Editor’s note: This continues a series where we review the top 20 drivers in 2023 NASCAR Cup Series points.
Season in review: Kyle Busch
No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Crew Chief: Randall Burnett Final 2023 Ranking: 14th Key stats: 3 wins, 10 top fives, 17 top 10s, 241 laps led
How 2023 ended: Busch made the move to Richard Childress Racing in 2023 after a 15-year tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing. It was somewhat of a career revitalization for Busch, who won three times, his most wins since taking the checkered flag five times in 2019. Unfortunately, Busch failed to advance past the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and finished 14th overall, the second-lowest finish of his Cup career.
Best race: While his wins at Fontana and Talladega were noteworthy, none of his three victories was more dominating than his triumph at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Busch led half of the 243-lap event with a season-best 121 laps at the front of the pack.
Other season highlights: Busch started the season in strong form, winning three of the first 15 races (Fontana, Talladega-1 and Gateway). Unfortunately, he failed to reach Victory Lane again after that. But he still managed to record six of his 10 top-five finishes following the win at Gateway. Additionally, Busch has won at least one race in each of his 19 full-time seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Stat to Know: Busch led the fewest laps in a season (241) in his Cup career in 2023. … His 25 finishes on the lead lap were the fewest for him since 2015 (even though he wound up winning his first of two Cup championships that season).
Quotable: “The thing you want to be able to do is to be well-liked when you retire. I know right now I’m not close to retiring and I’m not close to being liked.”
Looking ahead: Busch and crew chief Randall Burnett formed a strong 1-2 punch in their first season of working together. They can only get stronger together in their second campaign in 2024. We can easily see Busch make it to the Round of 8, if not all the way to the Championship 4, with a decent chance at earning his third career Cup title.
Driving the No. 8, John-Michael Shenette will chase the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Rookie of the Year honors in 2024.
When the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour begins a 16-race schedule in February at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida, Shenette plans to be in attendance. It will be the first race in his quest to compete in a majority of the races on the schedule to chase the prestigious award.
Formerly based in Thompson, Connecticut, Shenette is the CEO of Eighty-Two Services, a General Contractor located in Concord, North Carolina. The team, Eighty-Two Autosport, will also contest additional SMART Modified Tour and Open Modified events when available in 2024.
Shenette made his debut on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Langley Speedway in 2023 and finished 12th. He also competed in events at North-Wilkesboro Speedway and Martinsville Speedway prior to the end of the season.
“We’re excited for 2024,” John-Michael Shenette said. “Last year was about putting a car on the track. We struggled with a mechanical issue that plagued us at all three events and prevented us from logging laps. All-in-all, it was a good year – we were able to build a great group, add a second car and square away all the bits and pieces that it takes to run. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the best of the best in modified racing, if not NASCAR as a whole. Our team is ready for the challenge. Chasing the prestigious Rookie of the Year award is on our bucket list, but we’re also looking for consistency and to chase our first career win in Modified in 2024.”
Shenette was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and started racing at 7-years-old at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s “Little T” track in Connecticut. He’s raced on and off his entire life – running in the Pro Stocks, Thompson Modifieds, PASS Super Late Models, ARTS Trucks, Karts and now Tour-Type Modifieds 30 years later.
Shenette and his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour team, led by crew chief Scott Morin and car chief Stephen Robinson, will open the 2024 season at New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday, February 10, as NASCAR opens their 76th season of racing. For more information on the team, fans are encouraged to follow the team on Facebook on their new page, Eighty-Two Autosport, for the latest news and information, including race day updates.
Michael McDowell was frank in assessing his 2023 season from the main stage at the NASCAR Awards last month in Nashville, taking time to also reflect on finding his place as a Cup Series regular – either full- or part-time – for the last 16 seasons.
“It’s great to have people understand just how hard it is to stay in this sport, and no doubt, it’s been a grind for me,” McDowell said. “So it’s taken me a long time not to suck, and so it’s been fun to not suck.”
