NASCAR teams testing at Lowe’s

NASCAR drivers won’t get any time off this week. They’re heading straight to Concord’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway for two days of testing for next week’s All-star race and the 600.

For a change, teams expect to be using the same tires at Concord this time that they used last year. And drivers are glad not to be running those small 13-gallons fuel cells.

Jeff Gordon has one word for that: “Hallelujah.

“I’m not a fan of small fuel cells. Now, I’m not saying I’m crazy about the tire; the tire was too hard the last time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still too hard.

“But at least we have some consistency in what we’re taking to the track. That’s nice.

“It just blows me away when we have a tire issue (like at Concord the last few years and at Las Vegas this year), and we ask Goodyear to build a tire that can withstand the heat and stress. And then NASCAR gives us a smaller fuel cell on top of that. Pick one. Do one thing or the other; don’t do both." Winston-Salem Journal