Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Sign up for 2016 NASCAR Fantasy Games

Time to put your best fantasy foot forward because registration is now open for NASCAR Fantasy Live and Streak to the Finish games for the 2016 season. Before you go locking down your most creative team name, let’s go over how it all works.


In Fantasy Live, players can manage one or more teams of five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers against a $100 salary cap while choosing drivers with the best chance at scoring the most points each week. Drivers are scored across four statistical categories: Laps Led, Fastest Laps, Place Differential and Finishing Position. Players can also earn optional bonus points each week by successfully predicting the winning driver and/or winning car manufacturer for each week’s particular race. There is no limit on how many times a driver can be selected. 


At the end of each weekly period, the player earning the most points for that week from each prize-eligible league will be placed in a pool of all applicable weekly league winners. One weekly prize winner will be chosen at random from the pool. Thirty-six weekly prize winners (one per week) will each receive a promotional code for $50 of merchandise at the NASCAR.com Superstore. Grand prize, second, and third-place winners be awarded at the end of the season.


The game play for Streak to the Finish is the same format from 2015. Players can build streaks by predicting which drivers will finish in the top 10 each week across all three national series. Once a driver is used in each series during an active streak, they are not available to choose again until that streak is broken. Driver selections must be completed at least five minutes before the posted start time of the race.


The Streak to the Finish season is broken into five segments with prizes awarded at the end of each segment. Streaks reset after each segment, giving players a new chance to win.


Segment 1: 2/19/16 – 4/17/16

Segment 2: 4/18/16 – 6/12/16

Segment 3: 6/13/16 – 7/24/16

Segment 4: 7/25/16 – 9/10/16

Segment 5: 9/11/16 – 11/20/16


This year, the prizes have changed.


There will now be two first-place winners per segment — one for the most correct picks and one for the longest streak. For segments 1-4, the top 30 players with the longest streak and the top 30 players with the most correct picks will be awarded. During the fifth and final Chase segment, the top 100 players in each category will be awarded. The first six players who reach a streak of 30 milestones in a single entry across the entire game will each receive a racing helmet signed by a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.


There is no end date to register for Fantasy Live or Streak to the Finish games, players can create entries and join leagues anytime throughout the season. Participants must log on and register with NASCAR.com in order to access the Fantasy Games page.

Posted on by Track Release

RELATED: Buy tickets for Bristol | See the new ‘Colossus’

BRISTOL, Tenn. (Jan. 28, 2015) — The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Bristol Motor Speedway held a joint press conference on Thursday afternoon to announce they have reached an agreement to host ETSU’s 2016 Southern Conference football opener at the Last Great Colosseum.

The Buccaneers, who are playing a full SoCon schedule this upcoming season, will host Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 17.

ETSU football head coach Carl Torbush and the Buccaneers know the significance of playing at Bristol Motor Speedway and are excited to be part of this historic event.

“We are very excited about this opportunity to play at Bristol Motor Speedway,” said Torbush. “We are very appreciative of Jerry Caldwell and everyone at BMS in making this happen. They are great supporters and friends of our program. It has taken a lot of hard work from those at BMS, ETSU, Western Carolina and the Southern Conference in putting all this together and we are thrilled to be making this announcement. Scott Carter and our administrative staff have also put in a lot of hard work in helping making this possible.  Not only will this will be a historic event for the schools, but also our fans, the conference and FCS Football. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our players, coaches, staff, university and fans.”

Western Carolina head coach Mark Speir grew up in NASCAR country, so he’s looking forward to renewing the rivalry with ETSU in such a storied venue such as Bristol Motor Speedway.

“We are first of all very excited about the renewal of the Southern Conference football rivalry between Western Carolina and ETSU,” said Speir. “We’re looking forward to being the first SoCon team to welcome Buccaneer football back to the SoCon — and to be able to do so in such a storied American sports venue like Bristol Motor Speedway is an awesome opportunity for both of our programs. Bristol is an iconic emblem in one of America’s most popular sports, NASCAR. It’s especially cool for me, a guy from Kannapolis, N.C., who grew up in the heart of NASCAR country and has been a fan all my life, to have our team compete on that stage in what will be transformed into college football’s largest stadium. This is a great opportunity for our program and our fans.”