That deadpan line drew laughter from his peers in the crowd at the Music City Center, but McDowell has enjoyed building on the strides made by his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 team all the same. The 38-year-old veteran posted comparable stats to his 2022 season, and though his number of top-10 finishes was lower (eight in 2023 vs. 12 last year), that figure was offset by more opportunities to contend for victories.
McDowell pounced on that chance when it came in August, holding off two eager drivers in Chase Elliott and Daniel Suárez to convert a dominant win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. That victory marked the next step of Front Row’s progression with its road-course program, but also vaulted McDowell back into the Cup Series Playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
“When we went back and really evaluated Sonoma, we felt like we were close to having the car to beat there and just needed to clean up a few things and make a few things better,” McDowell said, referencing a seventh-place result at the California road circuit in June. “And so it was a kind of a progression of we went from a fifth-place car to probably a second- or third-place car to having a race-winning car at Indy. And you don’t get that opportunity very often, or at least I haven’t.
“So to execute everything that you need to execute to actually win a race, because it’s not just about having the fastest car, right, you’ve got to do everything — strategy, pit stops, no penalties, cautions can’t fall at the wrong time or in between a pit cycle or something like that – so to have it go our way and have our team and our group execute was a really cool moment.”
McDowell’s postseason appearance, however, was a short-lived one with elimination arriving early in the Round of 16. A crash in the playoff opener at Darlington and more contact the next week in Kansas put the No. 34 bunch at a deficit, but the team’s performance at the round-ending Bristol Motor Speedway night race provided a glimmer of hope.
McDowell qualified fourth and competed among the top five for the bulk of the 500-lapper before ultimately placing sixth – a career-best Bristol finish and an effort that he says made a statement about the team’s versatility.
“We legitimately put ourselves in position to win at a short track,” McDowell said. “So to me, that was probably one of the bigger accomplishments from an overall standpoint, and it was just a confidence booster to everybody in the organization that it doesn’t have to be a road course and it doesn’t have to be a superspeedway. We’ve been competitive at a lot of places, and we can do it at a high level.”
That spirit-lifter comes with the added boost of continuity for the team in 2024. McDowell and teammate Todd Gilliland re-signed with FRM just four days before the Indy victory, and McDowell says the core of his No. 34 group will return this season.
Those extensions include a welcoming-back for crew chief Travis Peterson, who will be in place for just his second year atop the pit box at the Cup Series level. That development is also a welcome sight for McDowell, who worked with his third crew chief in three seasons in 2023, with Peterson succeeding Blake Harris (2022) and Drew Blickensderfer (2019-21).
“It’s hard to build chemistry, and it’s hard to do what we did this year with all new people,” McDowell said, “and I’m thankful to say that we kept everybody on our program, minus one, and so that’s huge for us. We’ll go into the beginning of next year ready to do battle rather than trying to figure out each other’s names and how people work and where their strengths are, where their weaknesses are, what roles are best — just all those things. We’re going to be in a really good spot starting next year, and so I’m super-thankful for that. That’s a big part of, I think, what will make us successful next year.”
Editor’s note: This continues a series where we review the top 20 drivers in 2023 NASCAR Cup Series points.
Season in review: Michael McDowell
No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Crew chief: Travis Peterson Final 2023 Ranking: 15th Key stats: 1 win, 2 top fives, 8 top 10s, 97 laps led
How 2023 ended: Like a bottle of fine wine, McDowell continues improving with age. After finishing a career-best 16th in 2021 at the age of 36, including his win in the Daytona 500, McDowell, now 38, he had an even better season in 2023. He earned his second career Cup victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. He also led a career-high 97 laps over the entire season and wrapped up the 2023 campaign with a ninth-place finish in his hometown race at Phoenix Raceway.
