Scott Riggs paced the Tuesday morning session. Credit: Turner Sports Interactive

Riggs, Nemechek lead morning test session

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Scott Riggs and Joe Nemechek, like their MB2 Motorsports teammate Boris Said last week, topped the speed chart in testing at Daytona International Speedway Tuesday morning.

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The second and final round of Nextel Cup Series Preseason Thunder opened on time at 9 a.m. ET, with cool temperatures near 50 degrees, but the teammates were a lot hotter.

By the noon lunch break, Riggs' pair of brand new No. 10 Chevrolets was first and third on the chart while Nemechek's 2004 leftover No. 01 Monte Carlo was second.

Riggs' best lap was in 48.620 seconds, an average speed of 185.109 mph. Nemechek was less than a tenth of a second behind, at 48.697 / 184.816.

"All the guys at the shop did a great job -- we brought two new Valvoline Chevrolets here and both cars are pretty close in speed," Riggs said of his second car, which was only .12 seconds slower than the quickest. "This is good for us because we're getting a pretty good feel to where we need to be."

"Overall, from what Boris did here last week and how the (No.) 10 cars are running -- along with one of mine, it shows a lot of promise for the team," Nemechek said. "We did expect to be strong here (because) the Army Chevy that is running strong here is the same car I sat on the pole with at Talladega.

Inside the Numbers Tuesday morning test speeds No. Driver MPH 1. S. Riggs 185.109 2. J. Nemechek 184.816 3. J. Green 184.422 4. M. Martin 183.963 5. J. Johnson 183.936 6. K. Kahne 183.921 7. B. Labonte 183.839 8. M. Wallace 183.722 9. M. Kenseth 183.411 10. M. Truex Jr. 183.311 11. E. McClure 182.760 12. D. Blaney 182.375 13. B. Vickers 182.109 14. D. Stremme 182.065 15. D. Cope 181.572 16. S. Wimmer 181.499 17. S. Marlin 181.393 18. K. Earnhardt 181.313 19. R. Gordon 181.112 20. J. Andretti 181.032 21. B. Hamilton Jr. 180.603 22. J. Sauter 180.495 23. J. Burton 179.971 24. K. Lepage No speed 25. R. Wallace No speed 26. K. Shelmerdine No speed

"We just need to get the other car going. We're trying to figure out what's wrong with the new car (because) both cars should be the same. We found a couple of little problems with it and we're gaining on it."

Nemechek's second Chevrolet was more than three tenths of a second slower than his quicker car.

Jeff Green in the No. 43 Petty Enterprises Dodge took advantage of teammate and team owner Kyle Petty's test last week by posting the third best time of the morning, 48.801 / 184.422.

Mark Martin was in fourth with the best lap by a Ford, 48.923 / 183.963 in his No. 6 Roush Racing Taurus and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five speeds of the morning in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, 48.930 / 183.936.

A week ago, when Nextel Cup Preseason Thunder began, Jeff Gordon was fastest on the first morning with a lap in 48.579 / 185.265. Dale Jarrett ended the two days of single car runs on top of the sheet with a lap in 48.269 / 186.455.

Said, last week, was second quickest on the first morning, and ended up fourth on the cumulative sheet at the end of two days of testing with a best lap in 48.601 / 185.181.

Like a week ago, 26 drivers and teams are on hand at Daytona this week for a three-day test.

As expected, Kerry Earnhardt is testing the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet due to a sponsor appearance conflict for its regular driver, Kevin Harvick.

A surprise on hand for the test was a No. 39 Dodge from the Chip Ganassi Racing stable, being tested by Ganassi Busch Series development driver David Stremme.

VIDEO MB team quick Riggs, Nemechek fast again on Wednesday

Ganassi team manager Tony Glover said he couldn't comment on the plans for the car on Tuesday, and a Ganassi team spokesperson said an announcement on the car's status for Speedweeks 2005 would be made on Wednesday following the conclusion of testing.

New teams that appeared at the test included a No. 73 fielded out of the Morgan-McClure Motorsports shop for Daytona Speed owner Ed Rabe. That car is driven by MMM co-owner Jerry McClure's son, Eric -- and it posted the 11th best speed of the morning.

Derrike Cope and Larry Hollenbeck's combination of Cope's Quest Motor Racing and Hollenbeck's SWAT Motorsports had a No. 55 Chevrolet on hand for former Daytona 500 winner Cope.

Kirk Shelmerdine announced he would run No. 27 Fords, rather than the self owned No. 72 he drove last season.