An important test will take place later this month as two of the national NASCAR series prepare to return to a previously-abandoned track.
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Goodyear will hold a one-day test at Chicagoland Speedway on April 21. This will mark the first time that the Gen 7 car has taken on the intermediate track, and it will feature three drivers.
The NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series will also have three drivers on hand for the test. The Craftsman Truck Series will not participate as the series will not be a part of the track's return in July.
The Cup Series test will feature one driver representing each OEM partner. Ryan Blaney will represent Team Penske and Ford. Kyle Larson will represent Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. Denny Hamlin will represent Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series test will feature Brandon Jones for Joe Gibbs Racing/Toyota, Justin Allgaier for JR Motorsports/Chevrolet, and Nick Sanchez for AM Racing/Ford.
Two of these O'Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers in the test have experience at Chicagoland Speedway. Allgaier has 12 starts at the track with eight top-10 finishes and two wins (2011, 2017). Jones has four starts with an average finish of 9.3. He finished a career-best fourth at the track in 2019.
All three of these Cup Series drivers have experience at the intermediate track. Blaney has four starts with a best finish of fourth in 2016. Hamlin has 14 starts at Chicagoland with seven top-10 finishes. He won at the track in 2015.
Larson has six starts at the track with four top-five finishes. He also paired with Kyle Busch to deliver one of the most entertaining finishes in 2018.
The two drivers raced door-to-door on the final lap after Larson navigated through heavy lapped traffic. Larson then attempted to pull off a slide job, which created the wildly popular Dale Earnhardt Jr. "Slide job! Slide job! Almost," call.
Contact between the two drivers sent Busch into the outside wall. Larson took the lead going into Turn 3, but Busch then put the bumper to his No. 42 Chevrolet. This sent Larson sliding to the inside while Busch slammed into the wall.
Busch, then a Joe Gibbs Racing driver, recovered and raced his way to the win. Larson slid all the way to the entrance of pit road, but he recovered and got back on track. He crossed the line in second place.
