Posted on by NASCAR Official Release

IMSA, touring series executive to replace longtime official Darby

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR has named Richard Buck, a NASCAR executive with a wealth of diverse experience in motorsports, as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series managing director. Buck will serve in the role held the past 12 years by John Darby, who will remain at NASCAR as managing director, competition. Buck and NASCAR’s two other national series managing directors — Wayne Auton (NASCAR Nationwide Series) and Chad Little (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series) — now will report directly to Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president, competition and racing development.

Buck currently serves as vice president, racing operations for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), a role he will maintain through the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona (Jan. 25-26), at which time he will assume his new position. In addition to his role with IMSA, Buck has been serving as the managing director of NASCAR’s Touring Series, the all-important grassroots racing program that has developed numerous top-flight NASCAR drivers over the years.

”Richard Buck has demonstrated a deep and unique knowledge of motorsports, and his versatility and innovative approach to competition should serve the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage extremely well,” said Mike Helton, NASCAR president. “His wide range of expertise will be of great benefit to our premier series. NASCAR is in the midst of exciting change in the Competition area, and Buck will be instrumental in providing us with fresh insights and implementing many of the changes in the years ahead.”

A native of Phoenix, Buck worked from 1980-2000 as a crew chief, team manager and director of operations with open-wheel racing teams. As a crew chief, he is a multiple-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. Prior to joining NASCAR in January 2005, Buck worked with teams in all three NASCAR national series.

“I’m eager and ready to pursue this unique opportunity to serve as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series managing director,” said Buck. “I appreciate the faith that NASCAR’s management team has entrusted in me for this role. As we prepare to launch the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, I’m thrilled to expand my role in the sport of NASCAR, and I look forward to helping the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition team continue to produce the best racing in the world.”

Buck will maintain his current role as IMSA prepares to hold the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona during the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season. With his pending departure, IMSA will realign its competition structure, with Scot Elkins, IMSA vice president, competition and technical regulations, to work even more closely with NASCAR’s top executives in racing, including Steve O’Donnell, executive vice president, racing operations; Gene Stefanyshyn, vice president, innovation and racing development; and Pemberton. They will form a joint NASCAR / IMSA Competition Committee to meet routinely to share ideas, best practices and resources on innovation and development regarding the two different types of racing.

Additionally, as Buck has been serving as NASCAR’s managing director of its Touring Series, he will relinquish that role and NASCAR will promote Brad Moran to that position. Moran has been serving as the Touring Series director.

Darby will retain responsibilities as managing director, competition, helping to transition the NASCAR Competition model as it evolves to incorporate more technology and innovation originating at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. Over the past 12 years, Darby has been an instrumental part of a significant number of enhancements for NASCAR, including the introduction last year of the Gen-6 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car and an innovative laser inspection process.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

First day of testing wiped out by rain but Hall of Fame ready to get back in car

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Rain cancelled Rusty Wallace’s long-planned return to the famed No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Thursday afternoon, but you wouldn’t have been able to see the disappointment on the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s face. He’ll try again Friday.

"My face has hurt all day long from smiling so hard and I ain’t even been on the race track yet,” Wallace said. "I want to get in the car.”

After a couple months of anticipation, a full battery of medical tests and a new NASCAR license to make it offical, Wallace was scheduled to share driving duties with the car’s regular driver, 2012 Sprint Cup champ Brad Keselowski during one of the Preseason Thunder test sessions. After Keselowski shook the car down, Wallace was slated to make single car runs in the afternoon. He’ll get another chance Friday and admitted no matter what, he’s enjoyed the whole experience.

"I think the coolest thing for me was walking in the garage area and having all the crew guys come by and say, ‘hey, we’re glad you’re here; it’s going to be fun,”’ Wallace said, adding with a grin, "I have thought about going out there and when it was my last run of the day and I was supposed to get of the car and turn it over to Brad, I thought about finding a car to draft with and putting a big number up.”

The track opens at 9 a.m. Friday and NASCAR did not determine an end time.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Team owner expects SHR team to frequent Victory Lane

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A rather svelte Tony Stewart walked into the Daytona International Speedway media center Thursday morning; no cane, no detectable limp, plenty of sass.

