Roush Racing drivers David Ragan and Mark Martin blazed around Daytona on Friday to post the fastest laps for both morning and afternoon sessions. Credit: Don Bok/Motorsports Images and Archives

Martin, Ragan lead Friday's Truck testing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Veteran Mark Martin and young Georgian David Ragan came out of the box like rockets Friday at Daytona International Speedway, as their No. 6b Ford led both single-truck sessions of Preseason Thunder for the Craftsman Truck Series.

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Series veteran Matt Crafton and New Zealand's Sean Murphy gained some thunder back for Chevrolet in the afternoon drafting session, as their Silverados posted the two fastest speeds among the 49 trucks that ran in that session.

Speed are down from last year's Bud Pole Qualifying session in which Kerry Earnhardt won the pole with a lap in 49.321 seconds, 182.478 mph. The trucks are using a spacer between the carburetor and the intake manifold that cuts horsepower by about 125, according to a NASCAR spokesman.

Dennis Setzer, the 2005 championship runner-up, said the devices made a difference, but in the end it should help what is already a spectacular show.

"No, it's not a restrictor plate, it's a spacer plate, but the trucks are slower," Setzer said. "They probably feel more like a car than they did before, but they're still pretty fast.

"They still have some throttle [response] in them, and hopefully NASCAR's accomplished what they needed to."

Ragan, in the Roush Racing Ford that he and Martin will use to split the 2006 schedule, was the fastest of 45 trucks that posted a time in the morning with a lap in 49.991 seconds, an average speed of 180.032 mph that was almost a second faster than Roush teammate Erik Darnell.

Darnell's No. 99a Ford was clocked in 50.946 (176.658 mph). Rounding out the top-five morning speeds were Rick Crawford's No. 14 Ford (175.706), David Starr's No. 38a Toyota (175.589) and Stacy Compton's No. 21 Ford (175.080).

The fastest Chevrolet in the morning was Kelly Sutton's No. 02 Silverado, which was eighth on the sheet at 174.886 mph. The fastest Dodge was 2004 series champion Bobby Hamilton's No. 18 Ram, in 23rd at 173.514 mph.

The trucks ran for a one-hour, single-truck session after lunch, and speeds both lifted across the board and tightened up through the field of 42 trucks that posted times. But one thing remained constant: The 6b was at the top of the sheet.

Martin -- who had tried to make a lap in the morning but reportedly was stopped at the garage gate as the track closed -- made the best lap of the day in 49.831 seconds, an average speed of 180.610 mph. The 6b again was the only truck in the 180 mph range.

Rounding out the top-five trucks in the afternoon session were Terry Cook in the No. 10b Ford (179.058 mph), Crawford in a No. 14x Ford (176.205), Ron Hornaday in the No. 33a Chevrolet (175.874) and Earnhardt in his debut in the No. 13 Chevy (175.678).

The fastest Toyota in the afternoon was Johnny Benson's No. 23 Tundra in ninth, at 174.683 mph, and the fastest Dodge was Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s No. 08a, at 174.500 mph in 13th.

No incidents were reported in the single truck runs.

Friday afternoon session

Friday morning session