Rain wipes out Sunday's Busch testing session

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Rain had its first major impact on NASCAR Preseason Thunder Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, wiping out the second day of Busch Series testing.

Eight of the 20 teams that made test runs Saturday left the racetrack by noon, when the decision was made to return on Monday, the scheduled rain date for the first of two Busch tests.

	Joe Nemechek

Joe Nemechek's NEMCO Motorsports team packed up its two Cellular One cars and left the track Sunday, but wasn't too disappointed at losing the extra day.

"We've been on the pole here so many times, we know what we have to do to go fast," Nemechek said. "We've got to tweak our cars just a little bit more (but) I think the speed is there (and) I think we'll have a shot at the pole when we come back.

"We learned a lot. We still have got to do some homework (but) this is nothing that we haven't been through before. Who knows, we may end up at Talladega before we come back here."

Among the teams that stayed for one more day of running was the Chance 2 operation that fields the other two cars that were fastest Saturday -- Chevrolets for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. Also staying were a pair of Brewco Motorsports Pontiacs for David Green and Johnny Sauter; and Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick.

Before he left, Nemechek offered an opinion on what a new rules package that stresses "dirtying up" the cars' aerodynamic profile, might mean for the Feb. 14 Hershey's Kisses 300.

	Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 81 team is one of the teams that will try to test again Monday. Credit: Motorsports Images and Archive

"The way the new rules are, once the race starts it should be a very, very exciting for the fans," Nemechek said. "You're not going to have five cars single file -- I think you're going to see big groups of cars and that should make the racing exciting."

The 12 remaining drivers will try again on Monday, with testing scheduled from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Twenty-six teams have submitted rosters to attend the second Busch Series test of the winter at Daytona, which is scheduled for Tuesday-Wednesday.