Executive Vice President and General Manager of BMS, Jerry Caldwell added, “It’s exciting for us to support ETSU’s return to football and offer these athletes an experience they’ll never forget. Having the Bucs at Bristol is our way of joining hands with the local community in ETSU PRIDE while generating visibility for their new football program.

“Backing this game also falls in line with one of our key initiatives called; It’s MY Bristol, Baby! The campaign encourages local residents and businesses to feel a sense of ownership — a part of the family — of this legendary Speedway. Naturally, hosting a home game for ETSU, an extended family member, just makes sense for us and will be memorable for regional football enthusiasts for years to come.”

ETSU Season Ticket Holders will receive a general admission ticket to the game at BMS with their season ticket package. Reserved seating upgrades and parking will be available when purchasing ETSU season tickets. If you are an ETSU season ticket holder and have questions, please call the ETSU Ticket Office at 423-439-4828.

An allotment of ETSU student tickets will be available through the university at a later date.

Other guests planning to attend may place a deposit through the BMS Ticket Office at 866-415-4158 or 423-BRISTOL.

Early bird ticket prices are $25 for General Admission, $40 for Reserved seating and $55 for Battlefield seats on the track near the sidelines. Groups of 50 or more may call BMS about special pricing.

Youth tickets for children 18 and under and students from other schools with official I.D. may purchase tickets through BMS for $15.

The Buccaneers are coming off their first season since 2003, playing as a FCS Independent in 2015. Meanwhile, Western Carolina went 7-4 overall, 5-2 in SoCon play last year.

ETSU and Western Carolina have played 45 times with the first game of the series being contested in 1932.

For more information on Buccaneer football, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the football page.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Rain makes qualifying … interesting

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Driving a brand new Prototype developed and built in his native Russia, IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin won the top starting spot for the Rolex 24 at Daytona — with the ninth fastest time of Friday’s qualifying sessions at the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course.
 
Englishman Nick Tandy had the afternoon’s fastest lap, leading a Porsche sweep of the top two starting spots in the highly competitive GTLM Class, touring the course in 2:01.408 (105.561 mph) and edging fellow Porsche North America team car driver Frederic Makowiecki for the top starting spot in the prestigious endurance race, which starts at 2:40 p.m. ET on Saturday (on FS1).
 
On a rain-drenched afternoon at the Birthplace of Speed, Tandy posted his lap on Michelin tires before conditions deteriorated even further. Accordingly, the GTLM cars were appreciably faster than the Prototype and Prototype Challenge entries.

 

Luis Filipe Derani was the second fastest qualifier in Prototypes, with Oswaldi Negri third in the No. 60 Honda-powered Ligier JS P2. Negri is teaming with NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, John Pew and Olivier Pla. All but Pla were part of the 2012 overall winning team, which also included the late Justin Wilson.
 
The defending Rolex 24 winners — NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson and IndyCar stars Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan — had an adventurous qualifying session that included an off-course excursion at the entrance to Turn 1.
 
With Dixon behind the wheel, the No. 02 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry was seventh fastest among the Prototypes and 32nd overall.
 
Johnny Mowlem led the PC Class with a time of 2:05.708 (101.951 mph). NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Brendan Gaughan was a late addition to the No. 20 ORECA FLM09/Chevrolet team, which also includes Tomy Drissi, Marc Drumwright and Ricardo Vera.
 
Mowlem’s ORECA FLM 09 was eighth overall and, surprisingly, faster than any of the entries in the Prototype Class.

MORE: Photos from The Roar Before the Rolex 24

Posted on by

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — When the green flag falls on the 54th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona Saturday, history will be made on multiple fronts. The twice-around-the-clock sports car endurance race is the first major event to take place in the newly reimagined Daytona International Speedway, where a $400 million DAYTONA Rising makeover debuts this weekend.

Multiple escalator-fed “injectors” plus a bevy of elevators mean that even if your seats are on the very top row of the stadium, you won’t have to take more than 20 stair-steps to get to your seat. “We can’t wait to show off what we’ve done,” said Joie Chitwood III, track president. “I think our fans will be amazed.”

