Andretti Autosport unveils 2014 line-up and paint schemes
As the IndyCar teams continue to prepare for their 2014 season, Andretti Autosport took another step in the process when they unvieled their 2014 driver line-up and the paint schemes those drivers will be running. One of the biggest changes going into the season is that AA will be powered by Honda motors, rather than Chevrolet motors.
“We took a hard look at ourselves to see where we could improve,” team owner Michael Andretti told the Daily Tribune at the unveil. “I think we improved from 2011 to 2012 and I think we improved from 2012 to 2013 but we ran into some bad luck last year.
“We did some things with people in the organization and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) nailed it when he said that, for whatever reason, we were weak in some places. We’ve put a bigger focus in those areas.”
Honda is set to bring out a twin-turbo motor, which AA has helped develop over the off-season, to compete with Chevrolet’s twin-turbo.
“Chevy’s probably sitting there wondering if Honda is going to hit it right,” Andretti said per the Autoweek. “Right now you don’t know, and we won’t know until Indy [in May].
“I think on the road courses the [two manufacturers] are going to be pretty close like they were. But Indy is the place where it shows the horsepower.”
Marco Andretti will once again be behind the wheel of the No. 25 Honda, though with the blue and yellow Snapple colors. Last year, Andretti’s car with blue and red with the RC Cola brand. However, this year the Dr Pepper Snapple Group beverage group makes the shift to their Snapple signature juice. AA notes that this is the fifth different Dr Pepper Snapple product that Andretti has carried as he previously had Venom Energy Drink, Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper TEN and RC Cola.
Last season, Andretti showed a lot of promise throughout the year with a fifth place finish in points and two podiums, though failed to reach victory lane for the second straight season.
With Go-Daddy leaving at season’s end, James Hinchcliffe will no longer carry the bright green on his No. 27 car. Instead, he has switched to bright blue and white with new sponsor United Fiber and Data, which is a tech company founded by three members of the multi-platinum rock band LIVE and their Think Loud Development company.
Hinchcliffe went to victory lane three times last year, though wrecks and mechanical issues resulted in some poor finishes, resulting in a eighth place finish in points.
“We had a very up-and-down first half, and in the second half, we were a little more consistent,” Hinchcliffe said. “That’s the type of consistency we need. It was lessons learned last season.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay will once again carry the yellow and red colors of DHL on his car for the third straight year. Hunter-Reay will also be running his signature No. 28 on his car – which represents the 28 million people living with cancer worldwide. Fans will be able to help fight cancer by donating to Hunter-Reay’s charity “Racing for Cancer” and attending the annual event titled “The Yellow Party”.
After winning the championship in 2012, Florida native had a pair of wins this year, though ran into some tough weeks as he finished seventh in the final standings.
In the fourth car, AA will have a rookie on board as Colombian Carlos Munoz moves up to the IndyCar Series after a successful couple of seasons in the Indy Light ranks. Munoz ran the Indianapolis 500 last year for AA, finishing second to Tony Kanaan.
Munoz will carry the green and white colors of Cinsay, a Texas based company that is a leader in next-generation social video commerce technology. This fourth IndyCar entry for Andretti Autosport will once again be run as a joint effort between Andretti Autosport and HVM Racing. Munoz will use the No. 34 to pay tribute to former footballer Herschel Walker’s role in the program and to help carry on the tradition of excellence tied to the Heisman Trophy winner’s iconic jersey number.
NASCAR’s Wayne Auton and Robin Pemberton happy with Nationwide test
Heading into the new season, NASCAR made some slight adjustments to the Nationwide Series cars. They changed the height of the rear spoiler (eliminating the ‘ears’), changed the rear spring package, while giving them the same radiator package that is run in the Sprint Cup Series cars.
After two solid days of testing, both Nationwide Series director Wayne Auton and NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton are happy with the results. Auton said that he has recieved a thumbs up from all the drivers as they like how the cars feel under this configurations versus the old one.
