Phoenix Raceway to host NASCAR open test on Tuesday, Jan. 31

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stars will appear at Phoenix Raceway for the first time in 2017 when the track hosts an open test session on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Phoenix Raceway will open its gates to fans from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with general seating in the Bobby Allison Grandstand. Free parking is available and fans are asked to make a $5 donation to Phoenix Raceway Charities for admission.

Several 2016 NASCAR Chase contenders including Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and Austin Dillon are scheduled to be participate, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be making his first public appearance behind the wheel in six months.

With a new series sponsor, manufacturer changes and new faces to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, there will be plenty of excitement when the drivers look for valuable track time ahead of the 2017 season and Phoenix Raceway’s Camping World 500 on Sunday, March 19.

Tickets for the Camping World 500 start at just $25, and 2017 season tickets are available beginning at $99. Individual tickets and season tickets are available online at PhoenixRaceway.com, by phone at 1-866-408-RACE (7223) or in person at the PIR ticket office.

Phoenix Raceway Charities is a Donor Advised Fund under The NASCAR Foundation, and its mission is to accelerate the development of children in Arizona by supporting education, children and families of our military and military veterans, and life enrichment programs for children and families in our community.

- Phoenix International Raceway

2017 IndyCar Schedule Released

The Verizon IndyCar Series announced their full 2017 season schedule yesterday (Jan. 11, 2017).

The full 2017 season schedule is below.

Carl Edwards officially steps down, Suarez taking over No. 19 Toyota in Cup

Carl Edwards officially announced on Wednesday that he is stepping away from NASCAR racing for the 2017 season.

Edwards gave a few reasons why he is stepping away. Reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series Daniel Suarez will replace Edwards in the NO. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota in 2017.

"This is amazing," Suarez said. "I wasn't expecting to be in this position right now. We live in an amazing time. It's just hard to believe. We started this dream 10 years ago, and to be in this position right now is something amazing for me and everyone that's been helping me.

"I know that it won't be easy. I have a lot to learn, but I ... have an amazing team. It's a great place for a rookie like me to be."

JGR owner Joe Gibbs said he anticipates filling the No. 19 XFINITY Series ride -- which Suarez was slated to drive full time -- with a number of drivers. Suarez, he projected, would race approximately 10 times in that series.

Carl Edwards expected to announce retirement

Carl Edwards is expected to announce Wednesday that he plans to retire immediately from NASCAR racing after a 13-year career in the Cup Series, says ESPN's Bob Pockrass.

Edwards won 28 times in 445 starts in his Sprint Cup careet.

There is no immediate reason available why the 37-year-old Edwards would retire, but reigninhg XFINITY Series champion Daniel Duarez is expected to take Edwards' place.

Four drivers set to kick off testing season in Las Vegas

The start of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is more than one month away but four competitors will be back behind the wheel much sooner.

Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 1 Chevrolet), Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet), Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford) and Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota) are scheduled to take part in the season's first Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 10-11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Las Vegas, a 1.5-mile tri-oval, will host the season's third points race, the Kobalt 400, Sunday, March 12 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Ford for Team Penske, is the defending race winner.

The 2017 racing season officially gets underway Feb. 18 with the running of The Clash (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), a non-points event at Daytona International Speedway. The first points event, the Daytona 500, is scheduled for Feb. 26 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The two-day Las Vegas tire test is the first of seven on the 2017 schedule. Other Goodyear tire tests for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams are on tap for Michigan International Speedway (April 4-5), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (April 25-26), Kentucky Speedway (May 9-10), Chicagoland Speedway (June 6-7) and Atlanta Motor Speedway (Aug. 8-9).

All are for 2017 races with the exception of AMS, which will be focused on 2018. Track officials there recently announced that the 1.54-mile track will be repaved following this year's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (March 5, 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams will participate in a Goodyear tire test at Eldora Speedway May 16-17. Eldora is the only dirt track hosting a race among NASCAR's three national series.

Also, with news of a repaving and reconfiguration at Texas Motor Speedway, Goodyear could add a test there as well.

The season's first organizational test, open to all but limited to one team per organization, will take place at Phoenix International Raceway Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Additional organizational tests for the series are scheduled for May 30-31 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Aug. 15-16 at Chicagoland Speedway, Oct. 10-11 at Martinsville Speedway and Oct. 24-25 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

An organizational test for NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series teams is set for Charlotte Motor Speedway May 2.

One change of note in the 2017 testing schedule is the addition of separate tests for the manufacturers' wheel force transducer (WFT) cars. The vehicles, provided by teams and fitted with various data-gathering devices, were previously allowed for each organizational and Goodyear tire test.

