Motor sports is getting ready to ramp back up in America after what seems like a short winter break. NASCAR feted its champion in December but only days later was testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway; the open wheel IndyCar series was testing as well with drivers getting used to new teams and new teams getting used to drivers.
Only the NHRA seemed to remain silent. Meanwhile open wheel silver crown cars were racing indoors all over the Midwest. IMSA tested at Daytona this past weekend only days after the American Karting series raced at the famed speedway. They were racing on ice is parts of the country, but for the most part engines were silent.
NASCAR will begin testing for all three of its top touring series this week at Daytona International Speedway while other forms of American motor racing will begin to shake off the dust and begin testing in few weeks.
Among the new driver team combinations in NASCAR, Martin Truex Jr. will debut with Furniture Row Racing this week at testing, Kyle Larson with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick with Stewart-Haas Racing and Austin Dillon with Richard Childress Racing. The biggest news of the week came from JR Motorsports which announced that prodigy Chase Elliott, son of legendry driver Bill Elliott will race in the Nationwide series this year.
All the new driver team combinations will shake up NASCAR and provide fans with a great opportunity to see some exciting racing this season. It is expected that with the new changes NASCAR mandated to the Sprint Cup cars, the racing will be closer than ever. The brand new season starts in just a few weeks at Daytona International Speedway when Speedweeks kicks off in late February
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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