Pre-Season Testing Has Begun

Pre-season testing has started for David Polenz and the GazZu Energy, On The Run, Sun Drop Chevy and his crew. We started the weekend on Friday afternoon with an appearance at the On The Run store on Wellington Road in Manassas VA. This was the first of several appearances that are scheduled in the Northern Virginia and Maryland area during the 2011 season. David and the crew handed out GazZu Energy Drinks, Sun Drop Soda and UTZ chips during the appearance to everyone who stopped by.  David signed and handed out 100 autograph cards, and let several people (kids and adults) climb into the Late Model to get a feel for what it’s like to get behind the wheel of a real race car. I would say we saw close to 175 people come in and check things out on a pretty cold Friday afternoon.

On Saturday we arrived early at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas VA for the first of two pre-season test sessions. The day started out on the cold side, but by early afternoon it warmed up nicely and on to the track we went. We have a new tire combination for the Late Models this year, 10” tires vs. 8” tires last year, and we knew we’d have some new challenges. Within just a few laps into the first round of practice, we felt good about the set-up on the car. David was the second quickest in that session and we soon discovered we needed to make a gear change because the new tire combination is so much faster.

After the gear change and a  few chassis adjustments we headed back on to the track for the second practice session.  Within a  few laps again, we decided we needed to go further with the gear change. We ran a total of 20 laps in session two, and although the first gear change and adjustments improved the performance, David was still second quickest and we knew we could make it even better.

During the next break we changed the gear again and made a few more chassis adjustments. David ran another 20 laps in the third session and was pleased with the gear change and adjustments. In this session, David was the quickest car on the track, but he felt we should try to make more improvements to find a little more speed.

After a lot of discussion between David and the crew, we made yet another set of adjustments. We ran another 20 laps and this time David was even quicker, and he felt we could do better if we could get the car to turn just a little better from the middle of the corner out. So back to the pits for more talk and adjustments.

We went out for the fifth and final practice of the day. David said the car felt real good and turned better coming off the corner than it had all day, and it showed on the time chart.  On tires with 100 laps on them, he turned the fastest lap made by anyone all day. What started out looking like a day that was going to be too cold to get in a good practice session, turned out to be a successful day and a we were able to learn a lot about the new tires and the gearing needed to make the car fast and handle well.

Next Saturday we will be back at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas VA. for the second and final pre-season test day. Entry for the pre-season test is free for spectators and only $20 to get in to the pits. Come on out and see some of the fastest NASCAR Late Model teams on the east coast practice.

See you at the track.