Five months and three surgeries after shattering his right leg in a sprint car race, Stewart looked and sounded a lot more like the gritty racer with three Sprint Cup Series championships, displaying the quick-witted personality that has kept reporters and his competition in check for years.

After being sidelined for the final 15 races of 2013, Stewart said his return to Sprint Cup competition in 2014 is on track, even if he isn’t during NASCAR’s Preseason Thunder test sessions Thursday and Friday.

"We’re still on schedule to be (medically) clear the day before (The Sprint Unlimited on Feb. 15), so we’ll be down here for two days hanging out and watching our teams run," Stewart said.

"Luckily this is a smooth race track; it’s not rough and bumpy. If it were Dover, I would be a lot more concerned."

And his health?

"I’m a pretty good [weather] barometer right now," he joked from the rainy speedway. "Seems like if the rain comes or snow or cold comes, I know it right before it changes.

"But," he added, "I feel pretty good. I still have a little ways to go, but we’ve got four weeks to get ready. Even when we get here in February, it’s not going to be 100 percent. Physically, I’m not going to feel 100 percent, but I’ll be able to do my job 100 percent — and that’s the main thing."

Stewart said recovery and therapy still make up the bulk of his days, and after days of tiring easily and working through the pain, his stamina is improving. The days of high pain are seldom.

He went home to Indiana during the holidays and plans to attend the Chili Bowl later this month. It’s one of Stewart’s favorite races to drive, but this year, fellow Sprint Cup driver Kasey Kahne will drive Stewart’s car — then they will raffle it off to raise money for Charlie Dean Leffler, the young son of their late friend and racer, Jason Leffler.

Stewart even says he is optimistic he will do some sprint car racing this season — he has a sponsor and is preparing the car — but says it’s too early to set any kind of schedule for that.

"The Cup car is the priority right now, and making sure that we’re comfortable there," Stewart said. "I’m going to feel 100 percent enough to drive a Cup car; bouncing around in a sprint car is a little different deal. There’s not a sense of urgency [to setting that schedule]."

Although Stewart has been able to drive a street car for the past four months, he hadn’t sat in his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Chevy until about three weeks ago when he got his seat fitted.

"It felt like an old pair of shoes," said Stewart, a huge grin on his face. "The hard part was they kept telling me I had to get out of it. I wanted to sit in it. I felt like a kid."

Veteran Mark Martin will be testing Stewart’s car this preseason. But between the intensive physical therapy and traveling, Stewart has been closely monitoring the situation at his namesake Stewart-Haas Racing operation.

The team has added a fourth driver, Kevin Harvick, to a lineup that includes Stewart, Danica Patrick and another SHR new hire: 2004 Cup champ Kurt Busch. And the team shop is expanding accordingly with construction underway on a 125,000 square foot addition.

"I think when it first happened, it was a thrash at first to kind of figure out, okay, how are we going to do this," Stewart said. "But the atmosphere at the shop, we’ve not seen it.

"I’ve not seen it the five years I’ve been there. It’s just at a high it’s never been at before. We feel like we’re actually way ahead of where we were last year this time."

In fact, Stewart said he fully expects at least three of his teams to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, acknowledging that second-year Cup driver Patrick is still navigating a steep learning curve.

And listening to Stewart speak, it was evident that he fully believes in and expects a full recovery and return to form. He is not only determined to get back in the race car at first opportunity, but to immediately position himself as a championship contender.

He kidded that the mental recovery from this injury has been tougher than getting his leg to heal up.

"The hardest part is just not knowing where I’m supposed to be," Stewart said. "I’ve never had an injury like this so I don’t have anything to compare it to."

However, he said, the upside of the mandated down time has been moments with family, friends and fans to reflect and project — something he rarely bothered to do before.

"It’s pretty cool to finally have time a little bit to reflect back on what we’ve done our career," Stewart said. "It’s neat to talk about what we did in the past, but I’m excited to talk about what hopefully we can do in the future now."

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Fans have a shot to pick from a handful of starting lineup formats

RELATED: Cast your vote today

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As the ultimate “fan” race, much is still be decided about NASCAR’s traditional Daytona SpeedWeeks 75-lap opener, The Sprint Unlimited.

