logano won the Charlotte event, the only race not won by an XFINITY Series regular in the Round of 12. 

Suarez, 24, said he expects the level of intensity seen in that opening race to return here this weekend as drivers and teams try to knock out an early win and qualify for the Round of 8.

“For some reason everyone – I thought everyone was going to be more relaxed in the first race but for some reason everyone was very, like I said, the intensity level was very high,” he said. “And, then for the second race it was lower and everyone was more relaxed because everyone was a little bit too crazy in the first one. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same in this second round.

“I don’t think that I was myself, I don’t think I got super crazy in Kentucky and we ended up with a pretty good result. Actually I felt like we should’ve won that race, we just came up one lap short.

“I felt like everything that we learned the whole year we are trying to put that in the most important part of the year in the Chase in the first round and second round in order to get to the last race at Homestead and so far it’s been working out. So, hopefully we can keep it up and move forward.”

Justin Allgaier (JRM), Erik Jones (JGR), Brendan Gaughan (Richard Childress Racing), Ryan Reed (Roush Fenway Racing), Darrell Wallace Jr. (RFR) and Blake Koch (Kaulig Racing) complete the Round of 8 for the XFINITY Series Chase.

Suarez, Sadler and Jones are the only drivers in the postseason with victories this season.

Gaughan, who has 15 top 10s, including a season-best runner-up at Road America, said the first round taught his team that “organizationally, to make sure we are prepared.

“Make sure … we have everything kind of set and ready.

“Another thing Shane (Wilson, crew chief) and I learned was (we) still are clowns that do it our way. It works for us. We don’t scream and yell. … He doesn’t get down on me when I hit a wall twice at Kentucky. And I don’t bark at him when I think he makes the wrong call on pit road or we unload and it doesn’t handle quite the way I want.

“We’re going to do it the way we think it needs to be done, stay patient and stay on each other’s team. A lot of pressure comes on these guys … and a lot of people succumb to that pressure.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have won the last three XFINITY Series races at Kansas.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Chase Grid


KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Martin Truex Jr. and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team won’t take part in next week’s organizational test for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, even though the 1.5-mile track hosts the season-ending, championship-determining event for the series next month.

“There’s a lot that went into it,” Truex said Friday about the decision. “We actually skipped the Chicago test as well and went there and we won, so … that certainly plays into the decision a bit.”


The single-car organization is based in Denver, Colorado, also plays a role into such decisions, he said, noting that “Homestead is a long way from Denver.”

“Just trying to make sure we are focused on the right things. We feel like testing has not really done anything to help us along. We feel like our time is better spent at the shop getting prepared.

“It seems like every time we’ve tested this year, we’ve gone to the race track and spent the first day-and-a-half trying to regroup and figure out where we need to be, so it seems like it’s probably hurt us more than helped us and it’s just kind of our mindset going forward that we feel like we’ll be better off if we don’t go.”

The season’s fifth and final organizational test is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 18-19. Unlike Goodyear tire tests which normally feature only four teams among the three manufacturers, organizational tests are open, but limited to one team per organization.

The following drivers are scheduled to participate in the test, including each of those currently in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup:

Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford); Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet); Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet); Carl Edwards (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota); Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet); Chris Buescher (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford); Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford); Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford); Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 42 Chevrolet); Michael McDowell (Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Chevrolet); Trevor Bayne (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford); and David Ragan (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota).

Truex has won four times this season, including twice in the opening Round of 16 of the Chase — at Chicago and Dover.

The team is scheduled to take part in Monday’s Goodyear tire test here at Kansas Speedway, but Erik Jones is listed as the driver for the No. 78 entry. Jones, who competes in the XFINITY Series for JGR, will move to Furniture Row next season to drive a second full-time entry for the organization.


READ: Furniture Row adds Jones to growing team 


Danica Patrick (SHR), Jimmie Johnson (HMS) and Joey Logano (Team Penske) are also expected to take part in the single-day test for the tire supplier.

Truex and his team were participants for Goodyear tests this year at Charlotte, Pocono and Michigan. Of the four previous organizational test, the team tested one day only at Kentucky and Watkins Glen and both days at Indianapolis. It did not take part in the most recent at Chicagoland Speedway.

“It just seemed like every time we talked about (the Homestead test), it was just like ‘I don’t really think that we should do it. I think we should continue to focus on the things that we’ve been doing,’ and ultimately I think Cole (Pearn, crew chief) made the decision to say, ‘Alright, that’s it. We’re not going to do it,’ and he feels good about that, so I’m with him. I think he’s making the right decision,” Truex said.

Because of a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, which fields four teams, the Furniture Row Racing group will have access to data gleaned during the Homestead test from the No. 19 team of Edwards as well as TRD (Toyota Racing Development).

Edwards said there are two sides to the opportunity to test at Homestead in the midst of the Chase.

“There’s an opportunity to test for the ultimate race — the race that finishes the year,” he said, “but it’s also an interruption in your Chase and you have to go do it and it can take away as well.”

