|
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was the 63rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States. The season included 36 races and two exhibition races, beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The final ten races were known as 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup. During the 2010 season, NASCAR announced several calendar changes, including race additions at Kansas Speedway and Kentucky Speedway, and the removal of one race each from Atlanta Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway. Once the 2010 season had concluded, NASCAR also announced changes to the point system, and that the fuel changed from Sunoco unleaded to an ethanol blend called 'Sunoco Green E15'. Margaret Haas won the Owners' Championship, while Tony Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with Gene and Margaret, won the Drivers' Championship with a victory at the final race of the season in a tiebreak over Carl Edwards. Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship with 248 points. ==Preseason== The preseason testing season began on January 20, 2011, with a three-day test at the Daytona International Speedway to test the new nose on the car, as well as the new surface. Also in the sessions, the opening of the restrictor plate was reduced from the 30/32 inch plate used in tire testing in December to 29/32 inch. NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton stated, "We'll have to get back and talk to the teams and look at the speeds from the last two days of testing. I think we have some high-water marks at 197-and-a-half which, depending on where they pulled up in the draft, it may be a little quick, but it's hard to say." During the first session on the morning of January 20, 2011, 33 drivers participated, and Clint Bowyer was quickest with a speed of 184.216 mph〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=NASCAR – CUP: Bowyer Has Fastest Test-Session Speed )〕 while David Reutimann had the highest speed of 195.780 mph during the second session in the afternoon. The third test session, scheduled for the morning of January 21, was canceled because of wet weather. During the fourth session, held during the afternoon, 34 drivers participated with Denny Hamlin being quickest with a speed of 196.868 mph. Several drivers decided to leave after the session, which included Reutimann, Martin Truex, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Bowyer.〔 During the fifth session, held on the morning of January 22, 29 drivers participated, and Joey Logano was quickest with a speed of 197.516 mph.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=NASCAR — CUP: Logano, Hamlin Cross 197 Barrier At Daytona )〕 Brad Keselowski was quickest with a speed of 198.605 mph in the final session. Once the testing concluded, NASCAR managing director of competition John Darby commented that he did not expect to change the restrictor plate that they used in the January test sessions, leaving the opening at 29/32 inches. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|