Fans will decide the race lap segments, starting order and final restart through online voting at NASCAR.com and NASCAR Mobile.  But the one known entity for the Feb. 15 night extravaganza is which 20 drivers have earned a position on the starting grid.

The 17 pole-winners in 2013 plus three past winners of the event are eligible to settle this year’s score.

Denny Hamlin (four poles) won the most poles last season and is joined by three-time pole-sitter Kyle Busch. Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards all qualified for The Sprint Unlimited after starting from pole twice.

Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, last year’s winner Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, and both 2013 rookies, Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also earned berths.

Past winners of The Sprint Unlimited in the field include Terry Labonte (1985), Ken Schrader (1989-1990) and Tony Stewart (2001, 2002, 2007).

And here’s where the fun and gamesmanship starts. Fans will have until 7:30 p.m. the night of the race to decide how to set the grid order. And, depending on the fans’ decision it will be based on career poles, 2013 championship points or final practice speeds set the day before the race.

Should fans select career poles as the criteria to set the field, the lineup would look like this:

Gordon (74 career poles) and Newman (51) would start on the front row, followed by Johnson (32), retired two-time champ Labonte (27), Hamlin (17) and Kurt Busch (16).

Stewart (14), Kyle Busch, (13), Earnhardt Jr. (13) and Edwards (13) would round out the top-10.

Former Cup champ and last year’s title runner-up Kenseth (11) would start 11th followed by McMurray (9), Logano (7), Harvick (6), Keselowski (3), Ambrose (3) and Stenhouse Jr. (1) and Patrick (1).

If fans vote to base the start on 2013 championship points, obviously the grid looks much different.

Johnson and Kenseth would comprise the front row with Harvick and Kyle Busch on row two. Earnhardt, Gordon, Logano, Kurt Busch, Newman and Edwards would follow. And Keselowski and McMurray would move up dramatically — starting ninth and 10th based on points instead of 12th and 15th based on career poles.

The final scenario for the starting order depends on the practice speeds, which would have put Hamlin on pole.

However in 2013, fans had an option not given this year and voted to start the field based on the order the drivers won their poles throughout the year, which gave Edwards the nod.

Leading up to last year’s inaugural The Sprint Unlimited, drivers throughout the garage were in favor of the unique format and fan interaction.

“It makes it different for us but adds a fan element and that’s kind of cool they have some say in what’s going on,’’ Kyle Busch said. “So that’s good.

“It is a fun race, just having the format and atmosphere that you get and just going for broke.’’

 

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Posted on by Staff Report

Two days of testing for Nationwide Series begins on Saturday at Daytona

RELATED: Complete Preseason Thunder schedule

Preseason Thunder testing gets underway for the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Daytona International Speedway.

Team Penske, Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing are among the organizations particpating in the two days of Nationwide Series testing.

Moving up from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season, Chase Elliott will be testing in the No. 9 for JR Motorsports. It was announced this week that Elliott would joining the JR Motorsports team for 2014. Bill Elliott, a former champion of NASCAR’s premier series and Chase’s father, will be testing Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s car for JR Motorsports.

Also making the transition from the Truck Series is Ty Dillon who will be testing in the No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing.

Also of note, Dylan Kwasniewski will be testing the No. 32 car for Turner Scott Motorsports. Kwasniewski, 18, won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title in 2013 and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West title in 2012.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series first day of testing was scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 9, but rain washed out Day 1 of testing. Sprint Cup Series testing is scheduled for Friday.

The Truck Series will have its sessions on Monday and Tuesday.

Below is the full roster of drivers participating in the two days of Nationwide Series testing.

NNS Daytona Test – January 11-12, 2014
Car # Team Driver
2 RCR Brian Scott
3 RCR Ty Dillon
6 RFR Trevor Bayne
7 JRM Regan Smith
9 JRM Chase Elliott
11 JGR Elliott Sadler
13 Long Carl Long
16 RFR Ryan Reed
17 Vision Tanner Berryhill
22 Penske Ryan Blaney
23 Ware Racing Ryan Ellis
28 Long Matt Carter/Harrison Rhodes
31 TSM Dylan Kwasniewski
32 TSM Kyle Larson
37 Vision Mike DiBenedetto
43 Petty Dakoda Armstrong
52 Jimmy Means Joey Gase
55 Viva Jamie Dick
60 RFR Chris Buescher
62 RCR Brendan Gaughan
73 Cope Derrike Cope
84 Billy Boat Chad Boat
85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart
88 JRM Bill Elliott
98 Biagi David Ragan
99 RAB James Buescher

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Posted on by Nascar

New managing director for Sprint Cup Series comes to NASCAR from IMSA

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Richard Buck has been named Sprint Cup Series managing director for NASCAR, a move announced Thursday by officials here at Daytona International Speedway.
 
