USAC

Richmond media/test day

Richmond International Raceway Richmond, Virginia 3/4 mile semi-banked D-shaped oval Qualifying Records Winston Cup Jeff Gordon 21.642 seconds March 7, 1995 Busch Grand National Jason Keller 22.137 seconds Sept. 9, 1994 NASCAR LMSC Curtis ...

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

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Richmond International Raceway Richmond, Virginia 3/4 mile semi-banked D-shaped oval

Qualifying Records

Winston Cup  Jeff Gordon 21.642 seconds March 7, 1995
Busch Grand National  Jason Keller 22.137 seconds Sept. 9, 1994
NASCAR LMSC  Curtis Markham 23.218 seconds April 3, 1992
NASCAR Modified Tour  Mike Stefanik *21.483 April 2, 1992 TRACK RECORD

USAC brought two of its divisions to Richmond in preparation for their race on June 17, 1995. Several cars unofficially broke the existing track record held by Mike Stefanik in a modified. The Silver Crown cars ran their early session under heavy cloud cover. The early session was quickest. In the afternoon session, which was run under clear skies, most divers had a found it difficult to match their earlier times.

Most of the drivers learned the track quickly as the times were hovering around 22 seconds very early. It looked like many drivers were having trouble with the T1/T2 end of the track. The groove ended up being right in the middle of the track. This left room for passing both high and low. It looks like the race in June will be quite a show.

Several drivers had trouble getting power to the track coming off of T2 and it was not uncommon to hear the engine rev a bit higher as the cars did a bit of power sliding down the backstretch. David Steele tried to "dirt track" through turns three and four for 3 consecutive laps, leaving all in the stands with huge grins. Smoke poured off of the RR tire each time. On one lap, he left rubber on the track from T3 all the way passed the S/F line.

The 7 car of Jack Runyon was running with data acquisition equipment onboard. There were sensors on each shock as well as an optical sensor pointing at the RR tire. Data was downloaded to a laptop in the garage area.

Silver Crown Times (Random/Hand timed)

21.00 Tony Stewart/Rushville, IN  #25
21.27 Gary Hieber/Langhorne, PA  #66
21.45 Jack Runyon/Carmel, IN  #7 (and this lap looked slow)
21.58 Tony Elliott/Kokomo, IN  #18
21.93 David Steele/Tampa, FL  #99

David Steele also drove the #99 car. Rusty McClure's #31 was in the garage without the driver. The team found another driver to shake the car down in the afternoon session. Also present:

Jim Keeker/Cicero,IN  #20
Gary Irvin/Noblesville, IN  #48

The FF2000 cars were also present at the test session. In the second session for FF2000, USAC lined the 9 cars up and a mock race was held. Steve Keister took the early lead followed by Joaquin Desoto. The 2 cars circled the track nose to tail for several laps before Desoto was able to make his pass. Once by Keister, Desoto pulled out a 2 second lead. Keister pulled into the pits a few laps later and that was the end of some of the best racing of the day.

FF2000 Times (Random/Hand timed)

23.10 Joaquin Desoto/Coral Gables, FL  #22
23.43 Joseph Giardina/Kearneysville, WV  #45
23.57 Steve Keister/Winfield, PA  #55
23.60 Bryce Ambraziunas/Boulder,CO  #99
23.64 Richard Eanes/Martinsville,VA  #95
23.70 John Fillipakis/Jamaica,NY  #66    #61 in press guide
23.86 Jeff McCusker/Brookville,NY  #25
24.91 Jacek Mucha/Laval,Quebec  #17

Please note that all these times were set in the afternoon session.

Also present: Scott Bradley/Menlo Park,CA #48

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