 | | The Toyotas on the track at Daytona testing were 100 percent Camrys, officials said. Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
January 20, 2007
02:46 PM EST (19:46 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Three-time Daytona 500 champion Jeff Gordon was the last man to visit Daytona International Speedway's media center on the final day of Nextel Cup Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder, and he raised a few eyebrows when he said he'd heard the Toyota Camrys that tested during the two sessions were using Truck engines. Toyota Tundras dominated the Craftsman Truck Series in 2006, winning 12 of 25 races, and 14 Bud Poles, as well as the drivers', owners' and manufacturers' championships. Some of Toyota's earliest tests were done with engines "borrowed" from the Truck Series program, while the Nextel Cup spec engine was submitted, approved and manufactured. Some Toyota engines were reportedly tested in other manufacturers' chassis. But according to the two top NASCAR officials involved with engines, none of the Toyotas that tested during the two-week period used Truck engines. "All of the Toyotas that tested had the new, current and approved engine parts," Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said. "We verified that all of the cars used the current, approved [engines] for the Cup Series." A hatchet buried? During a Dodge media function one night during the second session of Preseason Thunder, Ryan Newman was asked if he'd ever discussed the incident from the 2006 Homestead finale, in which Juan Montoya's car hit the outside wall in Turn 1 and burst into flames. Newman said he had not -- but by the end of the evening, he and the Nextel Cup rookie from Colombia had an impromptu meeting in front of the golf club's "coffee table." Newman apologized, saying in part, "I think the world of you and would never [hit you intentionally]. And if I did, I'd come talk to you about it after." For his part, Montoya earlier had told another reporter he hadn't given the incident a second thought, writing it off to an accident while racing hard. Montoya chatted cheerfully with Newman, but after Newman said he'd come to talk to Montoya if he needed to, Montoya said, "I just do it -- I don't talk about it." Racing and psychoanalysis Racers and psychologists were hot topics at Daytona after Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards both said they were dealing with sports psychiatrists for different reasons. Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer put a different spin on the subject, when asked the other day if he'd ever lost confidence in his career and if he had a sports psychologist. "I think confidence is definitely a big part of any sport [and] if you go out there knowing you can get the job done, nine times out of 10 you succeed," Bowyer said. "But as far as sports psychology, I met with one last year before the season and hell -- I just felt stupid after that, so I try to stay out of there." Musical Chairs: Part II The 2007 version of Preseason Thunder had an unprecedented number of ride-swappers. It started during the first Nextel Cup session, when Joe Nemechek started the test and Ginn Racing teammate Regan Smith finished it in the No. 13 Chevrolet. Kerry Earnhardt stepped into half-brother Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Chevrolet for a couple of days when Junior had other commitments. Later in the same session, Team Red Bull's A.J. Allmendinger stepped into teammate Brian Vickers' Toyota for a couple of test runs in anticipation of his test this week. But when Allmendinger secured a 12-race Craftsman Truck Series ride with Michael Waltrip Racing, Vickers actually stepped into his teammate's No. 84 Nextel Cup Toyota on Wednesday when Allmendinger had to go to Homestead for a mid-week Truck Series test. And veteran Ricky Rudd, who tested in the opening session for Robert Yates Racing, actually came to Daytona this week for the second session and made a couple of runs in teammate David Gilliland's No. 38 Ford. Gilliland was thrilled to have the input. "You can tell in a rental car that the track's bumpy," Gilliland said. "But never having raced here, I didn't know if it was me or our car or the lines I was taking. Ricky drove my car for a while, then came back and said, 'No, the car definitely needs to go over the bumps better.' "That's something I wouldn't have known without him being here." Hylton hangs in James Hylton didn't make many laps on the final day of Cup testing at Daytona, but he made them count. The 72-year-old clocked a lap in Wednesday afternoon's drafting practice that ranked 15th-fastest of the session and 39th-fastest for all of Preseason Thunder.  |
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Hylton, the 1966 Cup rookie of the year who is trying to make the Daytona 500, dropped into the middle of a drafting pack and hung in for two full laps before leaving the track. He made 11 total in the session, the fastest a 185.445 mph circuit. During seven days of testing, that lap was quicker than the fastest turned in by Mark Martin (185.315), Kevin Harvick (185.143) and Jeff Burton (183.333). Hylton is using a car purchased from Richard Childress Racing, and is leasing an RCR engine. He hasn't competed on NASCAR's top circuit since making 62 laps at Darlington in 1993. More Montoya fans Even though Juan Montoya has been a touch-point for a lot of fans' positive and negative feelings about the growth of NASCAR, count Mark Martin among those who have been impressed by the driver who is crossing over to Nextel Cup from Formula One. "You shouldn't be surprised," Martin said after Montoya was near the top of sheets on every day of testing. "He's a world-class champion [and] I know that he can do this and he will do this and he will be a great asset to NASCAR and he will have a very wonderful career. "He's going to win big in this sport, just like he has in everything else that he's done." Wimmer to the Busches Scott Wimmer will split a full season in the Busch Series with Jeff Burton, driving Richard Childress Racing's No. 29 Chevrolet. Wimmer will run the Orbitz 300, he hopes for the fourth time in his career. "I'm excited about that because [RCR's] Busch stuff is always so good no matter where they go," Wimmer said. "We'll be back down here [next] week to get some more laps, and I think we'll have some real good teammates with Clint Bowyer and Kevin [Harvick] in that race, so it'll be exciting." | 