Buck replaces John Darby, who took the title of managing director of competition four years ago but continued to serve as the series’ managing director.
 
"His background is very broad in motorsports, winning Indy 500s … as a crew chief there to the last several years managing and building our touring and weekly program," NASCAR President Mike Helton said of Buck.
 
Buck currently serves as the vice president of racing operations for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and has helped to manage the merger of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series.

"Richard will maintain his role at IMSA through the (Rolex) 24 Hour race, and then will immediately get with John Darby and be under John’s wing as our new … managing director," said Helton.
 
"John … will be working on the integration of a lot of the new inspection and rule-making and part-approval process with (vice president of competition and racing development) Robin Pemberton and (vice president of innovation and racing development) Gene Stefanyshyn."
 
Helton said the move was the result of the evolution of the sport through increases in technology and innovation.
 
Two decades ago, he said, "85 percent of what we did around rules and different things would be done in the (NASCAR) hauler at the race track. Bill France would come in and we’d sit there and owners and crew chiefs would come in … and talk about where we were headed. And that worked then.
 
"What we’ve seen over the past few years, though, is there needs to be a better process. The industry deserved a better process, the teams, the (auto manufacturers), the stakeholders deserved a better process and that better process is going to give us the ability to make a better product on the race track that fans expect to see."
 
• Pemberton confirmed that the only change for Cup teams for restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway would be the previously announced half-inch increase in spoiler height.
 
Conversations with teams, who said the cars aren’t able to "suck up in the draft," led to the move.
 
"Talladega (last fall) kind of got a little spread out," Pemberton said. "We were a little surprised at that, and guys couldn’t make a run; they couldn’t get organized.
 
"But we had been talking to the teams since … even mid- last year on things that we’re thinking about, and the spoiler was one that came to us through the teams, and we were prepared to make that change."
 
It’s expected that overall speeds would increase slightly when cars are drafting.
 
"So it makes the drafting just a little bit better," he said, calling it "a small change."
 
• Pemberton also announced that changes for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series would include teams running the same type of cooling system currently used by Cup Series teams. A "recommended spec radiator" is also available for use, but is not required.
 
"We have cut the spoiler on the Nationwide cars and dropped the ears (side pieces) down on the side of the spoiler so it’ll be straight across the back," Pemberton said.
 
"There’s a small spring change in the back, it’ll be a little softer, (to) try to get some handling back in the cars."

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Posted on by Nascar

Voting categories include race format, starting order and final segment restart order

RELATED: Cast your vote today

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — No points, no pressure. Just 75 laps of wide-open, foot-to-the-floor action — with the fans setting the ground rules.

For the second consecutive year, NASCAR fans will have a voice in the first race of the season.

The Sprint Unlimited, scheduled for Saturday night, Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway, will get the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series off and running for 2014 as the field of last year’s pole winners and previous winners of the event take to the high banks of the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

By visiting NASCAR.com/SprintUnlimited and through use of the NASCAR Mobile application, fans have the ability to help determine three major elements of the 187.5-mile non-points event. Each vote cast through the NASCAR Mobile app will count twice.

Sprint officials announced the fan-related portion of this year’s program Thursday at Daytona, where teams are on hand for Preseason Thunder testing.

Voting for each of the three components is now open and will close at different times on the day of the race.

The fan vote will be used to determine the following criteria:

1. Race format

Fans have three options for the breakdown of the race’s three segments:

• 30 laps/35 laps/10 laps;

• 30 laps/30 laps/15 laps;

• 30 laps/25 laps/20 laps.

Voting for the race format portion will close at 6 p.m. on the day of the race.

Last year, the 30/25/20 breakdown was selected by fan vote.