FORD GT MAKES HISTORIC RETURN: As the legend goes, Henry Ford II was so angry at Enzo Ferrari, who had rudely rebuffed Ford’s attempt to buy his company, that Ford swore on the spot that he’d build a car that would trounce Ferrari at its favorite playground, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And, with the help of the legendary Carroll Shelby, that’s what happened.

That was 50 years ago, and Ford is returning to Le Mans this year with a brand-new Ford GT, based on the street car that debuted at the Detroit auto show in 2015. That road to Le Mans starts this weekend at Daytona, as two Ford GTs, fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing, will make their first-ever laps in competition. And that competition is tough, with Ferrari, BMW, Porsche and the Chevrolet Corvette hoping to spoil the party.

The Ford GT drivers are top-tier, with Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais in one car, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Stefan Mucke in other. Hand and Bourdais are both previous overall winners of the Rolex 24.

STAR CAR: While Chip Ganassi Racing has its hands full with the new GT Le Mans Ford GT effort, the overall winning team from the 2015 race returns in the Prototype class with a two-car team to defend its crown.

Typically one Ganassi car has sports car veterans, while the other, often referred to as the “star car,” has stars from other series who drive for Ganassi teams in IndyCar and NASCAR. And that’s no different this year.

Indianapolis 500 winners and IndyCar Series champions Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan share the Ford EcoBoost-Riley they drove to victory a year ago along with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson. The six-time Rolex 24 winning team also will field a Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype for Alex Wurz, Brendon Hartley, Andy Priaulx and Lance Stroll, sports car pros in their own right.

WHERE’S SCOTT PRUETT? It has been years since veteran Scott Pruett has driven anything but Ganassi cars, and most recently Fords, but for 2016’s Rolex 24, he’s part of a Chevrolet-powered Prototype team. Pruett teams up with Action Express Racing in a bid for an unprecedented sixth overall win, and he definitely chose a contending team, with defending and two-time WeatherTech Championship Prototype champions Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP, as well as 2013 Rolex 24 GT winner Felix Albuquerque.

For the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the next round of the WeatherTech Championship on March 19, Pruett will move to Action Express’ No. 31 Corvette DP, co-driving with Dane Cameron and Eric Curran.

ALL-NEW GT DAYTONA FIELD: The Rolex 24 sanctioning body, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), changed the rules during the off-season in the largest of the four classes of cars, GT Daytona, making the production car-based class subject to global GT3 technical specifications. The cars will race in the entire IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, which kicks off at Daytona.

GT3-specification cars are raced all over the world, which makes manufacturers more eager to build the cars, given the massive market. That means an all-new look for most of the 22 cars in the GT Daytona class this year, plus some new competitors.

The field goes, for instance, from zero Lamborghinis in 2015 to five this year. Four teams will field a total of five Lamborghini Huracán GT3s, led by defending GTD class champions Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler, who move over from Ferrari.

Porsche also has a five-car entry among four teams. Andy Pilgrim, a three-time Rolex 24 class winner, makes his return to the WeatherTech Championship with Patrick Long, Timothy Pappas and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 540 Black Swan Racing Porsche entry.

Three teams have chosen Audi for the debut of the R8 LMS GT3. Stevenson Motorsports will field a pair of Audis, and Magnus Racing moves to Audi with Andy Lally, John Potter and Rene Rast from its 2012 Rolex 24 class-winning lineup in the No. 44 car. Flying Lizard Motorsports also will field an Audi R8.

Turner Motorsport debuts a pair of brand-new BMW M6 GT3s. Scuderia Corsa, the 2015 GTD team champion, sticks with Ferrari but has a new lineup with Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan, Jeff Segal and Robert Renauer driving the No. 63 Ferrari 458 GT3. They are joined by Spirit of Race, with the No. 51 Hublot/Global Jet entry.

Riley Motorsports returns with the Dodge Viper that captured GTD honors in the 2015 Rolex 24 with two entries. And Aston Martin returns with two cars, one from TRG-AMR, one from Aston Martin Racing.

The 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona is the start of the 2016 IMSA season. U.S. television coverage begins on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 30. International coverage is available throughout the race on IMSA.tv and the IMSA mobile app.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Hall passes away at 83 | Racing community reacts to Hall’s passing

He often said he had the best job in racing and the best seat in the house and maybe that’s true, but the folks on the other end of the airwaves probably disagreed on the latter point.