Best race: McDowell’s best race was his win at the Brickyard. Unlike his win in the 2021 Daytona 500, when he led just one lap (the final lap), McDowell dominated this past season’s race on the Indy Road Course, leading 54 of the event’s 82 laps and earning 59 total points, all single-race career highs for him.
Other season highlights: McDowell made the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the second time in his career, finishing a career-best 15th. He has now reached the postseason twice in the last three seasons.
Stat to know: Admittedly, McDowell struggled early in his career on both superspeedways and road courses. But since 2021, he’s earned four top-10 finishes (including his win in the 2021 Daytona 500) in 12 starts at Daytona and Talladega. McDowell continues to build an excellent reputation as one of the most unsung road-course racers in the NASCAR Cup Series. In a combined 12 road-course races and one street-course start in 2022 and 2023, McDowell qualified in the top-10 11 times and had eight top-10 race finishes.
Quotable: “It’s special. There’s not a cooler moment than winning the Daytona 500. But to do it and not have my family there (in 2021), it was tough. So, I always cherry-pick the races they come to. They can’t come to all of them, but they come to the ones that we think we can win. Today, we did it!” – Michael McDowell after winning this past August at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Looking ahead: After qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs twice in the last three seasons, don’t look for McDowell, who turns 39 on Dec. 21, to slow down or retire anytime soon. He continues to have stronger results each season and can enjoy the recent success he’s had in his career. As for 2024, with wins in two of the last three seasons (each time earning a playoff berth), look for McDowell to not only likely make the playoffs again but once again and build off his steady success.
Thad Moffitt, the grandson of “The King” Richard Petty, will make his full-time series debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Faction46. A new team owned by Lane Moore, owner of Venture Food Stores, and will have an alliance with Niece Motorsports. Veteran Truck Series crew chief Doug George will lead the team next season.
Moffitt and Petty presented the livery of the No. 46 Chevrolet Silverado today during the Petty Museum Christmas Cruise-In at the historic Petty’s Garage in Level Cross, N.C. The move for Moffitt comes at a time when the Petty family celebrates 75 years of racing in 2024.
“This is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for,” Moffitt said. “I’m thrilled that Lane has put his trust in me to begin this new venture with him in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Faction46. This past year, I had a full season in the Trans Am Series, but I always wanted to have the opportunity to race full-time in NASCAR and begin in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. I’m pretty pumped up about this opportunity.”
The team will also be joined by primary sponsors Customers Bank, Safety-Kleen, Joe Jurgielewicz & Son – Americas Tastiest Duck and Pristine Auction. Induction Innovations and Best Working Wipes also join the team as associate partners.
Moore is currently building a retail program with his Venture Food Stores that can help brands and products reach over 800 stores in key NASCAR markets through the race program. This allows Moffitt to have the most competitive season in his young NASCAR career.
“I’ve enjoyed working and getting to know the Petty family and Thad,” Moore said. “It all accumulated to this day and the beginning of Faction46 and what I hope to be a long stay in NASCAR. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series offers some of the best, most exciting racing for both young and seasoned drivers. I’m proud to be part of the series with Thad as we earn the respect of the other teams. I have to thank Niece Motorsports for their assistance in helping us as we grow.”
Moffitt, 23, returns to the NASCAR ranks, where he had success in the ARCA Menard Series in 2021. Moffitt netted five top-fives and 12 top-10 finishes to earn fourth place in the series standings. Moffitt made four starts in the Truck Series, running the first three races of the 2022 season, and returned later that year to compete at Knoxville Raceway.
Faction46 will debut at the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 16 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Hendrick Motorsports and Ally Financial unveiled Alex Bowman’s No. 48 paint scheme for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
With Ally being a digital bank, the scheme’s design is “digital camo” to bring the brand to life on the No. 48 Chevrolet.
Graphic designer Sean Bull was the creator behind the Ally scheme, which marks his first venture into NASCAR as he creates designs in European racing.
