The Nextel Cup Series has this weekend off, but most teams are busy at work.
Forty-eight teams began a three-day test session Tuesday at Richmond International Raceway, which hosts races May 6 and Sept. 9. Each team is allowed to test two days.
The Richmond test is the third of six scheduled this season as part of a cost-containment measure. They are the only opportunities to practice outside race weekends at Cup venues. Gone are the days of teams with deep pockets doing extra testing on their own. The first tests were in January at Daytona Beach, Fla., and Las Vegas with the final three at Concord, N.C., Indianapolis and Homestead, Fla.
“Testing the way it is now is so much different than the way it used to be,” driver Reed Sorenson said during Tuesday’s national teleconference. “You used to come test and there would be 10 to 15 cars at the most. You really didn’t have too much to compare to.
“Now you come to test, you’ve got everybody to compare to. You know exactly how you are when you leave the race track after the test.”
Having the entire series at a test also simulates race weekend conditions.
“The track gets rubbered up, just like it does race weekend,” Sorenson said. “Everybody is here. Everybody brought their best stuff. It’s really cool. You really know what you’ve got.”
The three-quarter-mile Richmond track occupies a key spot on the schedule. The second race there is No. 26 of the season, the final chance to qualify for the Chase for the Championship.
“They want to make it an equal opportunity for everybody when it comes down to the wire, whether you’re in or out,” driver Kurt Busch said in a release. “There are no excuses.”
Looks just like Cup
Sorenson, who drives the No. 41 Dodge for owner Chip Ganassi, is proof that a weekend off doesn’t necessarily translate to time off from the racetrack. Half of Saturday’s Busch Series event at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway could be comprised of Cup drivers, including Sorenson and six others who are running full-time schedules in the Busch Series.
The other dual-series full- time drivers are Cup veterans Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, and Cup rookies Clint Bowyer, J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin.
Off to the races
Cup drivers Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney will return to their roots this weekend.
Schrader, who owns I-55 Speedway in his home state of Missouri, will compete at his track and sign copies of his newly released book, “Gotta Race.”
Blaney will head home to Hartford, Ohio, where his family owns Sharon Speedway. Blaney intends to participate in opening-week activities after the track’s season opener was rained out last weekend.
Footnotes
Erin Crocker will attempt to qualify for her fifth Busch race – and first of 2006 – Saturday after competing in the preceding ARCA event. Crocker is competing full time in NASCAR’s Truck Series. … NASCAR announced it fined crew chief Domenick Turse $50,000 and deducted 25 points apiece from driver Derrike Cope and owner Ray McGlynn for using an illegal intake manifold in Sunday’s Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. … NASCAR fined Chad Norris $10,000 and suspended the Busch Series crew chief for Matt Kenseth until May 3 for using an illegal quarter panel in Saturday’s race at Texas. Kenseth and team owner Jack Roush also were docked 25 points.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
