NASCAR drivers looking forward to western swing – azcentral.com
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Drivers discuss the upcoming season during NASCAR Media Day.
LOS ANGELES – NASCAR’s early western swing begins in March, and already some drivers are looking forward to escaping the frigid weather around the country.
At NASCAR’s West Coast media day this week in Los Angeles, four Sprint Cup series drivers and three track presidents discussed the start of the 2016 season, which begins Feb. 21 with the Daytona 500 and two weeks later makes its annual West Coast tour of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana, Calif.
“There is no weather in the United States like there is out here,” said Brad Keselowski, who is from Michigan. “And at this time of year and of course in February and March, as well, that is very well appreciated.”
The drivers participated in a Q&A moderated by FOX NASCAR Sunday host Chris Myers, and when discussing the upcoming season two main themes prevailed — support for Tony Stewart during his last Cup season, and the field of incoming rookies.
Stewart, a three-time Cup champion who also won a title in IndyCar, announced last fall that 2016 would be his final season as a full-time driver. He finished 28th overall last year, with only three top-10 finishes in 36 starts.
“I think Tony will run a lot better this year than last year. He is going to want to go out in a good fashion.,” said Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports.
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A one-on-one talk with PIR President Bryan Sperber
Kurt Busch added that he and the members of his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet team will be there to help Stewart have a successful retirement campaign. Stewart is co-owner of Stewart-Haas.
Regarding the 2016 newcomers, Denny Hamlin said that this is the best rookie class in 10 years. The group includes Chase Elliott, 20, the son of NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bill Elliott, and Chris Buescher, 23, the 2015 Xfinity series champion for Roush Fenway Racing.
“There is a lot of good talent coming in and it will be interesting to see what they do,” said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Busch also touched on the new design of cars for the 2016 season.
“The Fords have a new nose going into Daytona, we got the lower downforce this year and I hope the drivers can influence NASCAR to take even more downforce off of these cars by the midsummer run,” Busch said.
Even though it was a NASCAR event, Bryan Sperber, president of Phoenix International Raceway, was also eager to talk about the return of IndyCar racing to PIR after being absent for a decade. The Phoenix Grand Prix is set to run under the lights on Saturday, April 2.
“This Phoenix raceway was really founded on IndyCar racing in 1964 when A.J. Foyt won our very first race,” Sperber said. “Thanks to the great folks at the IndyCar Series, we were able to put together an opportunity to bring the IndyCar series back to PIR after a 10-year hiatus.”
The PIR president said fans have been over the moon for the return of IndyCar racing to PIR.
“We were invited up to Sonoma Raceway for the season finale to meet everybody,” Sperber said. “The feedback was overwhelmingly positive (in) the garage area and the drivers, they just couldn’t wait to get back to Phoenix to go racing.”
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