“It was an approach from Ally. They reached out to me, and they wanted to get sort of an artist with a different perspective involved for this year’s car,” Bull said to NASCAR.com.
“To have Ally come to me and be like, ‘Look, we’ve got a blank canvas for you. These are our colors. Go ahead. We want to see what you’ve got.’ So to have that was amazing. You don’t often get that in any form of motorsport, and I’ve found the chance. I got to go to Miami with Ally and see the cars there. There’s so much more openness in NASCAR and the schemes.
“There’s so much more you can explore. The whole car is able to be the canvas, to be honest, which is an amazing opportunity.”
Ally has been a partner of Hendrick Motorsports since 2019, serving as the sole primary sponsor of the No. 48 car. The bank also serves as an Official Partner of NASCAR.
Bridget Sponsky, executive director of brand and sponsorship marketing at Ally, discussed how connected she feels to the No. 48 car when she sees it on the track and how excited she is for the new scheme.
“I was beyond ecstatic,” Sponsky said. “The fans have been asking for more of a plum-based scheme for some time now, so to see the renderings and to see it come to life, that’s what really got me excited.
“To see your brand name on the hood of a stock car in NASCAR, it feels like it’s you out on the track. It feels like you have this unique bond with the car itself, with the driver and the team, and it gives you a whole different perspective on what it truly means to be a fan because it feels like it’s your family out there.”
When deciding which design would be bestowed on the No. 48 car, Bowman said he was adamant about wanting this specific scheme on his Chevrolet.
“We had quite a few different designs we went through and honestly I pushed hard for that specific car to the point where things kind of went down the line with a different car, and I’m like, ‘no, this is the car,’ and so yeah I think Sean did a great job designing it,” Bowman said. “It was really cool to get to meet him earlier this year. It’s different. It’s super digital, and Ally is a digital bank, so it fits.”
Since taking over the No. 48 before the 2021 season, Bowman has had an Ally-sponsored car week in and week out. He noted how appreciative he is of representing the brand for every race.
“Just getting to know and work with everyone has been really cool. Whether it’s great-looking paint schemes like this or raising money for homeless pets, everything’s been really fun,” Bowman said. “Really looking forward to ’24 being better than ’23 was to us.”
The 2024 Ally digital camo paint scheme will debut at the Busch Light Clash on Feb. 4 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (8 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Dawn Burlew always held a passion for Watkins Glen International. Following The Glen’s purchase by Corning Enterprises — a subsidiary of Corning Inc. — in the early 1980s, Burlew saw firsthand how much of an economic driver the historic track brought to the local community.
Now, Burlew will have the chance to continue that passion at the fabled road course. The track announced on Friday that the Southern Tier resident will take over as track president and assume her new responsibilities on Jan. 3, 2024.
“I wish I could come up with one word, but I really can’t,” Burlew said. “I’m ecstatic. I’m just thrilled to be able to have this opportunity because, as you know, they don’t come around very often. These positions don’t open up, and it’s right here, literally, 20 minutes from where I live.”
Burlew — the first woman to hold the position — takes over for Michael Printup, who served as track president for the previous 15 years and is now with Parella Motorsports Holdings (PMH) as president of the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA).
Hometown ties come aplenty to strengthen Burlew’s connection to the 2.45-mile road course and the surrounding community. Born in nearby Elmira — 23 miles south of the track — Burlew graduated from Horseheads High School and attended Cazenovia College and Keuka College, with the three institutions 17 miles south, 90 miles east and 30 miles north of Watkins Glen, respectively.
Burlew’s local roots continued at Corning Inc., where she worked for 40 years and helped lead the company’s New York State affairs and initiatives to support, promote and advance economic sustainability in the region.
Burlew’s history in the motorsports realm is sure to help ease her transition into the role. Burlew serves as a member of the governing council of the International Motor Racing Research Center located in the Village of Watkins Glen and is additionally a member of other regional committees, including the Business Council of New York State, Chemung County Chamber and Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council.