Dave Wilson, President and General Manager for Toyota Racing Development, USA said while Toyota officials were aware of the move, “ultimately it’s their decision.

“In their case, I think it’s just a balancing of priorities,” he said.

“The good news is with the technical alliance that Furniture Row has with Joe Gibbs Racing, they will still get some of the benefit that JGR will bring back from that test.

“I think the value of testing is considerably different today than it was five years ago, just the influence of technology, the influence of simulation is so great now. And the predictive tools that all these teams have are very powerful; it’s amazing how good they are, so it’s not as much of a must-do, must attend (event) as it has been in the past.”


Truex finished 13th in last week’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the opening race of the Round of 12. He enters Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) seventh in points. Only the top eight advance to the Round of 8 for stops at Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix before the top four from that group move on to Homestead to determine the 2016 Sprint Cup Champion.

Posted on by Nascar

A further reduction of downforce and the implementation of additional safety developments highlight the 2017 NASCAR premier series rules package announced by sanctioning body officials on Friday at Kansas Speedway.


Aerodynamic adjustments similar to those in place for races at Kentucky Speedway and Michigan International Speedway in 2016 form the framework for the 2017 performance platform. However, slight modifications to the overall base package have been made.


According to officials, the 2017 race package will include:


• Rear spoiler dimensions for all non-restricted events will be 2 3/8 inches x 61 inches. Current spoiler dimensions are 3 1/2 x 61; for the Kentucky and Michigan races, the dimensions were 2 1/2 x 53 inches.


• Splitter measurements for the 2017 package will be the same as those for the 2016 Kentucky and Michigan races, with a 3-inch reduction in the outboard (side) areas;


• A tapered rear deck fin;


• Net rear steer setting of zero.


The aero changes are the next evolution of the platform first rolled out for select events in 2015. Mandatory for 2016, those changes reduced downforce (the pressure exerted on a vehicle as it moves through the air) from 2,700 pounds to approximately 2,000 pounds. The 2017 package is expected to reduce downforce by approximately 500 pounds, landing in the 1,500-pound range.


“The objective there is to give the drivers, put the driving back in their hands a bit more … take less aero dependence off the car,” Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development, told NASCAR.com. “That’s the big thing.


“The amount we are taking off the front and the rear is the same proportion; we try to keep the balance of the car identical. So it’s been taken off in the same proportion to maintain the balance of the car as it was last year.”

Safety enhancements, which include strengthening the interior driver compartment, will be mandatory for superspeedway events at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway and optional at the remaining venues for 2017.


Officials previously announced thicker anti-intrusion plating where it already existed in the cockpit as well as additional plating in areas not currently covered. Toeboard foam will also be mandatory at superspeedways, as will the addition of a roof hatch.


Changes to steering column mounting and the use of a garage-only fuel coupler (mandatory for all events) complete changes in the safety arena.


“Basically … there is going to be a strengthened dash firewall; (on the) front left of the chassis there will be a piece zippered in; also in the back, near the rear clip, another piece that will be zippered in,” Stefanyshyn told NASCAR.com. “The floorboard and toe board area will be made out of one piece, beefed up, also.


“This has a couple of elements to it; one is to manage front crash, the other to manage if you are hit in the side.”


A stronger floorboard, with toe board foam, should lessen the odds of a driver involved in a hard impact suffering a broken limb.


The fuel coupler designated for garage use only is intended to lessen spillage by more efficiently closing the valve upon disengagement. It is a safety as well as environmental initiative.


The aero package for superspeedway races at Daytona and Talladega will remain unchanged, although there will be a decrease in restrictor plate size (from 57/64ths to 7/8ths of an inch) to combat increasing speeds at the two tracks.


Additionally, the vehicle weight will increase by 20 pounds to accommodate structural changes to the cars.


NASCAR will also reduce the tire allotment provided to teams next season and require teams to start the race on the tires used in qualifying.


“We’ve been tracking tires for two or three years now and we see how many are purchased and how many remain,” Stefanyshyn said. “We are seeing that there is an opportunity to trim some tires. … Also we’re starting to creep up to trying to bring some strategy around the tires.


“It’s not a huge reduction, it’s a comfortable reduction but it’s kind of moving in that direction.”


Officials said unveiling the potential packages in advance, as was done in ’15 at Kentucky and Darlington, and again in ’16 at Kentucky and Michigan, provides the opportunity for optimum feedback.

But those tracks are not locked in a “test” venues.

“We’re always looking at different ways to do things … we would hope that next year’s package can be a continuation and a little bit more of a long-term, stable rules package,” Scott Miller, Senior Vice President of Competition for the sanctioning body, said.

“But nothing ever stays the same. Moving forward we will look at more efficient ways to potentially test possible packages for the future.

“I think we did a good job the last few times with the races, that’s really the best way to collect data in an actual event … hopefully we can get out in front of it even a little bit further and get a little bit more of a cross section of race tracks if we have some proposed new things.”