Wherever one might be while listening to Barney Hall “call” a race was the best seat and that might be sitting at home or riding down the highway.



Regardless of where the action was getting ready to unfold, all one had to hear was “And the pace car’s about to ease off onto pit road” to know that you were in the capable, comfortable hands of Barney Hall.



The legendary announcer for Motor Racing Network passed away Tuesday. He was 83.


PHOTOS: Barney Hall through the years



“Give a call,” and “up on the wheel” were just two of the many signature, go-to phrases coined by Hall, uttered with the ease and confidence bred from a career that spanned more than five decades.



He informed listeners as to what was taking place on the track, but also entertained with stories that only a true insider would know. And Hall knew plenty. He didn’t just have the ear of the listener, but that of the industry as well, due in large part to the respect he showed to others and the respect he had for his craft.



Industry leaders confided in him. Drivers and owners sought his advice. His influence greatly overshadowed his slight frame, yet he would never admit as much. He was just a little ol’ radio announcer from Elkin, North Carolina, doing his best to inform and entertain.



He was on the air for some of NASCAR’s biggest events, but was always hard-pressed to pick a favorite. Prior to his 2007 induction into the National Motorsports Hall of Fame, Hall recalled Dale Earnhardt’s final victory, a stirring, come-from-behind win at Talladega, “but I also remember some of Richard (Petty’s) finishes at Daytona,” he said at the time.



“It was personally satisfying to me when David Pearson won the Daytona 500 and Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500. Because I knew both of them extremely well and I knew how much it meant to them despite the fact that they downplayed it, said ‘if we never get a career win at Daytona it ain’t no big deal,’ because it was a big deal. I know how much it meant to them.”



What he didn’t know was just what a big deal he was, and how much he meant to everyone else.



“Barney will be forever the original voice of NASCAR,” Petty, a seven-time premier series champion, said in a statement issued Wednesday. “He may not have been there at the first race, but he was at a lot of them and is a pioneer of the sport. He helped grow the sport nationally. He made it come to life, gave it excitement and made everyone feel like they were right there at the track, even if you weren’t.”



Hall called his last race two years ago, the annual summer stop at Daytona International Speedway, but continued to contribute to MRN productions.



His presence at the track was sorely missed, but in the last year or so, I’ve noticed something that seems to sum up how folks felt about him and what he meant to them. It’s on those occasions when strolling through the garage one can hear the track P.A. announcer drop in a snippet of some long-ago race.



Fans pause. And listen. And smile. As Barney’s familiar voice calls the action and the leaders charge toward the finish line once more.



So grieve at his passing, but smile when you think of all the pleasure Barney Hall brought to so many for so long.

Posted on by Holly Cain

MORE: Buy tickets for the Daytona 500
RELATED: How Daytona Rising came together | Kennedy gives preview
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With the loud sounds of sports cars running practice laps on the track below and sprinkles of rain outside, International Speedway Corporation CEO and NASCAR Vice Chairperson Lesa France Kennedy and ISC’s Chairman Jim France formally cut the ribbon Wednesday afternoon to mark the debut of Daytona International Speedway‘s $400 million “re-imagining” efforts — a high-tech, first-class motor racing facility unlike anything else in the sport.

The Daytona track has long been considered an iconic brand in racing and now, after a two-and-a-half year modernization effort, the famous facility offers all the amenities the sport’s fans could want. From huge, open-layout concourses sporting gift shops and restaurants to grandstands complete with new larger, comfortable seating to escalators transporting fans up into the facility, the new-look Daytona will be a true crown among venues.

And that was exactly the idea as the track prepares to host its first event with the new digs — the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend.

MORE: Rolex 24 schedule | What to know about Rolex 24 | Speedweeks schedule

“It’s the biggest project, I think, strictly for the fans, of any motorsports project,” France said, sharing that he made great effort to stay up to date with the project both watching the time lapse video online and through visits from his office at company headquarters just across the street.

“It’s Daytona, it’s our Super Bowl event and now we truly have our Super Bowl facility,’ ” France said.

He joined his niece Kennedy and DIS President Joie Chitwood III on Wednesday hosting dignitaries ranging from construction engineers to the Volusia County Sheriff to local congressmen — all of them eager to celebrate the upgraded facility.