These experiences, Burlew says, will only help acclimate her to the new role that much more.
“I think probably one of the biggest assets I bring to it is relationships with the local, state and regional folks that really support what the track is doing as a whole and our tourism,” Burlew said. “So I think that’s probably if I was to look at it, that would be one of the things that I bring to it, is I have those relationships already, and they’re pretty long-seeded.”
NASCAR will continue its annual tradition of frequenting The Glen this season as part of the Cup Series slate. However, 2024 will bring a newfound twist – the road course will mark the second leg of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16, scheduled for Sept. 15 (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
To say the track is due to be involved in exciting postseason times is one thing. And for Burlew, the opportunity to jump right in — at her home track, no less — is one worth the excitement.
“I think the changes, you know, change is always hard, but change can be good, and I think moving to the September, the later timeframe, I think, could be a benefit,” Burlew said. “We may lose some because of school things and other family activities, but I do think that we may pick up some of our fans as well, moving the date, but I do think that it could be a benefit, and we’ll just be ready for that.”
With strong local ties and an even stronger drive to enhance them, Burlew will look to make the most of her new title both in the present and future.
To Burlew, continuing to prioritize the local side of the business will be as important as ever.
“I think that the team at the track is critical to the success of the delivery of our events, and the majority of them are also team members,” Burlew said. “… All those team members are also folks that have been part of our community, and I think that just shows how much people are committed to delivering the events that NASCAR expects and a level of delivery that they expect.
“And I think that is beneficial by having a team that is knitted in the community as myself has been. I think that’s very beneficial.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will forever be remembered as a Daytona 500 champion. His tenure as the current and reigning champ of The Great American Race, however, will close in roughly two and a half months as the new NASCAR Cup Series season approaches.
Unless, that is, he wins it again.
Stenhouse was still savoring the year-long glory of winning stock-car racing’s most prestigious event as the season wound down last week with the NASCAR Awards in Nashville. His champ duties have included some offseason promotion of the annual 500-miler on Sunday, Feb. 18 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM), which Stenhouse said he and his wife, Madyson, have enjoyed touring the country to tout.
“Just a couple days ago, going down to Florida, back to Daytona and announcing a sellout for the ninth straight year was fun. They said that’s the earliest that it’s been sold out, so I told them, they’re welcome. I think that was because of us winning,” Stenhouse cracked. “No, but hopefully we can do it again. Once you get one, you want to keep getting more.”
Stenhouse returned to both Victory Lane and the Cup Series Playoffs last season for the first time since 2017, when he was under the Roush Fenway Racing banner. The 36-year-old veteran enters his fifth season with JTG Daugherty Racing sitting on a milestone with 400 Cup Series starts in the books, but he also has momentum from arguably his best season with the No. 47 Chevrolet team, logging nine top-10 results and his best average finish (17.8) in the last six years.
The No. 47 group also received an offseason boost with key sponsorship renewals during Nashville week, extending its partnerships with Kimberly-Clark and Bimbo Bakeries. But the break between seasons also presents an opportunity, Stenhouse says, to fully analyze where the team might improve for 2024.
“There’s definitely, I would say, five to 10 areas throughout the season where I could have done something different to get a better result — whether it be qualifying, throughout the race — and the team’s doing the same thing,” Stenhouse said. “You know, they have their handful of things. It’s like, ‘Hey, this cost us. Speed cost us a good finish,’ and we know that, right? And so how do we fix that going forward, and so that’s been fun.
“That’s what I enjoy about the offseason is really just dissecting everything. We’re not in a hurry to fix it because we’ve got till February to get going, and a lot of this stuff is race craft and driving on that given weekend, and our guys are looking at setups and things like that. They do that every day, but it’s fun for me to kind of dissect every little part of our race team.”
