MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 2, 2012) - JR Motorsports wrapped up another off-season test with a two-day session at Nashville Superspeedway earlier this week.  Drivers Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt were both on hand to pilot the No. 7 and 88 Chevrolets. 

Bringing a chassis with an untried setup, the No. 88 crew rolled off the truck in search of a healthy balance to the car’s front end.  According to Whitt, the TaxSlayer.com, team made solid gains in a positive direction.

“We had a good test,” said Whitt, who will compete for NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie-of-the-year honors this season.  “Pops was looking to try some new things on the front.  I feel like we learned a lot in the front end over those two days.  Hopefully we can use that package we hit on and fine tune from there.”

Patrick and the No. 7 GoDaddy.com team unloaded what will be their primary chassis for the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.  With a fourth-place showing last season, Las Vegas was the site of Patrick’s career-best finish in the Nationwide Series.  The team reported they are confident with what they saw out of Patrick and the No. 7 car.

A beneficial factor in testing at Nashville Superspeedway is its length.  A 1.33-mile D-shaped oval, the track mirrors many of the 1.5-mile speedways that compose 11 of the 33 races in the 2012 Nationwide Series schedule.  Whitt said that tracks with a lot of banking and speed play directly into his hand.

“Any kind of big, fast track with a lot of banking is my strong point,” he explained.  “A place like Dover, Texas or Atlanta - those types of tracks.  Nashville is more like a hybrid between a short track and mile-and-a-half.  You run it like a mile-and-a -half, but you set it up like a short track.  It’s the only place we can really test right now that has the speeds to match these bigger tracks.” 

The No. 88 team is slated for its final test next week before the start of the 2012 Nationwide Series season at Daytona Beach, Fla. on Feb. 25.