See both the morning and afternoon test session results from Day One Preseason Thunder testing of NASCAR’s Gen-Six cars at Daytona International Speedway

2013 Daytona Preseason Thunder Day One Morning Test Session Summary

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams kicked off their three-day test session at Daytona International Speedway today as the first on-track step this year for drivers and teams to prepare for the 2013 season.

Only single car runs were on the track this morning as teams gather their base information  for how the Gen-Six car reacts on the famed Daytona Speedway. Data acquisition is going to be the name of the game throughout testing as teams learn all they can prior to the start of the season in February.

Running the fastest lap for day one morning session was the 2012 Daytona 500 winner, Matt Kenseth, with a lap speed of 192.757-mph. The next four drivers were Marcos Ambrose with a lap speed of 192.736-mph second, Danica Patrick 192.583-mph third, Jeff Burton 192.526 fourth and Paul Menard 192.460 fifth.

Completing the top-ten fastest in the morning session were Kyle Busch 192.349-mph sixth, Clint Bowyer 192.143 seventh, Jeff Gordon 191.771 eighth, Juan Pablo Montoya 191.718 ninth and Austin Dillon 191.648 with the tenth fastest lap speed.

Teams will return at 1pm ET this afternoon to continue Day One testing.  Television coverage – 1 to 5pm ET – is provided by SPEED for this afternoon’s test session.

See Day One Morning Session full results below Day One Afternoon Session Summary

Day One Afternoon Test Session Summary

Dominating the afternoon test session was Joe Gibbs Racing with all three teams leading the charts at the close of day one of Daytona’s Preseason Thunder.  Denny Hamlin was the fastest with a 195.712-mph lap speed.

One of the reasons for the JGR domination is because after spending the day testing single car runs, at the end of the day, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, along with Michael Waltrip Racing driver Mark Martin, all Toyotas, ran together around the track in a four-car pack to test the draft for the first time at Daytona. It became apparent quickly that all of the cars go faster when driving under these conditions versus the earlier single car runs.

The Gibbs trio and Martin were given the chance to run together because today was Hamlin’s only day of testing as he returns to his home in Charlotte, NC to be with his girlfriend Jordan Fish, who is expecting to deliver the couple’s first child any day now.

After running the fastest lap in the morning session, Matt Kenseth was second with a lap speed of 195.385-mph, with Kyle Busch at 195.329-mph third, Mark Martin 195.063 fourth and Jeff Burton coming in fifth at 194.620.

Completing the top-ten were Paul Menard 193.340-mph sixth, Danica Patrick 192.934 seventh, Marcos Ambrose 192.530 eighth, Clint Bowyer 192.513 ninth and Aric Almirola 192.489 running at the tenth position.

Teams are anxious to continue testing draft conditions on the track over the next two days.   Keeping in mind there were only four cars testing the draft today, it did seem the tandem was not a factor. Again, more data acquisition will be the name of the game as the next two days of testing progresses.

NASCAR’s Gen-Six cars will return tomorrow, Friday, Jan 11th for Day Two of Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona. Fans can follow testing online at SPEEDtv.com from 9am-noon ET and then television coverage resumes at 1 to 5pm ET on SPEED.

See Day One Afternoon Session full results below the morning session full results below

Timing and Scoring provided by NASCARmedia

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