CONCORD, N.C. – Driver Kyle Larson, crew chief Cliff Daniels and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com group will be one of six teams and organizations taking part in a test this week at 1-mile Phoenix Raceway.
The two-day test will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 5, and Wednesday, Dec. 6, as NASCAR looks to make enhancements to the racing product at tracks that are no bigger than 1 mile. In addition to serving as the host track for championship weekend in 2024 and the previous four seasons, Phoenix also hosts a spring race weekend in March.
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During an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio last month, Daniels talked about what will be looked at as part of the test. In short, a lot of options are on the table.
"NASCAR has a lot on the drawing board for aerodynamic features on the car, underwing styles and shapes, splitter, spoiler and a lot of different things they are going to try," Daniels said. "That will be great to see. There’s been conversation about what to do with shifting at short tracks. We may have a different transaxle option to look at to change shifting strategies around. It sounds like Goodyear is going to bring quite a few tire combinations, different compounds and different trend gauges that we will get to test as well. I think all those things are a step in the right direction in terms of looking a little bit farther out of the box to try and bring in some new things and just get a read on it. You have to see it on track to know how it is going to react and respond and race.
"I believe there is going to be six cars at the test, so it's not getting a full field sample size of course, but hopefully, it is enough to give it some direction. The racing is already good at places. There weren’t a lot of yellows at Phoenix, but the racing up front was hard. Anything we can do to make our product a little bit better is certainly going to be welcomed by all of us. A lot of that is going to be done at the test so we are looking forward to it."
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The 2021 Cup Series championship-winning crew chief also gave fans a peek at how a test like this works and is structured.
"In this case, NASCAR has organized a lot with their engineering staff on how they would like to see the different parts and pieces executed on the cars," Daniels said. "I’m sure the schedule is going to go kind of like this where we will have an open session just to tune the cars in with the baseline package, which will be what we just raced. Then, they have a structured schedule on phasing in the next splitter, the next spoiler, the next underwing style, the next tire combination and after some run sequence of those, then NASCAR will do the most current best of package. Whether that is a splitter-spoiler combination that reacted well or a tire combination that reacted well.
"Then, they will do mini heat races and a group run. They will line the cars up and let the cars run around each other, move around and try to pass on the different lanes. I think that is a great way to capture a picture of what the parts and pieces and new things we are trying will have an effect on the track. That will pretty much be the cadence in repetition just with new things added along the way over the two days we are there."
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During last week's Champion's Week in Nashville, Larson was extremely grateful to get to take part in this test and was optimistic about where things would shake out.
"I hope there is a lot of good that comes out of it and we discover something that makes the short-track package better. It will be fun. I don’t know that I have been part of a test like this in the past so I'm excited about participating in it."