LONG POND - Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking forward to checking out the repaved surface at Pocono Raceway.
What he is not excited about, however, is spending two extra days here.
"I don't think anybody is to be honest with you," Earnhardt Jr. said.
"(But) that's the schedule and we'll go up there and just run around in circles. We've got two race cars in the trailer, and we'll try to not tear either one of them up before the race starts."
In order to give the teams time to figure out the new surface, NASCAR scheduled two days of testing at Pocono. Rather than have the teams come in last month, it attached the test sessions to the Pocono 400 Presented by #NASCAR weekend.
Testing is scheduled today from noon to 4 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The grandstands will be closed both days. However, the infield will be open Thursday for campers who bought Fenceline RV, Reserved Infield RV or Early Bird RV tickets.
While some drivers aren't thrilled with having to spend two extra days at Pocono, Jeff Burton said it makes perfect sense.
"I'm a fan of that. I think that's the right way to do it," Burton said. "Everything you can learn (during the test), you can apply right now (on race weekend). And, no matter when the test is, it is the same for everybody. So why not do it around the event so we can spend less money in travel? There are some real benefits doing it the week of the race."
Earnhardt Jr. believes the real reason for NASCAR holding two days of testing is to make sure the cars put enough rubber down on the track. That makes the new surface less slippery and provides more grip. It also widens the racing groove, which makes for better racing.
"There's really no other excuse for being there the entire week," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We'll just go out there and try to learn what we can and use it as an opportunity to try some things we haven't been able to work into practice sessions this year."
If Mark Martin had his way, no race track would undergo a repaving project. He said new pavement doesn't always make for great racing the way older pavement does.
"It's incredibly fast. It's faster than we need to go in these cars," said Martin, who has six runnerup finishes in 50 career starts at Pocono. "It makes it hard to pass. It typically lends itself to one-lane racing worse than an old wore-out race track where you search around on a race track. If we can get away with not paving these places, the racing is typically better."
Greg Biffle said if he made a repave list, Pocono would have been at the top of it. The last time Pocono was repaved was 1995.
Most of the reviews from those drivers who participated in the Goodyear tire test at Pocono in April were favorable. So for the most part, everyone is heading to Pocono this week with an open mind.
"We have a day and a half of practice, which is good, but I have no idea how fast it will be or how different it will drive through the corners," Biffle said. "I am pretty anxious to get there and get on the track."
Denny Hamlin has been a driver who has dominated recently at Pocono.
In 12 career starts, he has an average finish of 9.7 with four wins and 639 laps led.
However, Hamlin said any advantage he might have had there has disappeared due to the repave.
"I'm going there with a lot of optimism that it's just a brand new track for everyone," Hamlin said "It's going to be the first one to figure it out wins."