Jimmie Johnson’s victory in the desert last March kick-started a run of 10 race wins in 12 weeks for the organization that ultimately won 18 of 36 Cup events and collected its seventh championship. Then as now, Hendrick cars had trouble in the season-opening Daytona 500 and weren’t a factor in the end. Then as now, Hendrick drivers rebounded with second- and third-place finishes at California, with Johnson and Jeff Gordon on Monday reversing their positions from a year ago. And then as now, Hendrick’s two big guns come to the desert ready to assert themselves at the top of the standings. “I really feel at this point of the season, it’s about hitting your stride,” said Johnson, who’s won the past three races at the facility, which was resurfaced and reconfigured last year. “Vegas seems to be a track where we get things rolling and moving in the right direction.” [...]
Drivers are curious to see how the new car will fare in its maiden voyage on a 1.5-mile tri-oval, this one a Las Vegas track that generates tremendous speeds and offers an abundance of grip. Although teams tested at the facility in January, they did so under cold, cloudy conditions unlike those that drivers typically see for a race. “At the Vegas test, you could really attack with the car,” Johnson said. “It seemed like the track was getting a middle lane, if not an outside lane. So as we get into that weekend and all that activity on track, I hope that the track really widens out. I think it’s going to be a better show for us to put on because we can really be aggressive with the cars. At [Auto Club] Speedway, there’s not a lot of banking to tiptoe around, but at Vegas you can really charge.”
Which is why Monday’s race in Fontana isn’t an accurate barometer of how the new car might fare on the faster Las Vegas track. “Vegas is such a different animal than California, just for the fact the speeds are so much higher,” Kevin Harvick said. “These cars run faster down the straightaways than what our old cars did. I think Vegas is just going to be one of those places where track position is going to mean a lot because the speeds are so high, and it’s just a little bit harder to pass.” Full Story
Dale, Jr. looked pretty strong in this testing vid from last month … maybe this’ll be his weekend:
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