Notes: Darnell feels heat in third Truck Series season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Erik Darnell stayed on top of the speed charts for the majority of Preseason Thunder Truck Series testing at Daytona International Speedway. Saturday morning he posted his fastest lap at 178.547 mph. Darnell's top speed on Friday was 177.420. During Sunday's weather-shortened run, he closed with a speed of 182.260.

Darnell admits the pressure is on. While the young driver, who enters his third season in the Truck Series, captured his first career win at Kansas in April 2007, the rest of the season brought anything but success.

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"We struggled quite a bit last year," Darnell said. "We had some things happen that kind of took us out of contention for a top 10 in the points."

During Sunday morning's visit to the media center, Darnell emphasized he's eager for that first race.

"If the first two days of testing here are any indication, we've got a really good truck not only in the single-truck runs, but in the draft it's really strong as well," Darnell said. "I would definitely like to get the season started off on the right foot and, hopefully, pick up a victory."

Anxious to Start

Daytona Beach resident Mike Skinner is ready to get the show on the road. After finishing the 2007 season runner-up to champion Ron Hornaday, he had a busy off-season -- but wasn't able to play as much golf as he would have liked.

"We've had a lot of things going on with our race team, but it all came back together and everything is back the same with Jeff [Hensley] as crew chief again," Skinner said. "I've been chomping at the bit to get here and start running some laps."

Skinner -- who is in hot pursuit of a second series championship -- also talked about the dynamic between he and Bill Davis Racing teammate Johnny Benson.

"I feel really good about having Johnny as a teammate when we come down to the stretch if either of us are fortunate enough to be in the hunt," Skinner said. "It's just up to us to be smart about how we go about things all year. I think we'll be in the middle of it."

Learning curve

Despite a clean Daytona track thanks to the rain that fell overnight on Saturday and during the morning on Sunday, the final Truck Series test had just one crash in the three-hour Sunday session.

Phillip McGlinton, driving the No. 22 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing had a single-truck incident during the test.

"We were just out there drafting. I got up on the high side with Mike [Skinner] and we came around a guy going into Turn 3," McGlinton said. "I had the No. 30 truck [Todd Bodine] behind me and everything was fine. We hadn't struggled there all day.

"It wasn't something I expected. I think it was just an 'aero-deal.' The No. 30 was going to the outside of me, and it just sucked the rear-end around. It happened so quick, I didn't have any time to save it."

McGlinton said he is disappointed he is leaving Daytona in a busted truck, especially with the results he was seeing on the track.

"It's torn up pretty good," McGlinton said. "We just have to get it back to the shop and turn it around for the race. We were having an excellent day until that point. We were able to go to the back of the pack and run right up to the front. We had a really good piece, but we didn't want to end the test like this."

Pit Stops

Inclement weather shortened the final day's testing for the Trucks at Daytona. Teams were on the track less than three hours before showers ended the day at 1:45 p.m ET. Next up: Preseason Thunder testing continues for the Truck Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway Tuesday, Jan. 22 and Wednesday, Jan. 23 with Thursday, Jan. 24 available as a rain date if necessary.