NASCAR Drivers Turn Laps in Gen-6 Car for First Time at Richmond International Raceway
Fast Speeds Highlight First Day of Testing in Advance of the April 25-27 NASCAR Weekend
Four NASCAR drivers turned laps at Richmond International Raceway during a test session today, marking the first time NASCAR’s Gen-6 car has run at America’s Premier Short Track. Juan Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola will be back Saturday, April 27, for theToyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Tickets, including seats in Turns 1 & 4, start at $45 in advance and can be purchased by clicking here or calling 866-455-7223.
Cool track temperatures this morning made it easy for the drivers to find grip, resulting in blistering speeds that would challenge the official track qualifying record, which Brian Vickers set in 2004 (20.772 seconds, 129.983 mph).
“The track is extremely fast,” said Almirola. “When we rolled out on the track at 9:00 this morning, it was still kinda cool and the track had a lot of grip. We were running lap times close to the pole speed in race trim. Really surprised at how fast the track was and how fast our cars were.”
“This morning was a lot of fun,” said Montoya. “The track was really cool this morning so it was crazy fast. It’s a good place when you need to find some traction. There’s a lot of things you can work on here.”
All four drivers will test again tomorrow at RIR, as they search for valuable data to be used at the upcoming April 25, 26 & 27 NASCAR weekend in Richmond.
“(The Gen-6 car has) so much more grip than what we had last year,” said McMurray. “I think it would be hard to find anybody say they don’t like that. It turns better, it has more drive off, everything’s better about it.”
Tickets are on sale now for the Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. Advance tickets, including seats in Turns 1 and 4, start at $45, and can be purchased online by clicking here or by calling 866-455-7223. Tickets for the ToyotaCare 250 start at $30 in advance and can be purchased online by clicking here or by calling 866-455-7223. Children 12 and younger are admitted free with a ticketed adult in general admission sections on Friday. The weekend begins Thursday, April 25, when the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns to RIR for the BLUE OX 100 and Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown presented by FedEx, benefiting the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Advance tickets are $25, with children 12 and younger admitted free.
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