The pursuit of improvement will begin when the Cup Series returns to Speedweeks in Daytona, where the memories of the team’s 2023 triumph will be rekindled. For one, the team will get back its race-winning No. 47 Chevy, which has been on display at the trackside Motorsports Hall of Fame of America since last year’s victory. “It’s not going to get run again,” Stenhouse says. “That’s for sure.”
Stenhouse will have more than a puncher’s chance at a repeat victory, and all three of his Cup Series wins have occurred at superspeedways. Only four drivers have won the Daytona 500 in consecutive years. Denny Hamlin (2019-2020) is the most recent back-to-back champ, joining Sterling Marlin (1994-95), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Richard Petty (1973-74) on the list, which Stenhouse hopes has room for a fifth.
“It’s something that I’ll cherish these next couple of months, and then go back down in February trying to defend,” Stenhouse says. “I think that it’s been done a few times, and it’d be cool to do it again.”
Editor’s note: This continues a series of season reviews for the top 20 drivers in 2023 NASCAR Cup Series points.
Season in review: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Crew Chief: Mike Kelley Final 2023 Ranking: 16th Key stats: 1 win, 2 top fives, 9 top 10s, 39 laps led
How 2023 ended: Unfortunately for Stenhouse and his JTG Daugherty team, the season did not conclude the way it started – by celebrating a huge victory. By virtue of his Daytona 500 win, Stenhouse qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time since he won a pair of races in 2017. Although he ultimately scored a pair of top 10s during the playoff run, he was among the first four drivers eliminated after the first round. He had only one top-20 showing in the final five races.
Best race: Stenhouse’s best race was on the sport’s grandest stage. He started the season with an acclaimed victory in NASCAR’s biggest event, the Daytona 500. He led two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and former winner Joey Logano across the finish line under caution after two overtime restarts. Stenhouse took the lead on the first overtime restart and held off the field for the final 10 fast-and-furious laps to claim his third career Cup Series win.
Other season highlights: Although Stenhouse would have liked to advance further in the playoffs, he still turned in one of the best statistical years of his career. He earned multiple top-five finishes (two) for the first time in three years. His average finish (17.8) is his best in seven years and his nine top-10 finishes equaled his previous single-season best (2017).
Stat to Know: Stenhouse’s lead-lap finishes (25) marked a career high.
Quotable: “Winning the Daytona 500 this year and being able to represent our sport all over the country was special. I take pride in that. It was a great opportunity to promote our race team, our partners and all of NASCAR.’’
Looking ahead: Winning the biggest race on the 2023 calendar certainly lifted the confidence and the can-do attitude of both Stenhouse and his single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team. As importantly, the team excelled in several key statistical categories, something the organization can build on going into next season. Stenhouse also proved the team competitive on multiple track types scoring top-10 finishes on a superspeedway (Daytona), 1.5-milers (at Atlanta and Charlotte), road courses (Austin), short tracks (Martinsville and Bristol); even the Bristol dirt track. That consistent versatility bodes well for Stenhouse and the team as it hopes to improve its championship run in 2023.
Testing at Phoenix Raceway this week provided a glimpse into what direction short-track racing in the NASCAR Cup Series could look like in 2024.
The two-day, six-team exhibition ran through multiple aerodynamic configurations and Goodyear tire combinations, focusing on the racing on short tracks in the upcoming season. While no immediate determinations were made on-site as to what combinations may end up on the Next Gen vehicles in a couple of months, progress was made to help add clarity to the picture.
“I think our goal is to have some direction coming out of here,” Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, NASCAR’s vice president of vehicle performance, told reporters Tuesday. “I’ve never gone to a test and walked out like, ‘Oh my god, this is great. This is what we’re doing.’ It’s a tough thing to do, right? It’s only six cars and there’s no money and points on the line. But I think for us, it’s coming out of here with direction on the tire, coming out with direction on the aero package that, yes, this is going to be neutral to positive. And then any other things that we’ve learned along the way. And then (Wednesday), we’ll be running mufflers, so making sure (when) we go to LA, we’re not going to have anything unexpected.”