“I’m really pleased with the test,” Pemberton commented. “I mean, I think everybody has done a nice job. Our conversations that we’ve had with the drivers the other morning and Wayne working through the garage area, getting good feedback, it looks like a good effort on everybody’s part to do all the right things out there. It looked really nice.”
Trevor Bayne was even said that this was the best car to the drive – comparing the Nationwide Series car to the Sprint Cup car.
The Nationwide Series teams haven’t been involved in the pre-season testing for the last couple of years simply for the reason due to budget. However, with the changes, Auton felt it was important to let them come test.
“We talked to the teams and everybody felt like it would be beneficial to get some time on the racetrack before they come back to run one of our most important races of the year,” Auton said. “Anytime you’re tied in with the Daytona 500 you want to put forth your best effort, whether you’re racing on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
“With the changes that we made to the car, we felt like this was a good opportunity for the drivers to get acclimated to it, and gives the teams a whole lot of data because they’ve all got data acquisition out there on the cars this week which they usually can’t do that they definitely couldn’t use whenever they come back for Speedweeks when we come.”
Beyond the mechanical changes, NASCAR also has outlawed tandem drafting – the act two cars continually staying hooked up together. Pemberton stated during the presser that if it comes down to it, they will adjust the results post-race if two cars try to run together on the white flag lap.
“We have the ability to just not score the lap or time penalty post-race,” Pemberton said. “That’s been there all along. I think you can remember far enough back, I believe a team penalty was imposed on maybe Ricky Rudd or somebody at Sears Point a long time ago, and so we have that ability.
” You know, the rule that — the unwritten rule that you get three laps from getting a black flag, it really doesn’t hold water. I mean, we only give them that, and that started back in the day when people a lot of times didn’t even have radios. So that’s just kind of — it’s the unwritten rule.
“But we expect teams that get the black flag to immediately obey the order from the tower, and we do have the ability to fix the scoring when it’s over with.”
There are more changes to come for the Nationwide Series this year as there will not be single-car qualifying. NASCAR is expected to announce the changes in the coming weeks.
Sprint Cup, Nationwide Rookies Show Promise In Testing
The cars are on the track, the teams are meticulously preparing their race cars for the beginning of the 2014 season, and the rookies are outshining the veterans, at least in testing. Starting with the Sprint Cup Series, Austin Dillon, the 2013 Nationwide Series Champion, had the fastest car in Sprint Cup Preseason Thunder Testing at 195.109 mph. He was followed by his RCR teammate and fellow rookie Brian Scott.
Fans were delighted to see the eldest Dillon brother rise to the top of the speed charts since his car carries the prestigious number 3 on the doors. Fellow rookie competitor Kyle Larson was fifth quickest at 193.411 mph.
As for the Nationwide Series, the story remains the same. The rookies are showing a lot of promise and one driver has shown that he is the clear favorite for the pole if not the win: Dylan Kwasniewski. In the Saturday morning test at Daytona, Kwasniewski was had the fastest car, posting a speed of 183.408 mph. He was also fastest in Sunday’s morning test and was the only driver to break the 190-mph barrier. Kwasniewski, who was the 2013 K&N Pro Series East Champion, was also ninth in the Saturday evening session. Fellow Nationwide rookies Chase Elliott and Chad Boat paced the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions respectively.
So the question remains: What does this all mean? In reality, not much, other than the fact that Austin Dillon and Dylan Kwasniewski are major threats to win the pole in their respective series. Other than that, it’s too early to determine whether or not Dillon or Kwasniewski (or any other rookie) will actually win a couple of races in 2014.
However, I will predict that Austin Dillon will win a race in 2014, which will most likely come on a restrictor plate track. How will much-hyped Kyle Larson fair in 2014? It’s very difficult to say, but something tells me that his season might be statistically similar to Ricky Stenhouse’s season last year. So, are these test speeds foreshadowing great things to come for the 2014 NASCAR Rookie Class? Only time will tell.