The project came in on time and on budget according to officials, who also acknowledged Mother Nature’s blessing and duly noted the lack of any hurricanes in the area setting things back during construction.

WATCH: Daytona remodel comes alive with time lapse video

For Chitwood, this has been the largest undertaking in his role overseeing the property. And he took the position and the job very seriously.

“Probably where I get most proud is the France family entrusted me with their flagship property, the legacy they created and our staff has to live up to it,” Chitwood said. “I’m proud to say I think we nailed it. When I see Jim France walking around smiling and Lesa France Kennedy smiling, I feel like we lived up to it.”

But, Chitwood cautioned with a smile, now comes the important stuff: welcoming fans and helping them fully utilize this new motorsports stadium. Chitwood said every track president in the ISC group, every person in the company’s corporate offices will actually work during the upcoming Daytona Speedweeks and NASCAR’s Feb. 21 Sprint Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

“As exciting as it is today, it’s very challenging to let down and relax because now all the fans are going to show up whether it’s the Rolex 24 or the Daytona 500,” Chitwood said, acknowledging his job is far from over. “For me, it’s probably going to be Feb. 22 before I catch my breath. As exciting as it was to cut the ribbon today, now we really have to make sure the fans enjoy their experience.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Hamlin undergoes successful knee surgery

 

Just two weeks until the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway and Denny Hamlin is ready to power through the pain to earn his first Daytona 500 win. 

 

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver underwent successful surgery at the end of the 2015 season to repair his anterior cruciate ligament, which he tore while playing basketball, and seems to be recovering swimmingly.

 

“Even in the last week, (my knee) has been quite a bit better,” Hamlin said during a teleconference on Wednesday. “The biggest thing is my range of motion hasn’t been very good. … I think it’s amazing how far we’ve gotten in rehab to getting this thing better. I’m very confident that in two weeks it’s going to be a non-issue on track.”

 

Despite his range of motion issue, the Toyota driver is still confident in his upcoming start in the “Great American Race.” When asked about when he hopes to claim his first Daytona 500 win, his response: “It’s coming.”

 

Hamlin’s best finish of 10 starts in the Daytona 500 was second-place in 2014. JGR teammates Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are still seeking their first Daytona 500 victories, as well.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: NASCAR Goes West Sweepstakes | WATCH: Live stream

 

Join NASCAR Wednesday from 2-3:30 p.m. ET for West Coast Media Day with a live stream of all the events.

 

Starting March 6 — and going until March 20 — the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to begin the two-week stretch on the west coast aptly titled “NASCAR Goes West.”

The drivers who will be in attendance during the media day are Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch.

Following LVMS, teams will race at Phoenix International Raceway and Auto Club Speedway.

Posted on by Staff Report

First, let’s get something straight. Yes, we know that taking the new 2016 postseason format and applying it to the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results to show who would have been the champion last year in an elimination format isn’t scientific. Obviously, drivers would have raced differently.

 

We get it. This isn’t exact. It is, however, fun.

 

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase will send eight drivers into a seven-race postseason, and the field will get whittled from eight to six and then from six to four for the season finale at Homestead.
 
If you need a refresher on the rules, go here.
 
So, who would have won the championship last year if the new format was in place? So glad you asked.

 

RELATED: How NXS title would have turned out | Who benefits from changes?

THE FIELD
 
• Three drivers would have clinched their berths with victories in the first 16 races — Tyler Reddick (Daytona, Dover), Matt Crafton (Atlanta, Kansas, Texas-1, Kentucky) and Erik Jones (Iowa, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park).

 

• Five drivers would have clinched their berths by virtue of points: Johnny Sauter, Daniel Hemric, Cameron Hayley, Timothy Peters and John Wes Townley. Townley would have earned the eighth and final spot by 12 points over Spencer Gallagher.

• Cole Custer (Gateway), Christopher Bell (Eldora) and John Hunter Nemechek (Chicagoland) all won races running for Truck Series points, but would not be eligible for the postseason since they did not attempt to qualify for every race.

