Faced with a full checklist of first-year growing pains, Toyota teams campaigning in their inaugural NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season viewed this week’s Car of Tomorrow test at Bristol Motor Speedway as a bit more than the usual catch-up opportunity.
For Brian Vickers (No. 83 Team Red Bull Toyota), progress was climbing through the window of his team’s first, complete Car of Tomorrow.
“This is the first time we’ve had it on the race track, †Vickers said Thursday morning. “So the fact we weren’t at the top of the board wasn’t a surprise to us. No calls for panic – we know it’s going to take time. We know it’s going to take time to catch up with everyone else. And we will. â€
Catch-up time was limited to 90 minutes Thursday; steady rain arrived around 10:30 a. m., forcing NASCAR NEXTEL Cup director John Darby to cancel the rest of the test. Officials had extended Wednesday’s 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. session by three hours under the Bristol lights in anticipation of Thursday’s weather.
“Unfortunately this morning we were making a bunch of wholesale changes to make some gains, but we didn’t get a chance to get out and make some laps, †Vickers said.
The Car of Tomorrow makes its competition debut in the March 25 Food City 500 at Bristol – the first of 16 events to be run in 2007 with the new race car. This week’s two-day test was important preparatory time as teams began with base set-ups and tweaked them off track time and driver feedback. While all 50 teams in attendance followed similar strategies, the data established by Toyota marked another important milestone.
“All in all I thought yesterday was a big learning curve for us, †Vickers said. “I think a lot of people see the Car of Tomorrow as a big opportunity and I definitely feel that way in the long run. â€
With the Car of Tomorrow featuring a slightly bigger chassis than the current car along with two new aerodynamic components, a front “splitter†that catches air and an adjustable wing in place of the current spoiler – many teams have looked to the past for set-up guidance.
Vickers said Team Red Bull is no different, a strategy confirmed by his Wednesday laps.
“I think everyone understands what kind of setup it’ll take to make these things go, †he said. “It’s just going to take time to figure that out and be fast with it. â€
Next up – following this week’s off-weekend – is the series’ third event of the season, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Vickers hopes to build on last Sunday’s top-10 finish at California Speedway – a first for Toyota.
“I don’t think we can go to Vegas and change the mentality, †Vickers said. “Our goal is to make the first five races and we’ve got to stay on that. â€
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