Vickers posts fastest lap, then crashes at Lowe's

CONCORD, N.C. -- Lowe's Motor Speedway's renovated racing surface continued to receive rave reviews Tuesday night as 22 Nextel Cup teams prepared for the All-Star Challenge on May 21 and the Coca-Cola 600 on May 29.

With teams focusing on long runs and race set-ups, several drivers consistently posted laps in the mid-180 mph range, just shy of Ryan Newman's 188-mph track record.

	Brian Vickers
	Charlotte Testing Top 10 unofficial speeds No. Driver Speed 1. B. Vickers 186.130 mph 2. B. Labonte 185.592 3. J. Gordon 185.554 4. M. Martin 185.491 5. J. Mayfield 185.312 6. C. Mears 185.039 7. J. Nemechek 184.982 8. Ky. Busch 184.603 9. M. Truex Jr. 184.300 10. K. Harvick 184.281

Brian Vickers was fastest on the unofficial stopwatches with a lap at 186.130 mph in the No. 25 Chevrolet fielded by Hendrick Motorsports, but his night ended against the outside wall.

"The changes have definitely given the track more grip," Vickers said. "I don't know if I would say that it's smoother. It's still pretty rough, but that's not always a bad thing. I like it. I think it's going to be fast."

With just one minute left in the session, a flat right-front tire sent Vickers into the Turn 2 wall. The car was heavily damaged, but Vickers was not injured.

Bobby Labonte's luck may finally be taking a turn for the better as the 1995 Coca-Cola 600 winner recorded the second fastest lap at 185.592 mph in the No. 18 Chevrolet.

Jeff Gordon joined his Hendrick Motorsports teammate in the top three on the unofficial speed chart with a lap at 185.554 mph in the No. 24 Chevrolet.

"I ran a lap almost as fast as I qualified here last race in race trim, so it's a lot faster," said Gordon. "I think the corners are great, definitely the smoothest I've ever seen this place. They've certainly found something that works very well. I think it's going to be really good, and the track is really fast right now.

"It's changed things for sure. It's not like a totally different race track, but you can run some different lines. You can really arc the corners a lot more because you can carry a lot more speed in and through the corners," Gordon added. "I know some guys are running a higher line. I prefer to run a little bit lower, but right now with the speeds increased the way they are I'm sort of forced to run a little bit higher."

Veteran Mark Martin, a 13-time winner in various divisions at Lowe's Motor Speedway was fourth on the unofficial stopwatches at 185.554 mph in the No. 6 Ford.

"This was the greatest place in the world, and it's still pretty good, but I don't think they should have ground it," said Martin. "It's going to be interesting to see what happens during a race."

Jeremy Mayfield rounded out the top-five speeds at 185.312 mph in the No. 19 Dodge.

The only other incidents during the six-hour testing session came just before the dinner break when Casey Mears hit the wall in Turn 2 Dale Jarrett bounced off the SAFER barrier in Turns 3-4 on the same lap. Both were able to drive to the garage area and Mears was able to continue testing. Jarrett, however, was finished for the evening.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series testing continues Wednesday with the cars on the track from 3-6 p.m. and 7-10 p.m.

Fans can attend the final night of Cup series testing free of charge. Lowe's Motor Speedway's frontstretch grandstand will be open and fans should enter through Gate 5A, located next to the main ticket office.