Nationwide Test A Success At Talladega

November 4, 2009 11:26 a.m. EST

Talladega, AL (AHN) - After putting an ugly day of racing behind it the day before, NASCAR unveiled the new Nationwide Series car during a test session at Talladega Superspeedway. Justin Allgaier, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, both a car owner and driver in the series, all took turns turning laps around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. "It drives like a dream," Allgaier said after his first laps in the car. "It's great to finally get behind the wheel of the new Dodge Challenger race car. It drove so smoothly right from the beginning, and it has only gotten better throughout the day. Dodge and Penske Racing have done an awesome job of developing this race car and I think we're on the cutting edge of the 'Car of Tomorrow' technology in the NASCAR Nationwide Series." Allgaier, Burton and Harvick were among eight drivers representing four manufacturers who tested the new cars for the first time on a track bigger than 1.5 miles.

The cars were also tested last year at Richmond International Raceway and Lowe's Motor Speedway. The purpose of the six-hour test was to gather information that can be used for bigger tracks as well as the proper gear ratio, according to Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition.

The car will make its points-racing debut in July, 2010. "We needed to see what should be done from a plate standpoint to get enough speed in the cars and also see how they reacted in the draft," Pemberton said. Following its Daytona debut next summer, the new NASCAR Nationwide Series car also will compete in points races at Michigan International Speedway in August, at Richmond in September and at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October.

Full integration for the new car into the series is targeted for 2011. "The great advantage of this car is we have a lot of time with the first new car (in NASCAR Sprint Cup), Burton said. "This is an evolution of that. I think it's going to work really well. I like the way the cars look and the way the cars drive."