First day of Goodyear testing at Las Vegas
NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow (COT) will be utilized at all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tracks in 2008. The tire test is important since the COT – which has never been raced at LVMS – and its numerous design changes present new handling and aerodynamic challenges.
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports, thought the first day of tire testing with the COT at LVMS went well.
"Actually, it felt pretty good," said Kahne, at the end of the sunny afternoon. "We tried a lot of different Goodyear tires and that's the main goal – to find something that will be really raceable when we come back in March. I think we made some gains on that. We're gonna do some more (testing) tomorrow. We'll see what happens. The COT seemed like it handled pretty good here. I think it's gonna be a good race when we come back here. I'm looking forward to it as long as we get the right tires."
Kasey was asked how the new COT compared to the "old" car he raced on the high banks here last March.
"There's definitely a difference. The more you drive it, the more you get used to it and kinda forget about the old car," said Kahne. "It's much different. It's kinda like taking a step back. From where we were with the old car to where we were with this one and now the more we work on this car the closer we're getting it back to where it needs to be. As time goes on, it'll be more advanced than the other car. It takes time, but it's getting better every time we get to practice with it."
Although this week's tire-testing session is not open to the public, race fans are invited to attend NASCAR Preseason Thunder for all NASCAR Sprint Cup teams at LVMS on Jan. 28-29. The speedway also will allow race fans access to the Neon Garage during testing. NASCAR Nationwide Series teams will test at LVMS on Jan. 30-31.