NASCAR will also hold a two-day test April 11-12 at Daytona, using the first day to sort through potential safety/competition initiatives while Goodyear is expected to conduct a tire test with any potential changes on the second day.

The 2017 season will be the third in which team testing is limited to participation in Goodyear tire tests, organizational tests or any developmental-type tests set by the sanctioning body.

Private team testing has been prohibited since the start of the 2015 season.

via Kenny Bruce, NASCAR.com.

DragonSpeed speeds to top of Roar Prototype charts

The Gibson-powered ORECA 07 proved to be the dominant force of the Prototype Class at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 6 – 8. Rebellion Racing’s Neel Jani was quickest in four of the first five practice sessions, but couldn’t quite top DragonSpeed hot shoe Ben Hanley.

DragonSpeed earned the top time with the No. 81 during Sunday morning’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice. Hanley’s chart-topping 1:38.343 beat Mazda Motorsports’ Jonathan Bomarito by just .02 seconds.

“The driver lineups are impressive, there’s not weak team out there,” said Hanley. “Everything’s new for everybody. It’s a 24-hour race and anything can happen, we know that. We’ve just got to be there at the end and hope we can grab something.”

Hanley is brand new to Daytona International Speedway’s 3.56-mile road course – as is Jani – and finds that it lives up to its reputation.

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “The first impression when you drive close to the place, you see the huge grandstand and you see the banking when you come into the track. It’s a great experience to drive around here. The whole week has been an eye-opener for me and a good first few days racing in America.”

In GT Le Mans (GTLM), the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs would not be beaten at the Roar, with the top three fastest times in class set by Ford drivers. Ganassi’s IndyCar stars Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon were second and third on the charts, but it was 2016 WeatherTech Championship runner-up Ryan Briscoe who was quickest in class for the weekend in the No. 67 Ford GT. He set a 1:44.380 during Sunday morning’s WeatherTech Championship session. 

Making up fourth through sixth quickest in GTLM were drivers from BMW, Ferrari and Corvette Racing.

In GT Daytona, Porsche factory driver Sven Muller took the No. 59 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R to the top, with the quickest time of 1:46.810 also set on Sunday morning.

Performance Tech Motorsports went fastest in Prototype Challenge, with James French setting a 1:41.888, just beating out teammate Patricio O'Ward.

C360R GRABS ATTENTION IN CONTINENTAL TIRE CHALLENGE GARAGE WITH NEW MCLARENS, AUDI: While Porsche Caymans, Aston Martins and Ford Mustangs have been prevalent in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge over the past several years, the McLaren GT4 is a newcomer to the Grand Sport (GS) class in 2017.

The GS entry list at the Roar featured an impressive 21 entries for the non-mandatory season-opening test, including six of the new McLarens built to international GT4 technical specifications. GT4 cars are eligible to compete alongside some “grandfathered” previous-generation GS cars in 2017 ahead of exclusive GT4 technical regulations to be used for GS in 2018.

One of the McLaren GT4 “early adopters” is longtime Continental Tire Challenge competitors, C360R. The team fielded a pair of McLarens at the Roar – the No. 76 Alpha Clone/Aero Paint/Audrain Motorsport-backed machine for Paul Holton and Matt Plumb, and the No. 77 Aero Paint/Misahara/Pfaff McLaren GT4 for Matthew Keegan, Nico Rondet, Bob Doyle and Jeff Westphal.

Among them, Plumb turned McLaren’s fastest lap of the weekend on Saturday afternoon at 1 minute, 56.457 seconds, making him the 10th fastest driver of the Roar in the GS class.

“We’re still working through some stuff,” said C360R Team Principal Karl Thomson. “They’re great cars, but it’s been good to test. I didn’t think we’d be ready for the Roar, and there’s a bunch of stuff we still have to work through, partially on the electronic side, partially on fuel consumption and partially on tire wear, so again, these are very new cars for us.

“They run in a different specification than we’re used to, ‘cause there’s so much of GT4 that’s a little different than what we’ve been doing previously in GS, but I think everybody in the pit lane is doing exactly the same thing because all of these cars are GT4 cars now.  But I think GT4 is going to be good for GS as we see the arrival of new cars from BMW, Mercedes, Audi. This is going to be a really sexy-looking paddock.”

Thomson noted that the team’s No. 77 McLaren arrived by air on Wednesday night, but still managed to participate in the test. The team – which hasn’t missed a Continental Tire Challenge race since 2004 – already has committed to fielding both the No. 76 and 77 entries for the full, 10-race Continental Tire Challenge season, in addition to the No. 75 Audi S3 in the Street Tuner (ST) class.

