Four-time Indy 500 Champ Will Race a Stock Car Prior to Daytona 500 Debut
What’s Happening? Four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves will have to race a stock car prior to his 2025 Daytona 500…
On Jan. 9 and 10, the ARCA Menards Series hosted preseason practice at Daytona International Speedway. This had fans wondering why the NASCAR Cup Series doesn’t have something similar.
ARCA’s preseason practice at Daytona is open to all teams in the series. It serves as a testing ground for teams to gain information and learn about their performance. The testing takes place over two days, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Furthermore, the ARCA Menards Series is considered the lowest touring level of NASCAR. Some of these drivers have minimal time racing in a stock car, racing at these speeds, and racing at superspeedways like Daytona.
This year’s testing saw experienced drivers like NASCAR National Series regular Brad Perez, ARCA rookies like Isabella Robusto, and drivers known for their efforts in other series like Hélio Castroneves and Katherine Legge.
While this testing has no direct effect on the NASCAR Cup Series, many NASCAR fans wonder why the Cup Series doesn’t have such a prolonged practice session.
NASCAR has a history of preseason practice and testing. This testing was typically the annual “Preseason Thunder” at Daytona. However, that ended after the 2015 edition.
In fact, traditional testing has been rare in recent NASCAR following the end of Preseason Thunder and private testing after 2015. Multi-team Testing has happened recently in 2022.
With the introduction of the NASCAR Next-Gen Car, NASCAR held preseason testing at Daytona. Fans were excited to see the not-so-brightly test cars giving it their all as an appetizer to the season. However, aside from tire tests, this was the most significant test in recent NASCAR history.
Since the end of Preseason Thunder in 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR has also continued to reduce weekly practice time. The current format is one 25-minute session per two groups each race week.
The main problem fans have with this limited practice time is, of course, the roughly seven hours of practice that ARCA has already had compared to the Cup Series.
While ARCA is a touring series, most of the teams do not have the hefty financial backing that Cup Series teams do. The cost of such practice and testing sessions is a major factor in the reduction of pre-race on-track action in NASCAR.
However, if the Cup Series doesn’t test, why should ARCA?
Of course, the reasons for this go beyond just the monetary factors. The most important aspect of these tests is the on-track experience gained by the young or inexperienced drivers in ARCA.
Most drivers in the Cup Series are experienced NASCAR veterans, meaning they need less track time for acclimation. If NASCAR feels like the drivers need more on-track time, they will add practice time to the weekend, much like it will several times this season.
Furthermore, NASCAR does have a fall-through in practice and testing for inexperienced drivers. Take Hélio Castroneves as an example. To prove his abilities, Castroneves, like many drivers before him, has to enter the ARCA race at Daytona prior to the Daytona 500.
What’s Happening? Four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves will have to race a stock car prior to his 2025 Daytona 500…
While NASCAR has its reasoning for fewer Cup Series practice and testing sessions, these long ARCA test sessions will always prove that fans want more on-track action.
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