Kyle Busch has been off the charts during Busch preseason testing. Credit: Autostock

Busch continues to be dominant force at testing

Ragan involved in afternoon accident; Nemechek tops AM session

A familiar name remained at the top of the speed charts during the second day of Busch Series testing of Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway.

Kyle Busch paced the Saturday afternoon session at 187.919 mph in his Chevrolet after recording the second- and third-fastest speeds in the morning practice.

PRESEASON THUNDER •   NBS -- Day 1 Speeds •   Complete Coverage

Busch's other afternoon test run came in at 186.540, fourth best.

Joe Nemechek led the morning session at 182.901 in his Chevrolet, with Busch close behind (the only three speeds to come in under 49.3 seconds).

Dave Blaney was second in the afternoon practice at 187.782, with Robert Richardson (187.727) third in a Chevrolet, the only other drivers to eclipse the 187 mph mark.

Blaney continued a day of strong speeds in his Toyota. He was 10th- and 11th-fastest in the a.m. session, and his other p.m. mark was 12th best.

Todd Kluever posted top-10 speeds in both Saturday sessions. His Ford was eighth in the morning session, and he led the manufacturer's afternoon effort with a fifth-place run.

Steve Wallace, with a little help from father, Rusty, was sixth in the p.m. practice, the best Dodge in either session.

Juan Montoya, who did not participate in the morning test, had his Dodge eighth-fastest in the afternoon session, followed by the Chevrolets of Shane Huffman and Clint Bowyer.

The first significant incident of Preseason Thunder occurred mid-afternoon when rookie David Ragan apparently had a left-rear tire go down on his Ford, causing him to spin and brush the wall with the right rear of his car in Turn 2.

Jason Leffler, who was behind Ragan, damaged the right side and left front of his Toyota when he hit the wall while trying to miss Ragan. Leffler's other run resulted in a top-10 speed.

Ragan drove back to the garage, but the left-rear quarterpanel of his car was also significantly damaged by the tire carcass. He returned to the track with his second car, which also had minimal scuff damage on its right side from another minor incident.

In the morning session, Stephen Leicht posted his second consecutive fourth-place a.m. time, bringing his Ford around the 2.5-mile track in 49.308 seconds (182.526).

Ragan posted another top-10 speed in his Ford at 182.382 for fifth place, followed by Timothy Peters, replacing Kevin Harvick in the Richard Childress Racing No. 21 Chevrolet, sixth at 182.282.