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Afternoon testing speeds

Morning testing speeds

Photos Click Here

 

After a week spent hovering near the top of the charts. Dodge finally ended a day on top of the charts.

Ryan Newman set the fastest lap in the afternoon drafting session the first one of the second test, with a speed of 188.013

In drafting it was really good,” Newman said. “ We had a good push and tow at the same time.”

Regan Smith in a Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Chevy was second fastest in the draft, followed by his teammate Paul Menard. Kevin Harvick in a Chevy and Dario Franchitti in a Dodge rounded out the top five.

The fastest Toyota in the first drafting session was Tony Stewart in sixth. The poor performance of the Toyota’s during the afternoon session led many to speculate that the Toyota’s were all trying something different, something that didn’t work.

Overall however, the Toyota’s have been the dominant machines here for the last two weeks, consistently at the top of the charts.

Their strong performance so far in 2008 after a less then stellar debut year in 2007, is a surprise to many. It’s not a surprise however to Lee White director of Motorsports for Toyota.

White told me Tuesday that Toyota’s engineers have been working on the package they have at Daytona for testing for the last six months. They’ve had no choice according to White. Most of the new teams who have swapped to Toyota this year were Chevy last year and the mechanics and chassis techs that work on them were under contract until this year. White said that because of that Toyota engineers worked out a package to have ready for Daytona.

There were no on track incidents at all and the only caution all day was for debris on the front stretch.

DALE EARNHARDT PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

AUDIO:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. says life on and off the track have readied him to accept the challenge of racing for the most successful NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.

2.Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Rick Hendrick helps him deal with the pressure of leaving of Dale Earnhardt Inc., late father's race team.

Dale Earnhardt Junior is on top of the world. At least on top of the Tuesday morning speed charts.

Earnhardt Junior led the morning’s single car runs with a speed of 185.828. As been the norm, Toyota’s rounded out the top five. Michael Waltrip was second with 185.357, Brian Vickers at 184.638, Dale Jarrett at 184.600. Tony Stewart was fifth.

 

11:00 AM The final single car laps were ran without incident this morning.

At noon Dale Earnahrdt Junior is scheduled to hold a media availability…I think president Bush could hold a news conference on the other side of the garage to announce we are pulling out of Iraq and none of the media would care.

Also it's Fan fest today. The Junior Nation is out in full force in the Fan Zone. Last week there were less then half the people here then there are this week.

We had dinner with several of the Dodge drivers last night and one of them was Dario Franchitti.

Of course one of Dario’s claims to fame is being married to Ashley Judd. Franchitti told of an incident recently at their home in Nashville. Seems an admirer of his wife’s decided to pay a visit. The gentleman walked into the house only to find Dario sitting in the kitchen wearing nothing more than boxer shorts and a t-shirt. After pleasantries were exchanged, the gentleman decided to quickly leave.

Dario gave chase in his car and after about a five-mile pursuit, police were able to catch the guy…Dario was stopped behind the man and of course the local media who had been alerted to the chase on their police scanners, quickly showed up. When they spotted Dario they surrounded his car, unfortunately Dario couldn’t actually get out and make any comments because he was still wearing his boxer shorts and t-shirt.

 

Pictures are being processed..speeds posted soon..

Drivers test during the second session of 2008 Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway.

 

Kasey Kahne tests at Daytona International Speedway.

Kevin Harvick discusses the goal for testing the new car at Daytona International Speedway.

 

 

Toyota’s led the way in both sessions Monday.

Dale Jarrett led the way in the morning session with a speed of 184.987. Dale Earnhardt Junior was second in his Daytona debut with Hendrick with a speed of 184.646. Dario Franchitti was third in a Dodge, Jarrett was fourth in his ‘B’ car and Tony Stewart in a Camry was fifth .

Top five morning speeds.

44A Jarrett 184.987
88B Earnhardt Junior 184.646
40 Franchitti 184.305
44B Jarrett 184.222
20A Stewart 183.793

In the afternoon they grabbed 9 of the top 10 speeds. Dave Blaney was fastest with a speed of 185.445. Dale Earnhardt Junior was the lone Chevy in the top 10 he was second again with a speed of 185.426. Brian Vickers was third, followed by Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip.

There were no on track incidents Monday.

Teams  return Today, Tuesday, for a morning single car session followed by the first drafting session of the week in the afternoon.

MONDAY Photo Gallery Click Here

CLICK HERE FOR MONDAY PM SPEEDS

CLICK HERE FOR MONDAY AM SPEEDS

 

Burton Speaks Out

Jeff Burton has heard some of the recent talk about the sport that it isn’t like it ‘used to be.’ And he doesn’t agree with it.

“We have more competitive teams today than we’ve ever had,” said Burton, who followed his RCR teammate Harvick to the Daytona International Speedway infield media center during Monday’s lunch break. “We have more competitive drivers today than we’ve ever had. You can talk about the good old days all you want. The racing today is better than it’s ever been. Those are the facts.

“If there’s something else that has caught the attention of spectators, given time I believe we’ll get them back because ultimately, we do have good racing. Ultimately, we do have competitive racing. We have great viewership. We have great spectators. We have fans that are passionate about it. We have a high level of expectations from our spectators and our fans, which we should. I think this sport is pretty solid. The interesting thing to me is when you ask – and I’ve done that this fall when I was in a position where I was around a bunch of race fans in different situations, and I asked them, ‘What do you think?’ None of them ever complained about the quality of racing.

Burton also talked about the magnitude of the Daytona 500. Both his brother Ward (2002) and teammate Harvick (2007) have Daytona 500 victories. Jeff Burton’s best finish in the event is a second to Dale Jarrett in 2000. He was third last year.

Over Christmas, Jeff Burton stopped by his brother’s house and saw Ward’s Daytona 500 trophy.

“It was pretty special,” Jeff Burton said. “Having that trophy sitting there, that’s the biggest race you can possibly win in our sport. That’s something that no one can ever take away from him, and that’s something he’ll always cherish and his family will. That’s a special thing.”

Between testing and banquets, Burton’s offseason was pretty full – up to a point.

“Christmas got here pretty quick,” Burton said. “Over the last two weeks, I didn’t do anything. So I was either doing a lot or really doing nothing.”