{"id":16338,"date":"2018-04-13T16:15:10","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T21:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=16338"},"modified":"2018-04-13T20:11:09","modified_gmt":"2018-04-14T01:11:09","slug":"nascar-friday-bristol-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/13\/nascar-friday-bristol-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Friday Bristol Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

New right-side Bristol tire has Kyle Busch searching for familiar feel<\/b><\/p>\n

BRISTOL, Tenn. \u2013 In Friday\u2019s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> practice at Bristol Motor Speedway<\/a>, Kyle Busch<\/strong> couldn\u2019t find a familiar feel.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, stands by his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jerry Markland\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHere today, for some reason, the traction compound (applied in the lower lane) doesn\u2019t feel anything like I remember it from last fall,\u201d said Busch, whose victory last Augusta made him a six-time winner at the track. \u201cIt\u2019s just not quite as grippy as I remember it being. For some reason, it\u2019s just really easy to slip out of it with the back or the front and it\u2019s really slick up off the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch felt the new right-side tire supplied by Goodyear might have a lot to do with the unfamiliar feel. The tread compound is the same, but the construction differs from that of last year\u2019s tire.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely there\u2019s a difference with the new right-side tire,\u201d Busch said. \u201cThat might be the feeling that I\u2019m feeling today that\u2019s just different. Like I mentioned earlier, that it could be the substance (traction compound) that feels different, but it might be the right-side tire that\u2019s different.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/BMS_MENCS_Johnson_041318-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something that\u2019s just not a familiar feeling. The tire could be some of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erik Jones, Busch\u2019s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, is happy with the new tire\u2014and should be. He tested for Goodyear at Bristol in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, they picked one of the tires we tested,\u201d Jones said. \u201cSo I was able to kind of get a leg up on some of the other guys here and know what that tire was going to feel like and have a pretty good idea of what it\u2019s going to do in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we made a 50 or 60 lap run on it, so I have a pretty good idea.\u201d <\/p>\n

NEW ALL-STAR RACE RULES PREEMPT RICKY STENHOUSE JR.\u2019S AERO IDEAS<\/b><\/p>\n

At a team meeting at Roush Fenway Racing, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was all set to make suggestions designed to improve the performance of his No. 17 Ford for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race in May and on intermediate speedways in general.<\/p>\n

At the time, Stenhouse was unaware of significant changes coming to the All-Star Race cars, which will feature a major reduction in horsepower through the use of restrictor plates and a larger spoiler designed to add downforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aero package, I found out I think a day before it went out (in an announcement), for the All-Star Race,\u201d Stenhouse said. \u201cWe were actually talking in meetings at the shop, and I was talking about things I wanted to try to get our mile-and-a-half program better, things I wanted to build into the car for Charlotte for the All-Star Race.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they were like, \u2018We think it\u2019s going to be a little bit different than what you think,\u2019 so I was like, \u2018Thanks.\u2019\u201d  <\/p>\n

The aero package to be used at Charlotte was tested in last year\u2019s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis. That race produced a record 16 lead changes.<\/p>\n

FOR RYAN PREECE, SATURDAY\u2019S XFINITY RACE IS A STEP UP IN CASH<\/b><\/p>\n

For a driver running a limited NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule, the opportunity to run for $100,000 is an opportunity that can\u2019t be overstated.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s certainly the case for Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ryan Preece, who has already made the most of the two races he has run in the series this year. The modified ace finished fifth last Saturday at Texas Motor to earn eligibility for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus at stake in Saturday\u2019s Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

Preece will vie with three other eligible drivers\u2014Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Daniel Hemric\u2014for the cash prize, which will go to the highest finisher among the four.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest with you, I\u2019m used to running from anywhere to $2,000 races to $10,000 races, so to come here and to have a chance to win $100,000 is a big deal to me,\u201d Preece said. \u201cAll of us do say it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s at a go-kart track for a piece of plastic or for $100,000, we\u2019re going to race each other hard \u2013 pretty hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that\u2019s true, but at the same time, $100,000\u2014I know what it\u2019d do for me, and I\u2019m going to race very hard to get that\u2026 Like I said last week, it would help me build more race cars, so that\u2019s a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a big deal for charity. Through its Internet Essentials program, Comcast will donate an additional $10,000 in conjunction with each of the four Dash 4 Cash races. The designated local charity for the Bristol race is the Quest Foundation for Washington County Schools.<\/p>\n

Preece was third on the speed chart during opening NASCAR Xfinity Series practice\u2014and fastest of the four Dash 4 Cash drivers.<\/p>\n

KEVIN HARVICK TO BACKUP CAR AFTER HARD CRASH IN PRACTICE<\/b><\/p>\n

Kevin Harvick, a three-time winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this year, will stake the rest of the Food City 500 field to a handicap on Sunday\u2014but not by choice.<\/p>\n

Roughly 45 minutes into opening practice at Bristol motor Speedway, Harvick\u2019s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford veered to the right in Turn 3 and shot into the outside wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething obviously either came off or broke in the front suspension,\u201d Harvick said after the crash. \u201cIt looks more like the right-front, to tell you the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely wasn\u2019t a tire failure or anything like that, but just going in the corner, as soon as I let off the gas it just hung a right, so it\u2019s unfortunate for our Busch Beer\/Jimmy John\u2019s Ford, but we\u2019ll get another one out and do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under NASCAR rules, Harvick will start Sunday\u2019s race from the rear of the field in his backup car.<\/p>\n

AJ Allmendinger also spun in opening practice and tagged the wall with the right rear of his No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet, but the team opted to forego a backup car in favor of repairing the primary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service New right-side Bristol tire has Kyle Busch searching for familiar feel BRISTOL, Tenn. \u2013 In Friday\u2019s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch couldn\u2019t find a familiar feel. \u201cHere today, for some reason, the traction compound (applied in the lower lane) doesn\u2019t feel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[177,579,16],"class_list":["post-16338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-bristol-motor-speedway","tag-food-city-500","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/355047.jpg?fit=5064%2C3348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-4fw","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16338"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16343,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16338\/revisions\/16343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}