Limited Testing Returns To NASCAR Nationwide Series In 2011

NASCAR has informed its Nationwide Series teams that limited testing will return in 2011, a team owner told SB Nation.com on Thursday.

↵In a bulletin to teams, NASCAR said that along with Daytona, the first race weekends at Las Vegas, Bristol, Texas and Iowa will have four hours of additional practice time. The pair of two-hour sessions will occur prior to the start of the regular race weekend schedule.

↵NASCAR met with Nationwide team owners at Phoenix and surveyed them to see which tracks were preferred to get the additional testing time, according to the team owner who spoke with SB Nation.

↵Owners narrowed the choices to Vegas, Bristol, Texas and Iowa (which all were ultimately selected) along with Chicagoland (which didn’t make the final cut).

↵The results of the survey are interesting in that the owners apparently opted not to go with a road-course test but picked both Vegas and Texas, which are similar tracks and will be raced on just one month apart.

↵NASCAR is giving Nationwide teams additional test time because the series is adjusting to a new car this year. So far, the car has only been raced at Daytona, Michigan, Richmond and Charlotte.

↵Aside from the announced test dates, teams are still forbidden to test at any NASCAR-sanctioned track.

↵The possibility of adding test time was first reported Dec. 2 by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

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