Drivers hope hard work pays dividends

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 | 9:59 a.m.

This week's NASCAR test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is crucial for the Nextel Cup teams as they try to get a handle on the new Goodyear tire and changes to the cars' bodies and rear spoilers.

That doesn't mean that every driver is looking forward to spending the better part of 16 hours over two days circling the 1.5-mile oval.

"It's pretty boring," four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said about testing in general. "It's not something that all of us enjoy doing -- we don't feel like we get paid to test.

"But it's very important to be here and even though testing is not necessarily a lot of fun -- it's a little monotonous, actually -- it's so important for your team and for yourself that you don't mind it."

Gordon and 11 other Nextel Cup teams hit the track today and joined the 10 Cup teams that took part in Monday's first session. In all, 32 full-time Cup teams and 13 Busch Series teams will test this week in Las Vegas.

Although no official speeds are being tracked this week because it is not a NASCAR-run test, Jeremy Mayfield posted the fastest unofficial lap (170.347 mph) in the No. 19 Evernham Motorsports Dodge. Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, who will attempt to qualify for six Nextel Cup points races this season while running a full Busch Series schedule, had the second-fastest speed of the first day at 169.705 mph in the No. 84 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Gordon, who won the Cup race at LVMS in 2001 and has 64 victories in his 11-year career, said this week's test is important to teams trying to learn how the new tires, spoilers and bodies will effect the car's handling on the intermediate tracks such as Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"That's why it's such an important test; it's really my first time to get behind the wheel with the new tires, the new spoiler package and just see what we've got," Gordon said. "I'm hoping that (the new tire) forces the cars to give up a little bit more so we're not doing as many two-tire stops and gas-and-go (stops) and things like that but I'll really have no idea until after the first day."

After the first day of testing (each team is allowed to test only two of the four days), opinions seemed to be split on the new tire, which is designed to wear more evenly and, in theory, help eliminate two-tire stops and longer fuel runs.

Jeremy Mayfield, for one, said he couldn't tell the difference between the new tire and the version the teams ran at Las Vegas last year.

"The thing I noticed is the better your car is, the least amount of change you'll see in the tires -- and that's the same for everybody," Mayfield said. "If you've got a good car and things are going right for you, you're still going to be better than what the next guy is -- that's what I found.

"That's kind of what happened here today; it wasn't like the new tire really effected us or anything. To be honest with you, I can't sit here and tell you the difference from a year ago. We're good, I'm happy with (the test) and I'm obviously going to say I'm happy with the tire."

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, on the other hand, said he noticed a marked difference in the way the new tire wears during the course of a run.

"The tire is good in the beginning and is fine at the end, it just seems to me that there is more give-up than usual," said Waltrip, who finished third in last year's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at LVMS. "In Vegas, you have a lot of give-up -- that's nothing highly unusual -- but what I experienced today was it happened in a six- or seven-lap run.

"I believe there is enough difference in the tires ... at Vegas, at least, to where the racing will be different. I don't know if it'll be any better or worse but it'll definitely be different."

That kind of feedback is exactly what Gordon said he would be looking for during his two days on the track.

"When you test at Daytona or Talladega, the driver really just doesn't have any input and there's not much you can do -- you're just kind of driving the car around," Gordon said. "One of the reasons why we come here to Vegas is because this is a track where the car is important, the driver is important -- all of it is something that we can learn from to take to other tracks and really find out what kind of a downforce package and balance package we have with our racecar.

"This (test) is actually a lot more fun than Daytona because, as a driver, you're so limited on what you can do as far as how you're able to change the speed of the car -- you really can't do anything at Daytona or Talladega -- where, here, you can play a big role in it.