Sprint Cup revs up as Daytona testing kicks off
NASCAR officially unfurls its Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway Monday, but the second rebranding in four seasons of the premier stock-car circuit is only one of several significant shifts for 2008.
Testing for the Daytona 500 begins amidst a flurry of recalibrated alignments between drivers, teams and manufacturers, and all will be adapting to a car making its debut in NASCAR's biggest race Feb. 17.
After a partial rollout last year, the bigger, boxier model will be phased in at all tracks this season, which promises a bevy of other momentous changes:
• Dale Earnhardt Jr., the sport's most popular driver for five years running, is joining Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR's most successful team. Aside from providing a career-best opportunity at a Cup championship for Earnhardt, who missed the Chase for the Nextel Cup two of the past three seasons with Dale Earnhardt Inc., the powerful pairing also will test the patience and passions of fans accustomed to booing his new teammates: four-time titlist Jeff Gordon and two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.
• Joe Gibbs Racing will switch from Chevrolet to Toyota, giving the Japan-based automaker a championship-caliber team after going winless in its first Cup season. JGR, which fields cars for two-time champion Tony Stewart and rising stars Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, won three titles and 58 races with General Motors but is moving to a manufacturer whose engines failed to qualify in nearly 40% of attempts last year.
Defending Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League champion Dario Franchitti will cross over to stock cars with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. He continues the open-wheel exodus that began with 2007 rookie of the year and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Sam Hornish Jr. (three IRL titles, '06 Indy 500 winner), Jacques Villeneuve ('97 Formula One champion, '95 Indy 500, CART champion) and former Champ Car winner Patrick Carpentier also will be making their full-season debuts in Cup.
• The annual round of ride swapping also will place many faces in unfamiliar cockpits, too, most notably Earnhardt at Hendrick and Busch at JGR. Other drivers with new digs include Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs at Haas CNC Racing and J.J. Yeley at Hall of Fame Racing.
Beginning today, Kyle Busch will participate in the first of two three-day test sessions, along with former Hendrick teammates Casey Mears, Jeff Gordon and Johnson. Also scheduled to drive in the test that concludes Wednesday are Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr. and Montoya.
The second session, which runs Jan. 14-16, will include Earnhardt, Franchitti, Hornish, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Michael Waltrip and Kevin Harvick, the defending Daytona 500 winner heading into the 50th edition of the Great American Race. Stewart also will attend, marking his first Daytona test in three years.
