While NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will have numerous opportunities to take part in open team tests in 2015, organizations competing in the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series will also get additional track time.
But unlike the Sprint Cup sessions, which will coincide with Goodyear tire and NASCAR tests, the two series will be provided extended practice sessions during race weekends.
The only off-site test currently scheduled for XFINITY and the NCWTS is a Goodyear tire test set for May 5 at Iowa Speedway.
Representatives from Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing, which finished 1-2 in owner points in what was previously known as the Nationwide Series, are slated to take part in the Iowa test along with those from Kyle Busch Motorsports and ThorSport Racing (1-2 in the NCWTS).
The use of extended practice sessions “is a cost-effective way for giving XFINITY and Trucks testing without sending them off on a separate trip,” NASCAR Senior Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development Gene Stefanyshyn said. “So we’re giving those two series where cost is a bigger concern extends practice sessions, which we will fit into the race-schedule weekends.
“We’re not going to add days (at the track) and all that; we’re going to figure out how to stuff it in there.”
The extended sessions will be only for XFINITY and NCWTS teams, although sessions for Sprint Cup have been altered in the past when necessary (such as due to weather issues).
The length of the extended sessions will vary, depending on at-track activities for each event, with a maximum of three hours.
Stefanyshyn said the sanctioning body also has a “bucket” of testing called rookie development sessions that currently is for the NCWTS only but can be adapted to the XFINITY Series if necessary.
Additionally, there is a new organization testing piece that “is applicable to all three series,” he said. “Although in reality most people come through truck and work their way up.
“We think we’ve got a good balance here of providing the Sprint Cup teams lower costs, higher value testing, but at the same time if you look at it very holistically, we’re providing XFINITY and Trucks a very cost-effective way to do what they need to do, take care of rookies and take care of the organizations.”
