Johnson wrecks primary, Schrader finds speed

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Feast and famine was the rule Thursday at Daytona International Speedway as NASCAR Nextel Cup Preseason Thunder testing ended at Daytona International Speedway.

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Jimmie Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports team became the second major victim of Preseason Thunder on Thursday morning, when Johnson said he hit fluid entering Turn 3 on his first lap.

Johnson spun and his car hit the wall -- wiping out the nose of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet the team planned to use in the Daytona 500.

	Credit: Motorsports Images and Archives

On the flip side, Ken Schrader was ecstatic when his test ended. His BAM Racing team spent three days in the top-10 of every session and Schrader's No. 49 Dodge's lap was the day's fastest -- 47.925 seconds, 187.793 mph -- when the afternoon single-car runs were complete.

Rookie Johnny Sauter's Richard Childress Racing team was even more thrilled when Sauter, whose cars had languished near the bottom of the time sheets in every single car session, led the two-hour drafting practice with a lap in 47.440 seconds, 189.713 mph.

Bobby Labonte and Sauter's teammate Robby Gordon were second and third, respectively in the draft practice as Chevrolets held the top five positions.

BAM became more highly supported by the Dodge factory at the end of last season and the test was proof it was paying off. Schrader qualified seventh at Daytona last summer and equaled that at Talladega last fall.

Nextel testing: Day 6  Cumulative speeds  Thursday's a.m. speeds  Thursday's p.m. speeds  Photo Gallery

His lap Thursday was third best of the winter, behind Ricky Rudd's Ford (188.470) and John Andretti's Chevrolet (188.198). His fastest piece was the car he used at the end of last season.

"The second half of last season we were pretty good -- the first half we sucked," Schrader said. "The old car is a little quicker, but the new one we haven't played with very much and it's decent, so we're all right.

"The new car was built over the winter and it's all new. The Dodge people have helped us out with a lot of stuff, like wind tunnel time. All of that factors into making our deal better."

Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears also improved in the afternoon to squeak into the top-10 for the winter, but by mid-afternoon, Johnson was thrilled to have two cars fast enough to be in the overall top-10 when he improved his second car's speed to 187.363 mph.

He was far from pleased in the morning, however.

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"We run the top (of the racetrack) all the way around here, on the first two laps basically and maybe it was still wet up there," Johnson said. "Before I turned off the wall into the turn on my warm-up lap -- I wasn't even up to speed yet -- the car was backwards before I entered Turn 3."

With great variances in temperature from overnight into the morning, a damp racetrack is often a problem early in the day at Daytona. Johnson said he was following Casey Mears' Dodge and noticed the sophomore driver's car wiggle.

"Casey had troubles and we were the car right behind him," Johnson said. "He went through and almost crashed and unfortunately I came through and did (crash).

"If you look back there, there are shadows on the track (and) maybe the track is just wet, especially in the shadows -- but without a doubt there is something on the track that knocked out our good racecar.

"You just don't spin out here -- especially in qualifying trim."

	Jimmie Johnson finished third in last year's Daytona 500. Credit: Motorsports Images and Archives

Two time and defending Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip crashed one of his Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Chevrolets last week when an oil line came off the car's engine on the three-day test's first morning. He tested with one car for the rest of the session.

Johnson said he was particularly disappointed because his team had nearly completed a successful test and planned little additional running Thursday.

"I'm bummed out for the guys," Johnson said. "That was our primary racecar and we were just trying to work on a couple more little things and take it home. We were going to quit early today and take it home and clean it up for the race."

As the crew disassembled the car to load it in the transporter, crew chief Chad Knaus said he would wait until he returned to the Hendrick complex in Harrisburg, N.C., to assess the extent of the damages.

"Honestly, I'm not sure exactly how bad it is and if the front clip is damaged or not," Knaus said. "We'll have to wait and see."

Johnson's best lap in the car he wrecked was in 47.941 seconds, 187.731 mph -- a tie for third best of the winter with Waltrip. The second car, which he originally planned to use in the Budweiser Shootout, was seven tenths of a second behind, at 48.694.

"Despite what's on the time sheets, the cars were relatively pretty close," Knaus said. "Even though one of them showed half a second slower, we made no effort to do any qualifying runs with the Shootout car, and we probably still won't.

"Who knows -- we still may bring the Shootout car back for the 500. We don't have any bad or back-up cars in our shop, really -- they're all good cars."

Johnson finished second in the 2003 Budweiser Shootout with the second car he had at the test. He led eight laps in the Daytona 500 and finished third behind Waltrip in that rain shortened race.

Johnson's garage stall was empty by the time drafting practice had gotten underway at 3 p.m. ET.