2. Starting order

Because the race is a nod to the previous year’s pole winners, should the starting field be set based on career poles won? That’s one of three options available for fans. (Hint: If you want Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman on the front row, this is your pick.)

Other options are the use of the 2013 driver points standings (which would produce a Jimmie Johnson–Matt Kenseth front row) or this year’s final Sprint Unlimited practice speeds (scheduled to be completed Friday) to determine the order in which this year’s field will take the green flag.

Voting for the starting order portion will close at 7:30 p.m. on race day.

3. Final segment restart order

How will the field line up for the final push to the checkered flag? Fans have the following options to choose from:

• Fastest lap during the first two segments;

• Most laps led during the first two segments;

• To be determined by mandatory pit stop results.

Gordon, Johnson and Denny Hamlin spoke about this year’s fan options once the format choices were revealed. 

Gordon and Johnson said they would vote for setting the lineup leading into the final segment based on how the cars returned to the track after a mandatory two-tire pit stop. Hamlin leaned toward putting the driver with the most laps led in the two previous segments out front. 

"I would think as a fan I wouldn’t want the guy that leads the most laps or has the fastest car or fastest lap to be starting on the front row," Gordon said.

As far as the starting lineup for the beginning of the race, Johnson said basing it on the ’13 points standings would be "a great idea."

"I hate to say this Jimmie," Gordon responded, "but they’re not voting (for) that one. If that was ‘the champion starts in the rear of the field,’ that one would win."

Voting for the restart order element will end at the conclusion of the race’s second segment.

Among the 20 drivers eligible to compete in the race are Tony Stewart, a three-time winner who will make his first start since breaking his right leg in a sprint car accident last August; Kevin Harvick, now a teammate of Stewart’s at Stewart-Haas Racing and winner of last year’s Sprint Unlimited; and two-time winner Gordon.

Eligible but not entered in this year’s race are Mark Martin and Ken Schrader.

The race has been run annually since 1979, when it debuted as the Busch Clash. Sprint obtained sponsorship rights to the race in 2013, renaming it The Sprint Unlimited and adding the fan element to the program.

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Posted on by Nascar

Friday’s testing periods to be extended

RELATED: Full Preseason Thunder schedule

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The only cars on the race track for Day 1 of Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway were trucks.
 
Trucks pulling jet dryers and the Air Titan track drying system.
 
Sprint Cup Series cars, scheduled for two days of testing here on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, remained in the garage as rain washed out the scheduled first day of testing for the series.

Officials pulled the plug at 3:30 p.m. ET.
 
Preseason Thunder features two scheduled days of testing for Cup teams, followed by two days for the Nationwide Series (Saturday-Sunday) and two days for the Camping World Truck Series (Monday-Tuesday).
 
With the loss of Thursday’s time on track, officials shuffled the original schedule and said Friday’s session will run "as long as necessary."
 
Teams will test through lunch and could extend as late as 7 or 8 p.m. depending on how early cars are able to get on track Friday.
 
Most competitors spent the day trying to find ways to occupy their time.
 
“I walked to the truck; I walked to the car. Walked back to the truck, and then back to the car. It’s been pretty boring out there today," Team Penske driver Joey Logano said.

The Sprint Cup Series will open its 2014 season with the running of the Daytona 500, scheduled for Feb. 23.
 
According to track officials, all of Thursday’s fan fest activities were expected to remain on schedule with no change in location.

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Nationwide, Truck ranks in flux as tours return to test

RELATED: Complete Preseason Thunder schedule

It’s been just over a month since Jimmie Johnson stood on a stage in Las Vegas and was honored for winning his sixth championship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but engines are set to fire again Thursday at Daytona International Speedway as Preseason Thunder begins its 2014 edition. As much a promotional event as it is an on-track test, these next several days in central Florida never fail to whet the appetite of race fans waiting out the short, cold days until the Daytona 500.

That will certainly be the case again this week, when just the sight of Jimmie, Jeff, Junior and the rest of NASCAR’s stars on the high banks of the sport’s most famous track will have motorheads from coast to coast pining for Feb. 23. And yet, the most interesting part of this year’s Preseason Thunder may very well be when the Sprint Cup haulers head back to North Carolina, and the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams arrive for their first tests at Daytona since 2008.

