We had a very successful test at Chicagoland. Crew Chief Kevin Caldwell had the car set up great and we were able to run second-quick. I have no doubt that with a little luck we can win the thing.
I was able to race at Chicagoland last year in the same car with Ken Schrader. That was my first time ever running on a mile-and-a-half speedway. I feel that gave me a ton of experience coming back for the test this year. This time the feeling was completely different. I had a huge learning curve last year on the mile-and-a-half stuff. The air (aero) is such a huge thing and you are going really fast. You have to be very precise in where you put the car to go as fast as possible. You can't over-run the corners or let off to soon as either way will upset the car. But all the work Kevin and everyone here at Venturini's has put in really shows in how well the car is glued to the track.
It's nice to be back at an intermediate track versus the two super speedway tracks I just came off of. We had great cars there as well, but it's cool to have the full motor back in the car compared to the half-motor of the restrictor plate engines. The driver has a little more leeway in what he can do inside the car by altering your line to suit what your car is doing. You can make passes both high and low and this makes for great racing. Everyone drives the cars to the absolute limit at a place like Chicagoland and I feel this type of racing suits my driving style. I like to be able to have different options.
I am extremely excited to get back to the track. Talladega seems like an eternity ago, I am really ready for this race!
I know we will have Lauren Briant on the hood and I would like to thank her for her support and wish her good luck with her career as well.
Kyle Fowler