The aerodynamic changes included a new splitter design in addition to a diffuser with two aluminum rakes, all implemented in hopes of reducing the effect of dirty air on vehicles in traffic. Those adjustments were met with positive feedback, notably from defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, who returned to the site where he was coronated just one month earlier.
“Yeah, a big difference,” Blaney said Tuesday. “We unloaded exactly how we were here in the fall with this car, ran a couple hours on it and the different splitter, big difference. Massive. Like the way it drives. With that, there’s so much downforce taken off of it. Yeah, the first laps I had, I was like, man, this thing drives way different.
“It should. I mean, it’s a massive aero loss when you do that. And then the simple diffuser wasn’t as big of a change as the splitter, but it was still something to feel. But that front splitter was a huge change, and hopefully we can continue to tweak it a little bit, get it a little better.”
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR.com
That feedback was notably different from a summer test at Richmond Raceway, where the introduction of a “lift splitter” was met with sentiment that “it wasn’t quite enough” change. Testing at Phoenix left officials more optimistic.
“When we came out of Richmond and were changing aero packages, they felt the same. We could have told them it was the same (package),” Jacuzzi said. “And today, everybody said I definitely noticed the downforce. Like I said, we got some interesting comments to kind of parse through of it was easier to cross the wake or different things. So it seemed like definitely the faster speeds here manifested more of what we expected at Richmond. Again, ultimately, Richmond wasn’t really where we wanted to do that test, but (a rainout at) New Hampshire happened. So it’s definitely a difference. Nobody’s saying, ‘Hey, I didn’t notice your aero package.’ ”
Most positive reactions seemed to stem from the different tire combinations Goodyear provided. According to RFK Racing, Chris Buescher went through 24 different sets of tires on the No. 17 Ford over the two-day session. Goodyear aimed to bring tires with thicker treading, similar to what was utilized at Martinsville and which was received well.
“Tire stuff was really good,” Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club said. “I thought we learned a lot with that in the beginning of the day. I think Goodyear’s got some good notes from that and probably is gonna apply to a lot of places.
“This isn’t really a tire test, but of all the tires I’ve tested over my career, by far probably today was the biggest I’ve noticed a difference.”
NASCAR additionally tested new ductwork to aid cooling using the existing muffler, which have previously been used to lower decibel levels at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Chicago Street Course.
“I haven’t felt, really, a heat difference. I could definitely tell a sound difference, which I like,” said Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion and a winner at Phoenix. “I definitely think our race cars are way too loud — and probably are still too loud with the mufflers. … I think the cars could be quieter to help the fan experience.”
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR.com
Plans to test gearbox changes intended to address limiting shifting at short tracks were scrapped Wednesday after feedback from a driver debrief signified shifting was less of a concern at Phoenix, therefore resulting in a pivot toward higher focus on aerodynamics and tires instead.
Drivers also pondered after Day 1 how the car would react using the 2023 splitter in addition to the new simplified diffuser, leading to on-track tests Wednesday after officials performed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) testing overnight to eliminate issues with spoiler heights and imbalances.
NASCAR held a similar test session in late January at Phoenix, nearly 11 months ago — six teams set to test different aerodynamic configurations and mufflers. Moving the test to early December provided a longer runway for more meaningful evaluation before jumping into the 2024 season headfirst.
“Especially with The Clash being essentially at the end of January, it wasn’t ideal last year for us to be doing the muffler work,” Jacuzzi said. “We had basically a week, so we weren’t gonna have a ton of time. We did actually respond and do a bunch of cooling stuff before The Clash. This, we figure, would give us more time to process things, and it gives us more time to look at the short-track package next year and what we’re going to do. So it’s really just to get it done early and not waste a month.”
The new year gets underway with the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 4 on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
