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Soon we will have COTA, a road-course race, and many drivers are optimistic before the race. Ford’s Aric Almirola believes the new Next Gen cars are just right for such a track. “This car is absolutely designed more for a road-course race type situation,” said Almirola, as quoted by motorsport.
“Our cars used to be offset, and they were more designed to go just left-hand only, so it was more of a big deal to swap over to go road racing. “Now, these cars are more symmetrical. Because of that, it is more specifically designed to go left and right, which suits it very well for road racing.
The car is very capable – it handles well, it brakes very well. “It’s got much bigger brakes than what we used to have on the old car, so it stops way better and the brake zones are way more compressed. It is a little bit more thrilling to drive on the road courses”.
“I’m going to spend about four hours this week sitting in the simulator, logging laps at COTA to get as much practice as possible. That’s really our only chance to practice, so I’m going to put full focus on it this week and hope it pays off”.
Kyle Busch on the race
Toyota’s Kyle Busch is happy, especially as the Cup field will be split into 2 groups, which will give them extra laps. “I think it gives us an opportunity to get out there and get our feet wet in the Truck Series and get a feel for the tire and the new car and really think about what you can learn,” said Busch.
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so it will be nice to have some extra track time to work on my car and get some experience and also have just a little bit more knowledge of what it’s like beyond what we do in our sim and other ways we prepare for races and the limited practice time we will have”.