 | | Compton's car was fourth-quickest in drafting practice. Credit: Turner Sports Interactive |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
January 24, 2005
07:26 PM EST (00:26 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR's new qualification procedure seems to have done very little to affect Busch Series race teams' thought process as they move from test mode into the first events of the 2005 season. The new way of setting starting lineups puts less emphasis on qualifying, with the top 30 teams in the point standings already locked into the starting field for every race this season. But teams might be looking at the rest of January as 'business as usual' -- at least, that was Stacy Compton's take on matters Monday at Daytona, as he watched his ST Motorsports team make adjustments on his pair of No. 59 Kingsford Fords.  |  | | Compton is confident his team will run well at Daytona. Credit: Turner Sports Interactive |
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Compton's three-day test -- the final session of the 14-day Preseason Thunder period leading up to Speedweeks 2005 -- left him and crew chief Chris Rice with a bit of a quandary. Compton's best lap in single-car testing had him 44th of 48 drivers on the cumulative time sheet. On the other hand, his race-prepped Taurus was the fourth-quickest car in drafting practice. "I think draft-wise our cars are good, but I'm pretty disappointed with our single-car runs," Compton said. "We feel like we've got good race cars -- we know we've got good race cars -- but for some reason, we don't have the speed on our own that we feel like we need, or that the other Fords do. "I really feel like we've got the best race cars we've ever had, in the draft. Yesterday, in the draft I was able to drive up and run with the Chevrolets, and we were able to run up and put a bumper on other people -- which is something we've never done. "The car drives real good and I can stay stuck on the bottom all day, and I've never been able to do that." In previous years, the disparity might mean a body man and fabricator's nightmare, with teams cutting cars apart and going on the road to test again to find more outright speed -- which is not necessarily conducive to running well in race trim -- before Daytona's Speedweeks. But Compton said having a spot secured in the race for both he and new teammate Jon Wood, who also tested a pair of Fords this weekend, didn't mean that might not happen, anyway. "We're considering both scenarios," Compton said, laughing. "We're considering taking one of the back-ups back, and putting a new body on it; and we're considering leaving this car -- our primary car -- the way it is, because it does work. "We were third-quickest in drafting practice yesterday and we did have a good group of cars with us, but still, we could pull up, we could go to the back and come back to the front and the car was really, really drivable. A lot of times, to run really fast down here in qualifying, you don't have a really good driving racecar. So we've got a really good racing car right now and I don't want to change a lot with this car." Compton did say the new procedure had created one change at this test. "We certainly haven't concentrated on qualifying the way we have in the past," Compton said. "We've been doing a lot of drafting. We haven't pulled our hair out if we haven't been as fast as we wanted to be in single-car runs, because it doesn't make any difference." The exodus that had begun at the end of Sunday continued all day Monday. Thirty teams tested in single-car practice Monday morning, with Kevin Harvick, Incorporated's new driver Tony Raines posting the best lap of Busch testing in the process. Raines' No. 33 Chevrolet was clocked in 49.368 seconds, an average speed of 182.304 mph. Hendrick Motorsports development driver Boston Reid continued his consistent pace by running the second best lap of the test, 49.461 / 181.962. Paul Wolfe (181.822) closed his impressive test with the best lap by a Dodge while two other newcomers, Clint Bowyer (181.528) and Tyler Walker (181.258) rounded out the top-five speeds. NEMCO Motorsports driver Jeff Fuller stepped into that team's No. 87 Chevrolets Monday due to owner Joe Nemechek's commitment to his Nextel Cup team's date on the Lowe's Motor Speedway Media Tour, and backed up his boss' effort with the seventh best run of the day. |  | NASCAR ACCELERATION | |
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Despite his Brewco Motorsports teammate Aaron Fike being listed in both No. 27 Fords, David Green continued his recovery from a bout with kidney stones and posted his best single-car lap of the test. Nextel Cup drivers Kevin Harvick, Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle all tested in the morning. Harvick and Biffle, along with Raines, made limited drafting runs in the afternoon before departing. Dale Earnhardt Incorporated driver Paul Menard stayed focused on beginning his first full season as a DEI driver by leading the afternoon drafting session in his No. 11 Chevrolet with a lap in 48.600 seconds, 185.185 mph. Raines, Harvick, Biffle and the latter's Roush Racing teammate Carl Edwards held the top five spots on the day's drafting time sheet. The test closed with no serious incidents having marred any of the car tests -- Busch or Nextel Cup. On the other hand, Craftsman Truck Series testing was marred by four incidents. The next NASCAR activity at the speedway occurs when Nextel Cup haulers enter the facility on Thursday, Feb. 10, to begin preparing for the Daytona 500 and the Feb. 12 Budweiser Shootout. | 
