February 11th, 2011: The cars hit the track for the first real practice session of 2011 today, showing off new paint schemes and new team combinations. The 1st practice of the Budweiser Shootout belonged to one of those new crew chief and driver combinations - Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The team posted a speed of 199.862 mph. The second practice was led by Joey Logano at a blistering pace, 203.087 mph. No word yet on any restrictor plate size changes, although Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes that if the plates are to be made bigger, then the two car draft would not be as easy to form.
For the Budweiser Shootout selection show, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drew the number 1 spot. Stewart, Edwards, Hamlin, and Kahne round out the top 5.
There were also many news stories that broke out throughout the first day of on track activities. Here is a short run down:
- NASCAR will go to fuel injection at the beginning of the 2012 season, however it will just be in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. NASCAR has partnership with Freescale Semiconductor and McLaren Electronic Systems to develop and integrate the fuel injection systems. NASCAR says that they are currently working on a new engine package for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series.
- Jeff Burton's contract with RCR is up after the season, however Burton made it clear that a deal is almost done that would keep him with the team for 3 more years. Caterpillar is expected to return with Burton.
- NASCAR announced that it has placed Michael Annett, driver of the #62 car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, on probation until Dec. 31, 2011. Annett violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) of the 2011 NASCAR Rule Book. The violation occurred Feb. 6. In addition to the steps already underway by Rusty Wallace Racing, Annett will be evaluated by a certified substance abuse professional at NASCAR's discretion and will be subject to random alcohol and drug testing.(NASCAR PR)
Stay tuned each day of the 2011 Speedweeks for more news updates.
No comments:
Post a Comment