Speaking of Audi, C360R also was responsible for the Daytona appearance of the new Audi RS3 LMS race car built to international Touring Car Racing (TCR) specifications. The RS3 was on display in C360R’s Continental Tire Challenge garage during the weekend and participated in on-track photo and video sessions. IMSA officials continue to study the possibility of introducing TCR-spec machinery to the Continental Tire Challenge as early as 2018.

“What we had here in our garage was Audi’s premiere of that,” Thomson explained. “They’re calling it the ‘America Clubsport.’ It’ll be eligible to run in another series in its existing class this year. I think that’ll be interesting to get a handle on what that car is like.

“The real key there is, Audi has brought this car and it’s great. Everybody likes it. There’s as much interest here as anything else in the paddock, simply because it looks like a DTM car. It’s got these wide fenders and stuff. It looks really cool.”

HISTORY HEATS UP FOR CORVETTE RACING: During Sunday morning’s practice session, Corvette Racing’s Marcel Fässler stopped the No. 4 Corvette between Speedway 1 and 2, where the car proceeded to catch fire.

“During this morning’s practice session at Daytona, the No. 4 Corvette C7.R experienced an issue with a fuel line that allowed fuel to escape, contact a hot surface and ignite,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The fire was quickly extinguished, and the damage was limited to the engine compartment of the car.”

Fässler received a mandatory ride to the infield care center, where he was quickly evaluated and released by IMSA medical staff. The sister No. 3 car was withdrawn from final practice as well as a precaution, but the team is confident that both cars will be ready to race come the Rolex 24 At Daytona at the end of the month.

It was a case of déjà vu for Corvette Racing, as the No. 4 caught fire during the 2016 Roar. Time will tell if additional history will repeat for the team this year, as well the No. 4 Corvette went on to win Daytona, Sebring, Lime Rock (Corvette Racing’s 100th win), Road America en route to the 2016 WeatherTech Championship GTLM title.

DAYTONA HOSTS LARGEST SCOUT DAYS EVENT, GIRL SCOUTS INSPIRED BY FEMALES IN IMSA: More than 3,000 Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America took part in Scout Days at Daytona International Speedway this weekend, getting to experience the sights and sounds of IMSA racing. The scouts bravely endured a stormy Friday night and Saturday morning, followed by cold temperatures Saturday afternoon into Sunday, but eagerly made the most of the adventure.

Among the activities the Scouts took part in were garage tours, scavenger hunts, geocaching and fishing at Lake Lloyd and earning an Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge at a demonstration by Daytona Toyota on basic vehicle maintenance techniques.

"It was a great weekend hosting thousands of Boy and Girl Scouts from the Southeast for our annual Scout Days during the Roar Before The Rolex 24,” said Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile. “Scouts enjoyed a number of fun activities while IMSA teams participated in testing sessions on track. It's exciting to see Scout Days continue to grow and we look forward to hosting our next event later this month -the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona."

Saturday afternoon, IMSA and Daytona International Speedway hosted a Women in Motorsports Panel with a star-studded lineup encouraging Girl Scouts in attendance to follow their passion regardless of industry.

Shea Adam, IMSA Radio Reporter, moderated the 40-minute session with Ford mechanic Jessica Mace, Acura driver Katherine Legge, and Scuderia Corsa Ferrari defending GTD driver champion Christina Nielsen as guests. While the ladies enjoyed several jokes with each other throughout the talk, they conveyed a message of perseverance and confidence to the girls in the audience.

“You have to learn not to care what others think,” said Legge during the question-and-answer session. “There can be a double standard, so you have to work even harder than everyone else to prove you deserve to be there.”

Added Nielsen, “You can’t give people the reaction they want because it will just add fuel to the fire. We’re here because we worked hard and kept believing, and surrounded ourselves with people that believed in us and didn’t care that we were girls."

- via IMSA.

New 'Viper's Pit' Podcast released

UNB! NETWORK AND ULTIMATE AMERICAN RACING BLOG RELEASE NEW 'VIPER'S PIT' PODCAST INSTALLMENT

The 'UNB! Network' and 'The Ultimate American Racing Blog' uploaded a new podcast installment of 'Viper's Pit with Brandon Covault' on Awdio.com today.

Joey Gucciardo, filling in for Brandon Covault, discusses NASCAR's premier series sponsor name switch, Stewart-Haas Racing's switch from Chevy to Ford and a variety of other NASCAR-related topics.