 

The points heading into the first postseason race at New Hampshire would have looked like this:

Initial postseason standings

Rank Driver Points
1 Matt Crafton 2,012
t-2. Tyler Reddick 2,006
t-2. Erik Jones 2,006
t-4. Johnny Sauter 2,000
t-4. Daniel Hemric 2,000
t-4. Cameron Hayley 2,000
t-4. Timothy Peters 2,000
t-4. John Wes Townley 2,000

ROUND OF 8

The two drivers eliminated after the opening three races would have been Daniel Hemric and Cameron Hayley.


John Wes Townley‘s win at Las Vegas would’ve automatically clinched a spot in the Round of 6. Timothy Peters‘ win at Talladega would’ve automatically clinched a spot for the Round of 6.
 
ROUND OF 6

The two drivers eliminated after the round’s three races would have been Johnny Sauter and John Wes Townley.


Matt Crafton (Martinsville-2), Erik Jones (Texas-2) and Timothy Peters (Phoenix) would have automatically clinched berths in the Championship Round with victories in the Round of 6.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

With a title field of Matt Crafton, Erik Jones (real 2015 champion), Timothy Peters and Tyler Reddick, Crafton won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.


That was the highest finish among the championship-eligible drivers, so Matt Crafton would have been the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion.

Posted on by Zack Albert

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will adjust to a new innovation wrinkle this season, making use of a digital dashboard display that will replace long-used analog gauges. True to the competitive spirit in the NASCAR garage, one team might have a leg up on the rest.

Stewart-Haas Racing was the first to apply the technology in actual race conditions, deploying the digital display in Kurt Busch‘s No. 41 Chevrolet last September at Darlington Raceway.

For the No. 41 team to blaze the trail created an interesting juxtaposition at the South Carolina track. Here was one of NASCAR’s most tech-savvy teams making an early embrace of one of the sport’s newest technological leaps, but hosting the coming-out party at stock-car racing’s oldest superspeedway with one of the most old-school crew chiefs in Tony Gibson leading the charge.

“We got on it,” Gibson said last week during NASCAR’s annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. “… We didn’t want to go to Daytona and have, ‘What have we got? How does the layout want to be in this dash?’ So we worked out all the bugs in ours before the end of the year. Kurt had his own layout and what he wanted to see, and he knows how to run it. We had to move some things around, work some bugs out like everybody else.”

Other teams followed suit, taking advantage of last season’s breaking-in phase as an audition for a NASCAR-mandated rules change in 2016. A quick canvass of drivers and crew chiefs during last week’s media tour revealed that some teams still have some fine-tuning to do before cars hit the track for opening Sprint Unlimited practice Feb. 12 at Daytona International Speedway.

If the pattern of Stewart-Haas being ahead of the game in the offseason sounds familiar, it should. In a pivotal December 2013 test session with the new driver/crew chief pairing of Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers, SHR’s No. 4 team was the class of the field in quickly adapting to the next season’s rules package — a transition that eventually netted the 2014 Sprint Cup championship.

“Anything new, you have to put time into it and understand it, and I’m thankful to have that opportunity with Stewart-Haas to have the engineering department, to have a dedicated guy who’s working with McLaren on the software and to be able to find new things,” Busch said. “Even with us running it last year at Darlington and then the next time I tested it in January, so many new chapters, categories and things were opened up for us to look at.

“I’m just glad that I feel like we’ve done our homework and put our time invested into it to where we won’t have problems with it and we’re going to succeed with it and not have it be an issue or a distraction on race weekends.”

The next step for teams beyond making sure the system works: Getting the most out of the information. The existing settings — tachometer; voltage; water and oil temperatures; oil, water and fuel pressures — will all be accessible, but delivered on one of 16 different preset displays. Teams will be able to drill down and customize each preset based on driver preferences.

The first full-field implementation of the digital display is just weeks away, but NASCAR competition officials say the new system has room to grow. Tire-pressure sensors have been tested ahead of a 2017 rollout, with the potential to help teams make educated decisions about air pressure and other adjustments during pit stops.

Tire sensors aren’t yet approved for competition, but Sprint Cup Series director Richard Buck says he’s hopeful for other advancements in distributing the dashboard data beyond drivers and teams.

“The exciting part about it is the possibilities of the future,” Buck said. “… Integrating it with the fans, integrating it with (the media), the data that we have on race cars available to us and be able to tailor that and get it out to the fans. That’s what makes it exciting to me.”