By David G. Firestone
Chicago hit -15 on Monday, and due to the fact I work outside, I was in the middle of it. The temperature was much more hospitable in Daytona Beach where Preseason Thunder took place at Daytona Motor Speedway. Thursday’s testing session was rained out, but Friday’s session took place.
The two major things that happened at Preseason Thunder were that #1 NASCAR was testing a new spoiler for restrictor plate racing. This new spoiler is a half-inch higher, which in theory will make the cars much more stable in the back end. NASCAR is hopeful, but not fully sold yet, so the new spoilers have the word TEST stamped into it.
The second thing that took place was that Rusty Wallace, who was elected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014 took a number of laps in the #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion. Rusty brought Miller with him as a sponsor when he joined Penske Racing 1991, and Miller has been on the car ever since. Rusty even dressed to impress by wearing a throwback inspired Miller Lite driver suit…
it is hard to put into words how much I love that suit. Seriously, I hope Brad Keselowski wears a suit like that for the whole season.
Other notes
*Joey Logano was wearing a Puma driver suit for this session. He was wearing an FMF suit in 2013, so it looks as though he’s got a new deal.
*Puma is involved with Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski, as Keselowski is wearing a new Puma suit
*Jimmie Johnson, who is running a very nice 2014 scheme, ran a very impressive testing scheme, which I honestly hope gets used on track sometime in 2014.
*Dale Jr. was using a neat looking font on his numbers, again it would look really good on the regular car.
*Aric Almirola had the best thing I have ever seen on the back of a race car, no questions asked!
*Last year, the Ford Fusion had a grill design that led to grills popping off during races. The design was changed so that the whole nose, grill included is now one piece.
*There was a major announcement concerning qualifying. After the Daytona 500 there will be a new qualifying format. That format has yet to be announced. The Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series will have a brand new qualifying format starting at Daytona. Again, these formats have yet to be announced.
*For the Daytona 500, Trevor Bayne will wear a special helmet with a wood grain design based on an old Ford design.
Michael Waltrip will be wearing a special helmet to commemorate the passing of Andy Granatelli last year, and I think the best thing about that is that Richard Petty signed the helmet. I think this might be the first time a driver has worn an autographed helmet in a NASCAR event…
Here are the suit brands that drivers were wearing at Daytona…
Marcos Ambrose-Simpson
Clint Boywer-Oakley
Austin Dillon-Sparco
Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Alpine Stars
Carl Edwards-Simpson
Jeff Gord0n-Alpine Stars
Kevin Harvick-Sparco
Kasey Kahne-Alpine Stars
Brad Keselowski-Puma
Matt Kenseth-Sparco
Bobby Labonte-Sparco
Kyle Larson-Impact
Joey Logano-Puma
Jamie McMurray-Impact
Martin Truex Jr.-Oakley
Brian Vickers-Oakley
Michael Waltrip-Oakley
And there are some recent deaths I have to cover,
Tetsuo Fuchigami aka George Tet-first Japanese Sprint Cup driver.
Andy Granatelli-Former CEO of STP, partially responsible for STP’s sponsorship of Richard Petty.
Bruce Pepper-Brother of ThorSport Racing GM David Pepper.
Dennis Wood-Former owner of Phoenix International Speedway
Caleb Moore-Snowmobile Racer
Brian Hart-Former F1 driver and Engineer
Ernie Derr-Winningest Driver in IMCA history.
There was also a tragic incident at the Dakar Rally where a writer and fan were killed.
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