Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88B Chevrolet set the pace in the morning
for the second day of testing during week two of Preseason Thunder.
Earnhardt Jr. had a time of 48.434 (185.820 mph) and outpaced his former
teammate Michael Waltrip in the No. 55 Toyota who clocked in second
overall during the morning session. Waltrip had a best time of 48.555
(185.367 mph) and he was followed by another Toyota belonging to Brian
Vickers in the No. 83A. Vickers took the third best time during the
single car runs with a 48.744 (184.638 mph).
 |
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Photo by John Dunagan - Fastlines.
|
 |
Fifteen Chevrolets took part in today's testing and this morning, there
was only one in the top-ten, and two in the top-20. Earnhardt Jr. was
the quickest but Jeff Fuller in the No. 87 continues to be one of the
quickest for Chevy during this second round of testing. Fuller turned
a 49.123 (183.214 mph) and it was good enough for 14th overall and the
next closest Chevy to Fuller was Scott Riggs in the No. 66H who was 22nd
overall with a 49.253 (182.730 mph).
Toyota has only 12 cars taking place in the second week of testing and
all 12 of those cars placed in the top-20 overall with Waltrip leading
the way followed by Vickers in today's first of two sessions. Dale
Jarrett in the No. 44A put together another strong run for his team and
was fourth overall as the third quickest Toyota with a 48.754 (184.600
mph).
Dodge had 14 cars make a timed run and they had one car in the top-ten
with a total of four cars in the top-20. Dario Franchitti in the No.
40 continues to be one of the strongest cars for Dodge and was seventh
overall in the morning session with a 48.843 (184.264 mph). Ryan Newman
in the No. 12A was second quickest with a 49.140 (183.150 mph) and his
time placed him 16th overall. Rookie Patrick Carpentier, who hasn't had
much to talk about lately, was the third quickest Dodge in the No. 10C
and pulled a time of 49.194 (182.949 mph) which placed him 19th overall
in the morning session.
Ford only had ten cars attempt timed runs with they two cars within
the top-20. David Gilliland in the No. 38B was the fastest Ford with a
49.138 (183.158 mph) and his time was good enough for 15th overall. The
No. 6B of David Ragan was the second quickest with a 49.160 (183.076
mph) and his time placed him 18th overall. The third quickest time
occupied by a Ford was also captured by Gilliland in the No. 38A with a
49.249 (182.745 mph) and it was good enough for 21st overall.
In total, there were 52 cars that attempted timed runs during the
morning session and Norm Benning in the No. 57A Chevy was once again the
slowest with a 51.400 (175.097 mph).
|
 |
|
Ryan Newman. Photo by John Dunagan - Fastlines.
|
The afternoon session was quite different with Ryan Newman in the No.
12B Dodge leading the way in the first session of drafting for the teams
during week two. Newman lead the way with a 47.869 (188.013 mph) and he
was trailed by the No. 01A of Regan Smith who posted the second quickest
time overall in his Chevy with a time of 47.968 (187.625 mph). Paul
Menard in the No. 15B Chevy took the third quickest time with a 47.976
(187.594 mph). It was quite the turn around from the morning session in
terms of who was leading the speed charts.
With Newman as the fastest Dodge, Franchitti in the No. 40B wound up
being the second quickest for the manufacturer with a 48.038 (187.352
mph) and was classified fifth overall. The third quickest was Kasey
Kahne in the No. 9B with a 48.093 (187.137 mph) which put him eighth
overall. It was a much better afternoon for Dodge with three cars in the
top-ten, and six cars in the top-20.
Chevy also had a good afternoon with four cars in the top-ten and seven
cars in the top-20. Smith was the quickest with Menard second fast.
Kevin Harvick in the No. 29B who has been having a slow testing session
was the third fastest Chevy on the day with a 47.992 (187.531 mph) and
his time was good enough for fourth overall.
Toyota showed some signs of weakness with only three cars in the top-10
and only five cars in the top-20. Tony Stewart in the No. 20A was the
quickest in sixth overall with a 48.043 (187.332 mph) and Dave Blaney
in the No. 22 was the second quickest Toyota with a 48.046 (187.320
mph), good enough for seventh overall. Vickers was once again one of the
strongest Toyotas being the third best with a time of 48.099 (187.114
mph) and it put Vickers ninth overall on the speed charts.
Ford is still missing out on things as they had zero cars in the top-ten
and only two cars in the top-20. Ragan in the No. 6B was the fastest
with a 48.255 (186.509 mph) and he was followed by veteran racer Bill
Elliot in the No. 21B with a 48.288 (186.382 mph). Gilliland in the No.
38A was the third quickest with a 48.925 (183.955 mph) and it was a
rough drafting session for the Ford camp. Ragan had a time well enough
for 16th overall, Elliott was 18th overall, and Gilliland was all the
way down in 31st.
Fifty-four cars participated in the afternoon drafting session and
Benning was once again the slowest in his No. 57A Chevy with a 50.466
(178.338 mph).