You can listen to the podcast below.

Jani leads first IMSA WeatherTech pratice at Daytona for 'Roar 24'

Neel Jani led the first practice session for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship Series for the Roar 24 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday.

Jani led the session with a best lap of 1:39.164.

Following Jani were Ricky Taylor, Dane Cameron, Andres Guttieres, Marc Goossens, Scott Sharp, Ed Brown, Joao Barbosa, Buddy Rice and Sebastian Saavedra to round out the Top-10 in the session.

TMS announces complete repave, re-profiling of current 1.5-mile layout

FORT WORTH, Texas (January 6, 2017) - Texas Motor Speedway will begin a major capital improvement project Monday consisting of a complete repave, construction of an extensive drainage system and a re-profiling of the 1.5-mile oval configuration at the world-renowned motorsports facility that annually plays host to NASCAR and INDYCAR events.

The renovation will add a new layer of asphalt over the existing pavement, an expansive French drainage system on the frontstretch and backstretch, and reduce the banking in Turns 1 and 2 by four degrees. Barring extensive weather delays, the project is expected to be completed by early to mid-March in anticipation of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR doubleheader scheduled for April 7-9.

The repaving and drainage system come as a result of issues the facility was incurring in attempting to dry the racing surface, in particular this past year when both NASCAR race weekends and the INDYCAR race were affected by weather-related delays. While the aged track surface at Texas Motor Speedway is lauded by drivers, speedway officials made the decision to repave in the best interests of their fans that had to deal with the inconveniences of the delays.

"The fans are why we are doing this," Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. "The old pavement no longer dried as quickly because through the years of use and weather, the asphalt became porous, kind of like a sponge. Even if we only had a brief shower it was taking us far too long to get the track dried in order to get on to the racing. We owe it to the fans to present the best possible race track so they will be assured of seeing NASCAR and INDYCAR races even if we face some brief inclement weather. This will accomplish that goal."

Lane Construction Corp., with offices in neighboring Justin, Texas, will handle the repaving project and is known as the preeminent paving company for NASCAR speedways. The company has paved several prominent speedways since 2003 including such marquee facilities as Charlotte Motor Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.

The repave will feature an asphalt mix similar to the surfaces at SMI sister tracks, Kentucky Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The mix used in conjunction with the construction method will aid in the track's properties of an "aged" track.

For the installation of the French drainage system, trenches will be cut in numerous locations on the frontstretch and backstretch to provide multiple points for water to drain away from the facility more quickly and efficiently than the current system. The drainable mat installation that will tie into a continuous toe drain will aid in the drainage of the track as well.

In addition to the repaving and drainage system, Texas Motor Speedway will undergo a re-profiling in Turns 1 and 2 to give the venue a more unique layout from its currently symmetrical 24-degree banking in all four turns. While Turns 3 and 4 will remain unchanged, the banking of Turns 1 and 2 will be decreased to 20 degrees with the racing surface width expanding from 60 to 80 feet in that section of the track.

"Due to the issues we had in 2016 with moisture and track drying, we had to take steps to correct the problems to give the fans the experience they deserve," said Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Vice President of Operations and Development Steve Swift, who is coordinating the project. "With that task at hand, we looked at what would be the best way to create more exciting racing and to correct the water issues. We are excited to put these practices in place and create another great SMI race."

The reduced banking, which will decrease lap speeds and potentially open up additional passing opportunities in Turns 1 and 2, will provide Texas Motor Speedway with a new, distinctive layout for a 1.5-mile oval that will be more challenging to the drivers and add more action for the fans.

"For years, I've heard the absurd comments about 1.5-mile tracks being tagged as 'cookie-cutter' tracks," Gossage said. "While nothing could be further from the truth - all 1.5-mile tracks are different - this assures once and for all that Texas Motor Speedway is unique, unlike any other track in the sport. That's the way we like it here in No Limits, Texas."

There will be four stages to the project beginning with the installation of the drainage system on the backstretch. The same construction will follow on the frontstretch, with the third stage being the grade changes in Turns 1 and 2. The final stage would be the repaving.

This will be the second full repave since Texas Motor Speedway opened in 1997. That project occurred in the summer of 2001 as the speedway had the racing surface repaved with a granite-based asphalt compound from the original limestone-based asphalt.

The O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR doubleheader will open the 2017 Texas Motor Speedway season April 7-9 and will be followed by the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 INDYCAR/NASCAR doubleheader June 8-10. The speedway's season concludes with the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Chase tripleheader Nov. 2-5. For more information, please visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com or call the speedway ticket office at 817.215.8500.