The following season, in the midst of a financial recession, NASCAR eliminated all testing at sanctioned tracks in an effort to save teams money. Testing has been gradually opened up in the years since, but Daytona had remained solely the province of Sprint Cup teams until this week into next, when the Nationwide and Camping World Truck circuits will each have two days of their own at the 2.5-mile facility. What’s going to make all this so interesting is, deals on those respective tours are often famously late in coming together, meaning that the Daytona test will offer the most extended glimpse yet of exactly which drivers are competing for which teams in 2014.

Not everything is a mystery. Nationwide lineups are set at Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, JR Motorsports and Richard Petty Motorsports, and a few other teams have their rosters partially in place. Over in the Truck Series, ThorSport Racing remains intact, and Brad Keselowski Racing has revamped its lineup, and a few pieces are in place at Turner Scott Motorsports. But many question marks remain, ranging from some drivers whose returns are expected but not yet formally announced, to others whose status for 2014 remains as murky as the waters of Lake Lloyd.

For instance, it seems fairly likely that Martinsville race winner Darrell Wallace Jr. will be back in a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, but that deal has yet to be formally announced. Neither has the breakdown for KBM’s second truck, or Penske Racing’s No. 22 car, in which Ryan Blaney will run a limited slate. And then, what of Justin Allgaier? Nelson Piquet Jr.? German Quiroga? Reed Sorenson? Ron Hornaday Jr.? Miguel Paludo? There are a lot of familiar names still out there, many of them belonging to past or potential national series race winners, none of them yet attached to an official ride for the coming season.

Then there are the agreements that are coming together on the very eve of testing, with teams set to roll toward Daytona this week. Monday brought the double-barreled announcements of Chase Elliott signing on for a full Nationwide season with JRM, and Sam Hornish Jr. inking a seven-race deal on the same circuit with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he’ll share a ride with Kyle Busch. Elliott Sadler will also be back with JGR, which is putting the final touches on a Nationwide lineup that’s also likely to include Matt Kenseth in the same limited slate he ran last season.

In fairness, this kind of 11th-hour musical chairs at the Nationwide and Truck level isn’t exactly new, given that deals in those circuits traditionally come together much later than those in the Sprint Cup Series because of the smaller dollar amounts and shorter durations involved. As an example, Brad Keselowski Racing didn’t officially announce its 2013 lineup until the middle of last January, a degree of timing that’s far from unusual. Many of those drivers facing uncertainty at the moment may well have rides secured by Speedweeks. But having Daytona testing being back on the schedule for all three of NASCAR’s national tours almost forces a look at this before the picture is fully developed.

With good reason, of course — Nationwide haulers roll into Daytona on Saturday, and Truck Series transporters on Monday, and somebody has to test the vehicles carried within. In some cases, we may not know who those drivers are until they arrive in the garage area. Many deals on those levels are likely pending sponsorship, opening the possibility that drivers could test for their 2014 teams even though their rides haven’t yet been formally announced. And who knows, maybe there will be a surprise or two. Regardless, the Truck and Nationwide portions of Preseason Thunder should give everyone an early glimpse at how the driver rosters for those two circuits are shaping up.

This is all something the big boys in the Sprint Cup ranks went through months ago, in the flurry of pending transactions that took place toward the end of the 2013 campaign. And in fairness, we’ve already seen many of those guys in their new livery already, thanks to a December test session at Charlotte that had Kyle Larson in the No. 42, Kevin Harvick in the No. 4, Kurt Busch in the No. 41, Ryan Newman in the No. 31, and Austin Dillon in a vehicle that would become the No. 3. But there’s something about Daytona that makes those moves seem that much more tangible, that much more permanent, that much more like a preview of what’s to come when the series soon returns to the same facility for real.

But with a few exceptions — such as, who’ll be in the Phoenix Racing car beyond the Daytona 500, and will anyone be driving for BK Racing? — Sprint Cup rosters are essentially set. That’s not the case on the Nationwide and Truck tours, where the jockeying for rides and sponsorships will continue beyond testing, and in some cases right up to the brink of Speedweeks itself.

