 | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (left) talks with DEI's Tony Eury Sr. (right) |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
January 22, 2005
09:52 PM EST (02:52 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Richard Childress Racing, which struggled over the last two sessions of Nextel Cup Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway, posted the two fastest speeds Saturday as Busch Series testing opened. Teammates Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick had the two fastest laps in little more than five hours of single car runs by 45 drivers.  |  | | Cars wait for the green flag |
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Bowyer's No. 2 Chevrolet's best lap was in 49.572 seconds, an average speed of 181.554 mph. "We're pleased, absolutely, and I'm glad for the guys back home," Bowyer said. "That engine shop has been working frantically to get us good stuff, just in the last week and a half, especially -- and to come here and unload fast and stay there -- things are looking good." Harvick, who attended last weekend's Craftsman Truck Series test with his own team but had to miss the Nextel Cup test that ended Thursday due to a previous sponsor commitment, was second at 49.580 / 181.525 in the No. 21 Chevrolet. |  | Preseason Thunder | |
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Justin Labonte's No. 44 Chevrolet from Labonte Motorsports was third at 49.590 / 181.488. Chevrolets swept the top seven spots on the speed chart with Tony Raines in Harvick's No. 33 Chevy fourth (49.593 / 181.477) and Boston Reid fifth in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy (49.597 / 181.463). |  | | Justin Labonte Credit: Christine Carland/NASCAR |
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Tyler Walker had the best Dodge, the No. 38 Akins Motorsports car; in eighth (49.746 / 180.919) and Carl Edwards' No. 60 Roush Racing Ford was the best for that manufacturer, in 16th (49.970 / 180.108). Between 45-50 teams are expected to participate in the three-day test, which ended Saturday with about an hour of drafting practice. The number of cars in the new Busch garage caused waiting lines of as many as 15 cars on pit road, extending back into the garage area. Thirty-nine drivers of the 46 on hand Saturday drafted, with Labonte's No. 44 Chevrolet the best of the bunch with a lap in 47.800 seconds, 188.285 mph. | | NASCAR ACCELERATION | |
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Greg Biffle's No. 66 Ford (186.838 mph), Harvick (186.347), Johnny Sauter's No. 1 Dodge (186.339) and defending Hershey's 300 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 81 Chevrolet (185.947) rounded out the top-five drafting speeds. "We actually used a back-up car to practice drafting," said Bowyer, who won the Bud Pole in his superspeedway debut last spring at Talladega. "It ran well. It drafted fine, because with this (aerodynamic) package the Busch cars do draft well, anyways. "You just have to work on getting them to suck up. Hopefully, tomorrow when we get the real racecar out, it will pull up better, but all in all it was a good day of testing." Former Busch Series champion David Green was one driver who wished he could have said the same. Green came to the track's infield media center first thing in the morning but was in obvious pain from an attack of kidney stones. A Brewco Motorsports representative said Green went to the track's infield care center, then to Halifax Medical Center, where he received IV fluids to try to help him pass "two small stones." Green returned to his hotel room and planned to try to test Sunday. In his absence, Brewco teammate Aaron Fike drove the No. 27 Ford. The news was even worse for Bang Racing, which was supposed to attend the test with driver Travis Kvapil, but was absent. Bang's former spokesperson said the team had closed its doors Friday. | 
