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->>The View From Fanville
LIVE Daytona Testing Blog Posted:0535hrs
By Amy Hair,Senior Columnist,Cup Scene Daily (Daytona Beach Fla.) 2:30 High Hopes Motivate Jeff Gordon
“…You always want to win the Dayton 500. It’s the ultimate…we know how big of a deal it is to be running in the 50th anniversary race, as well as how big it would be to win it.” While his teammate Jimmie Johnson was more than anxious to get back to the track, Jeff was a little more hesitant at first: “It seems like yesterday we were in Homestead. I mean, things just fly by so quick during the off-season, I cannot believe that here we are testing…getting ready for the new season. But I’m excited about it. I think when you have the type of year that we had last year and you come up a bit short, especially with your teammate, I think it just makes you that much hungrier to go out there and try to get one, get one step closer, or get the ultimate trophy.” Perhaps being a first time father helped push the off-season along faster than he would have liked, there never seems to be enough time when you’re watching your child grow up, but Jeff is ready and anxious now that he’s climbed back in the car and taken a few laps around the track. Even with last year being full of firsts, both a new baby and the Car of Tomorrow, Jeff can see the consistency that was there in the performance of his team: “I will take the consistency that we had last year, and I would take it again this year. Knowing that we got beat having that kind of consistency, it’s going to push us to try to get more speed, which is our job every year, to try to go faster.” Jeff’s first session of testing put him in the 7th fastest time slot for the morning with a speed of 183.042, less than 2 seconds behind his teammate Jimmie Johnson. I suspect as the test session continues , Jeff and his team will fine tune what they can see and prepare themselves for what they can’t, all the while keeping their eyes on the Championship trophy that barely slipped through their fingers this past year. 2:00Jimmie Johnson Switches Gears
While Sunday was a day of testing in the Pontiac Riley for the Rolex 24 race, Monday brought Jimmie Johnson back to his big heavy car of the No. 48 Lowe’s machine and testing at Daytona International Speedway. It also brought him into the Daytona International Speedway media room for a chat with the overly eager folks that were waiting for something to talk about. Expecting Jimmie to tell us he’s already bored out of his gourd with this monotonous testing, we were pleasantly surprised. Jimmie told us: “It’s been fun. I didn’t expect today to be this much fun and really be challenging as a driver and challenging as a team…I think these three days will be well used by all the teams. Again, I’m shocked how much information we’ve learned this morning already and how different the setup has been.” Of course with back to back Championships under his belt, looking at the possibility of a third has got to be in his mind. Reflecting back on the first Championship in 2006, Jimmie said: “The first year was so stressful. Being close, working on it, getting close, losing it. Then to get it done took a huge amount of stress off our shoulders. Last year we had a great time. I only anticipate this year being better. “ Jimmie in his No. 48 showed the rest of the field just how determined he is to start off the year strong. When the first time sheet rolled across the media desk at noon on the first day of testing, Mr. Johnson’s name was right on the top with the fastest speed at 184.782. He has two other teammates at Daytona for testing this week, Casey Mears, whose speed let him snag the 2nd place (5B -184.574 and 5A-183.572), and Jeff Gordon, the low man on the totem pole for this group came in 7th fastest at 183.042. We’ll see what the afternoon brings as the temperatures rise and the fellows start to get just a little tired of the 2 lap, 3 lap thing. The excitement of being back behind the wheel will dull as these fellows aren’t allowed to do more than a few laps at a time…but it’s just like mowing the grass. If you do it you can see exactly what’s growing and what you need to weed out…if you don’t do it something’s going to jump out of the weeds and bog you down before you even get started. So test away fellows, you’ll be racing before you know it. : 11:15...2 Laps, 2 Laps, 2 Laps…Yawn Pre-season testing for our NASCAR boys has begun at Daytona International Speedway. And I, along with many other sleepy eyed media folks arrived on Monday, January 07, 2008 in the media center at the track. The track itself was quiet and the garages were just starting to come to life. Covering the testing sessions for the NASCAR boys isn’t exactly full of drama and excitement like an actual race, but when you’ve been NASCAR starved for a couple of months, it works. Waiting for the first car to take the track gave the media a chance to wish each other “Happy New Year” and catch up on news since the last time they’d been together. A moneyless pool was started with the goal being to see who could guess which car would take the track first. Yes…it was a bit on the quiet side waiting for things to get going. The same person that started the pool won it, so even that was a little boring. Casey Mears in the 5A test car rolled on out and brought the track to life just a few minutes after 9:00 a.m. Then another lull…it seemed even the teams weren’t really ready to jump into this first day of tedious testing. While the attention is given to the drivers, their job during these three days of testing is downright dull. They suit up, climb in the car and strap up. Their helmet shield goes down and they fire up the car, usually running only 2 laps and bringing it in for a tweak based on what the computers and feed back to the crew from the driver tells them needs to be done. Boring…boring…boring…for the drivers that is. Even the most dedicated fellow behind the wheel starts thinking of where he’d rather be by about the 5th time he’s run that pair of laps. Oh, and only one car at a time can be on the track. So the driver has no one to catch up to, no one to pass and no one to draft with. If they’re real lucky, sometime on the third day of testing, the powers that be will let them go out in groups and “play” a little. They’ll get to draft and practice sitting in each other’s rear view mirrors looking ominous. The real work horses of the testing sessions are the guys that are buried up to their armpits in oil and grease while they’re breathing in noxious fumes from a blistering hot engine. Each time the driver pulls back in, he’s already told his crew what he feels, sees and thinks about the current set up. Their goal of course is to get it perfect. Perfect enough to win the Daytona 500. Will it happen? Sure…but only for one team…and they all realize that. So each one will buckle down and adjust, move, change and replace parts with dedication and determination that what they do to the car will be the winning adjustment. By the afternoon of the first day of testing, we should be able to see which cars are already getting close to the set up that they want and need for the first race of the season. Speeds will be posted and heads will nod…both up and down with a smile, and back and forth with a frown. But they’ll all learn something that will hopefully give them the confidence they’re looking for come February 17th when they line up on the starting line in Daytona. Stay tuned…speed results and quotes from drivers will begin to filter through the dullness and we’ll be right here to bring them to you.
NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expense, it would be appreciated:
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