The big speedway is in the midst of a rebuilding project, with the track’s old infrastructure being dismantled and a new one being put up in its place. With the Nationwide and Truck circuits back in town for Preseason Thunder, the Daytona Rising project won’t be the only work in progress.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

With prodding, NASCAR Hall of Famer to get back in car at Preseason Thunder

RELATED: Complete Preseason Thunder schedule

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — What started as friendly ribbing and good-natured coaxing from team members on pit road late last season has resulted in NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace’s return to the driver’s seat of Penske Racing’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford — for an afternoon.

The 1989 premier series champion will help celebrate longtime sponsor Miller Lite’s upcoming 40th birthday by wearing an appropriately retro-colored Miller Lite firesuit while driving the famed No. 2 car during Thursday afternoon’s Preseason Thunder test session at Daytona International Speedway — his first time in a Cup car since he retired in 2005.

Rendering of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion that will race at this year’s Sprint Unlimited and Daytona 500.

"It all started at Homestead. I was standing between the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and 2 (Brad Keselowski) cars joking around and those guys were egging me on to get back in a car and when Brad got wind of it, he called me up two weeks later and was serious about it and Roger (Penske) was all for it," the 57-year-old Wallace told NASCAR.com. "Everyone in the world has been on me to test. ‘Why haven’t you been back in a car?’ This here kind of got me.

"It’s going to be hard not to have a big ol’ smile all day Thursday."

Not only did 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Keselowski, the current driver of the famous Blue Deuce, pursue the idea of Wallace driving his car, he told NASCAR.com that couldn’t be prouder to share his seat with Wallace, the driver Keselowski considers largely responsible for the team’s title-worthy presence in the Cup ranks today.

"I thought it was a great opportunity and obviously there’s a lot going on with the retro scheme to tie in," said Keselowski, who was 5 years old when Wallace hoisted his Cup trophy and in his first full season of NASCAR competition (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series) the year Wallace retired.

"I’ve got a lot of respect for Rusty and am thankful for what he’s done. He pretty much put Penske’s NASCAR program on the board. He’s kind of the father of the Miller Lite racing program and it’s a great way for us to reconnect to the roots of our program and pay respect to him as kind of the patriarch of it in a lot of ways.

"For me, it was a no-brainer for him to do it."

Now as popular a TV analyst on ESPN as he was 55-time winner in the Cup ranks during a storied 25-year career, Wallace said he expects the experience to be more than a sentimental adventure around NASCAR’s most famous track. He got permission and blessing from ESPN to make his first laps in NASCAR’s Generation-6 car and sees it as a tangible asset to his work in the broadcast booth too.

"I think it’ll help my TV stuff and I’ll have a more in-depth knowledge of what the car feels like," Wallace said. "I don’t know of any other analysts that are doing this right now. … I honestly pride myself in the information I give fans on the air.

"This will give me an opportunity to validate a lot of the stuff I say on air."

Wallace said in preparation for the test he had to undergo all the mandatory medical testing any driver would — from baseline concussion scans to drug testing — and even secure a new NASCAR license. And NASCAR confirmed Wallace has met all its requirements.

"Mike Helton’s pretty pumped up about this, too," Wallace said of the longtime NASCAR president.

According to Wallace, crew chief Paul Wolfe wasn’t planning on either Keselowski or Wallace doing any drafting practice in this week’s two-day test on the famous high banks, so Wallace will make a series of single-car runs.

How many, no one knows yet.

"I’m going to give the car all I’ve got and I’m going to learn," Wallace said. "They’re looking for some speed, some comfort. I’m not going there to say, ‘Let’s change this spring, let’s change this shock.’ I’m there to gain a lot of knowledge and have fun with the team. It’s not like I’m going there to aid the team. I’m going to have fun, learn and get back in the seat."

"Brad will shake it down a couple runs then I’ll get in the car and I just may stay in it the rest of the day," Wallace said with a laugh.

And that’s fine with Keselowski.

"There’s plenty of testing to do and I told him, I’m not too proud to let you in my car and do some laps, let’s do it," Keselowski said. "At the end of the day, this is about respect and this is my way of showing respect back to Rusty. He’s a Hall of Famer for a reason and I expect he’ll get up to speed right away.

"I might just go in the grandstands and have a beer and watch."

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