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UPDATE II: Way to Go Dano! After rain threatened to disrupt qualifying, Dan posted a lap of 30.341 at 177.977mph to put the Outdoor Channel Chevy in the 31st spot for the Little Trees 300.
UPDATE:
Dan and Team Outdoor Channel completed two days of testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway Oct. 1st & 2nd.
"We were able to learn quite bit from the test, and look forward to competing on the 'home track' this week in Charlotte." Dan stated.
Busch Series haulers enter the track at 11:00am Thursday. Practice is scheduled for 9:30am-11:00am on Friday Oct. 11th, with Qualifying slated to begin at 1:00PM. The green flag drops at 1:00PM Saturday, October 12, for the Little Trees 300.
TEAM OUTDOOR CHANNEL 
PREPARES FOR CHARLOTTE TEST
Dan Pardus and the Outdoor
Channel crew are busy preparing for a two-day open test date that begins October 1st at the Lowe’s Motorspeedway.
Testing is a serious perquisite to race preparation. On race weekends there is normally just two hours of practice before qualifying. The level of competition has become so equal that a one-half second spread in qualifying time can be the difference between being in the top five or going home. Testing helps check the many variables that effect car
performance and helps eliminate those variables that do not work at that particular track. On qualifying day, you have just enough time to fine-tune the car to current day track conditions.
At the test session we have time to learn how the different variables affect handling and performance. Do you qualify with “stickers” (new tires) or “scruffs” (used tires)? If scruffs work better, how many laps should they have? Three? Five? Ten? How does varying the air pressure effect handling and speed? Do you go up on the pressure or down on the
pressure? What varying tape configurations do you want to try on the nose? What gear and gear ratios will work the best with the current set up? Do you change the set up? If so, how? Change the weight distribution? Change the track bar? Change the springs? More wedge? Less wedge? Change the tires? Have track conditions changed since the test
and how will this effect race day set-up? What combination of changes works the best? The team does all this and more looking for that elusive one-half second.
Testing helps prepare the team mentally for race day. Like studying for a test in school or practicing football, confidence is built as you work through all the variables. Near the end of the test session, the team works on “banzai runs”, applying all the knowledge learned by testing numerous variables and simulating qualifying runs. A good test
session means the team is prepared both mentally and technically to put the Moose near the front of the starting grid on race day.
The next race for the Outdoor Channel Monte Carlo and Dan Pardus will be the Little Trees 300 at Lowe’s Motorspeedway, October 12th.
“We believe the race weekend begins October 1st, when we roll the car off the hauler and begin our test session.”
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